See for yourself where we usually keep those jars, boxes and bins and experience the working environment of our talented researchers and staff. Tours are limited to 10 people. Sign up begins one hour prior to the tour start time. Sign up at the Information Desk on the main floor. This tour will focus on our Entomology collection and the wonderful world of insects. 

Using the taxidermy owls from the handling collection, and an old owl information booklet printed by the museum, students will create a sketch and then carve their image using soft cut lino block. Everyone will then have the opportunity to create a variety of prints and have fun experimenting with colour. 

Children seven and under, and story lovers of all ages, are invited to join us in the forest diorama for a short story. After the story is read, you can visit the galleries and look for the themes and ideas presented.

Storytime in included with admission and free with membership.

We’re excited to join our friends at CRD Parks for this celebration of amphibians and reptiles!

Visit the Royal BC Museum tent to chat with Dr. Gavin Hanke, curator of vertebrate zoology, and staff from the Learning team!

We’ll have: 

• specimens to examine
• activities
• short talks by Dr. Hanke

More information about the event here. 

Students will have the opportunity to create a series of drawings focusing on one or two objects in the museum's tidal pool. We will then take these drawings back to the classroom and work with gouache to create abstract paint studies, experimenting with analogous and complimentary colours. The artworks will be adhered to cards to take home. 

After spending time in the Natural History Gallery sketching forest scenes, participants come back to the classroom to create an acrylic painting, learning about abstraction through using shape, line and colour inspired by the artwork of Canadian artists Emily Carr and Isabel McLaughlin. 

These classes are designed for students aged 16 years and older. 

Discover the art of gelatin printmaking inspired by the handling collections of the Royal BC Museum. Students will discover the opportunity to explore a variety of techniques, each inspired by a different aspect of the museum collection. We will create botanical inspired prints using natural material and create paintings from the vast collection of animals and specimens at the museum.

These classes are designed for students aged 16 years and up. 

This is Mexico is a multidisciplinary show that celebrates the diversity of Mexican artistic expressions. Join us for an hour-long performance of music, dancing and singing as the students from Colegio Militarizado Nuevo Mexico share with us the art and culture of Mexico. 

June 29 - July 9 is Pride Week in Victoria.

2SLGBTQ+ (Queer) history advocate and founder of the Newfoundland Queer Research Institute, Sarah Worthman, will discuss her recent research into the lives of queer Canadians during the First World War. Her report has unearthed never-before-seen records of queer persecution at the hands of the Canadian federal government. By sharing this history, she hopes to showcase the complexities of queerness in this period. 

We’re excited to join our friends at CRD Parks for this celebration life on the beach at this drop-in event with CRD Regional Parks naturalists and special guest organizations. Visit the Royal BC Museum tent to chat with Adrian about the Learning Team Handling Collection! We’ll have specimens to examine, including local butterflies and crabs. Meeting place: Meet at the grassy area adjacent to the picnic shelter off Homathko Drive.

Join Pacific Opera Victoria as they take over the Royal BC Museum, both inside and out. You’ll find Pierre Heault, Luka Kawabate, Jaclyn Grossman and Natalya Gennadi in unexpected spaces, sharing with us the joy of opera.

Schedule:

• 2:30pm – 2:50pm – By the main doors of the museum
• 3:00pm – 3:10pm – In front of the Woolly Mammoth Diorama (Natural History Gallery)
• 3:20pm – 3:30pm – By the Forest Diorama (Natural History Gallery)

Performers:

Come join us and celebrate National Indigenous Peoples’ Day (June 21st, 2023) with an Indigenous Artist Market.

In celebration of National Indigenous Peoples’ Day we are hosting an Indigenous artist market which will feature 20 artist tables and 4 artist demonstrations.

Treaty Talk: A Conversation on Contemporary Interpretations of Treaty Relations Across Institutions

Join us for the launch of Life Against States of Emergency: Revitalizing treaty relations from Attawapiskat by Dr Sarah Marie Wiebe from the University of Victoria. In response to the call to action proposed in the book, a panel will respond to the pivotal question "What does it mean to be in a treaty relationship today?".

Learn from youth about the process of co-creating digital stories and enjoy a series of digital stories from the project Reimagining Attawapiskat. 

Over 500 million years ago there was an explosion of life in what is now known as British Columbia's Burgess Shale. Join renowned paleontologist Dr. Jean-Bernard Caron for a screening of the documentary First Animals and a question and answer period following the film. 

Live at Lunch is a monthly series where you can hear directly from curators, archivists, staff and researchers at the Royal BC Museum as well as fascinating community members and guests. 

Plant Galls and What Emerged

Art with a Purpose: Using Art for Advocacy with Jasmine Rodman is a workshop for youth and young adults who want to explore creative ways to talk about the environment, sustainability and the ocean.

In this three hour workshop, learn about successful examples and local issues and help create a banner for ocean advocacy. All materials and supplies will be provided, but space is limited so register in advance. 

It’s ocean story time at the Royal BC Museum. Join us as three local children’s authors will read from their latest books about oceans and their inhabitants.

Rowena Rae author of Salmon: Swimming for Survival and Upstream, Downstream Nicole F. Smith author of Dig Deep: Connecting Archaeology, Oceans and Us Mark Leiren-Young author of Orcas Everywhere and Shark Forever

Stop by to enjoy music by the Langley Ukulele Association. The Langley Senior A Ukulele Ensemble consists of seventeen members, ranging in ages from thirteen to eighteen years old. The ensemble has enjoyed performing in front of live audiences, while extending their productions online to share some presentations across the province, country and world. 

In January 2023, the Royal BC Museum began the first phase of community engagement. In only a few months, our engagement team has connected with over 700 people, held 28 public sessions, in 12 different cities and communities across BC.

We are excited to bring to you this RBCM@Home session, where we will share our findings so far, and initial plans for next steps. This first phase was only the beginning, and we look forward to continuing to engage with as many people as possible, from many different cultures and communities across the province in future phases.