Press

ALBANY, NY – Children will have the chance to dig for minerals while adults shop for their own treasures at the “18th Annual James Campbell Memorial Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show and Sale,” to be held Saturday, February 26 and Sunday, February 27 at the New York State Museum.

Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 4th floor Terrace Gallery, the show is part of the Museum’s annual fundraising weekend, the only time admission is charged at the Museum. Proceeds will help fund new acquisitions for the museum’s gem and mineral collections.

There is a general admission price of $6 per person, which also admits visitors to the “New York in Bloom” event the same weekend. There is no charge for children 12 and under if accompanied by an adult. Tickets may be purchased at the door and there is limited free parking.

The show will feature more than 20 vendors, who will display and sell gems, jewelry, minerals, fossils, books, videos, lapidary equipment and supplies, as well as stone carvings, bookends and silver and goldsmithing tools. There also will be children’s activities, mineral identification and guided exhibition tours.

Publications, produced by the Museum’s Research and Collections staff, documenting research in New York’s natural and human history, will also be for sale. Materials on display will include information on geology, archaeology, paleontology, anthropology, biology, and history.

Other activities over the weekend will include:

• A mineral dig for children, held throughout the weekend, hosted by the Capital District Mineral Club.
• Guided tours on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p. m. of the Minerals of New York gallery. Michael Hawkins, the Museum’s mineralogy collections manager, will highlight recent acquisitions. Participants will meet in the Museum lobby.

The “Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show” was initiated by the late James Campbell, a member of the Museum’s geological staff, and has become one of the Museum's most well-attended annual events.

The New York State Museum is a cultural program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Founded in 1836, the museum has the longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey in the U.S. Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the State Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Further information can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

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