Members of the University of Iowa and Iowa City community will have the opportunity to see everything from exotic insects to the greatest moments in Hawkeye football at the Pentacrest Museums annual open house from 4 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 28.

Visitors will be able to go behind the scenes to view collection and lab spaces at the Museum of Natural History and talk to staff and students curating delicate insect specimens and working on other projects. Students will be able to learn about museum groups, research, and volunteer opportunities. Refreshments will be served, and the open house is free and open to the public.

Sarah Camp, from Shellsburg, Iowa, will be working with insect specimens during the open house. Camp is a senior art major who serves as the insect collection curator and digitizer. Carissa DeWaele, a senior anthropology major from Moline, Illinois, is the Museum of Natural History assistant education and outreach coordinator who will also be working at the open house.

“Once a year, we like to give visitors a chance to see our research and outreach projects as well as the many treasures we do not put on display. There’s much more to what we do than what you see in the exhibit halls upstairs,” says Trina Roberts, associate director of the Museum of Natural History.

Old Capitol Museum will be hosting a special opening reception for the new exhibit "Iowa Football: The Birth of a Legacy,"starting at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28. Visitors will be able to explore the first 70 years of the Hawkeyes, from the first game to the 1959 Rose Bowl win, learn about the lives of legends like Nile Kinnick, Duke Slater, and Forest Evashevski, and see a re-creation of a homecoming corn monument.

Refreshments will be served, and Herky and members of the Iowa Spirit Squad will make a special appearance from 5 to 6 p.m. The exhibit will remain on display in the Keyes Gallery for Arts, Humanities, & Sciences until Dec. 31.

“We’re excited to kick off the fall football season with this wonderful retrospective on the earliest years of Black and Gold pride,” says Shalla Ashworth, associate director of Old Capitol Museum.

For more information about the Pentacrest Museums, visit the Museum of Natural History and Old Capitol Museum websites.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, contact the Pentacrest Museums in advance at 319-335-2010.