Explore Exhibits Inter/Act | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

Inter/Act: Where Learning is Made Visible

Inter/Act is a flexible exhibition space located on the Museum’s Level 1. The space displays educational projects of the Museum’s Education & Arts Roundtable, an educational partnership fostering deep and engaging learning processes through artists-educators-and-Museum collaborations. Inter/Act showcases student responses — both their work and their processes — to program topics that are both relevant to them and to the Museum’s collections and resources. It is a space where learning is made visible.

A variety of student exhibitions are held in the Inter/Act space throughout the year--the results of arts-rich, interdisciplinary learning projects.  Once on display, students gain enormous satisfaction and a more meaningful connection to the Museum when they return to Inter/Act with teachers, family and friends to witness their work on view in a Museum space. The creative output that students generate as part of Roundtable projects varies greatly depending on grade level, project concept and partner collaboration, for example:

• Stuck 2 featured a three-act play about Ice Age mammals written and performed by 1st Graders.
• Claiming Our Space displayed the handmade landmarks that 4th Grade students found personally meaningful after exploring historical land use in Los Angeles.
• In Our L.A. Basin: A World of Wonder, high school students explored the ecological history of the Los Angeles Basin and created a site-specific sculptural installation addressing themes of water conservation, land use, and environmental responsibility.

Explore Inter/Act during your next visit to the Museum or read about our current exhibitions online.

What are Museum visitors saying about the Inter/Act Gallery?

• “A great learning environment for all ages!”
• "I think it is really neat and creative. I need to come here more often."
• "Excellent!  Please bring this to [my] school!"
• "I think it's a fantastic "process" opportunity for the students. Very creative!"
• "Combining art and natural history — it's inspirational. Love the Museum space."

Curious about how a Roundtable project comes to life?

Click on the links below for a brief 3-5 minute video short of past and present Roundtable projects.

STUCK 2 (Grade 1)

Claiming Our Space (Grade 4)

How Do I Observe My World? (Grade 4-5)

Tar Babies Unchained (Grade 8)

Our L.A. Basin: A World of Wonder (Grade 11)