Bringing a Florida estuary indoors was a challenge!

Take a 360° virtual tour through our South Florida People & Environments exhibit with Darcie MacMahon, Director of Exhibits and Public Programs.

Did you know we hand-made each of the leaves on our mangrove trees? Spoiler: that’s a LOT of leaves and we got a LOT of help making them!

Why did we choose to enlarge the underwater experience for a view of what lives under a mangrove forest? How do we know about the Calusa, one of Florida’s early peoples? Who is the woman in the Seminole patchwork exhibit?

Journey through a South Florida estuary and learn how this rich ecosystem has supported people for thousands of years, including the powerful Calusa who once controlled all of South Florida. Discover some of the behind-the-scenes stories and techniques used in making an immersive exhibit filled with rare and interesting objects from the Museum’s South Florida archaeology collections.

Museum 360°: The Making of an Exhibit

This was recorded from a live streamed Zoom and Facebook tour on Thursday, July 30, 2020. In partnership with UF Thompson Earth Systems Institute and the Scientist in Every Florida School program.

Diorama of a Calusa man carrying a small shark on his shoulder.

This mannequin in the South Florida exhibits shows a Calusa boy carrying a shark. Florida Museum photo by Eric Zamora.

Diorama showing the Calusa people fishing with nets and canoes

Miniature diorama in the South Florida exhibit shows the Calusa people fishing along the river shore with nets and dugout canoes. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace.

Diorama of three Calusa people - a woman and a man with a young child sitting on his shoulders.

This display of Calusa people is a popular stop on the South Florida exhibit exploration and blends an outdoor environment with a representation of a Calusa thatched hut. Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace.

man painting a small model of an animal for the exhibit diorama

Jeff Huber works on the miniature of a Mesoreodon floridensis for the South Florida exhibit. Florida Museum photo by Tammy L. Johnson.

South Florida Exhibit, wooden walkway through the exhibit swamp. The walls and ceiling are painted to look like the sky. Signs line the walkway explaining parts of the exhibit.

The mangrove scene feels like a natural environment, complete with thousands of hand-made mangrove leaves! Florida Museum photo by Mary Warrick.