Scenes from the Perot Museum Opening Gala

Kelly Compton, Margot Perot, Ross Perot, Nicole G. Small, Carolyn Perot Rathjen and Forrest Hoglund

On December 1, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science will debut a new museum on a 4.7-acre site at the northwest corner of N. Field Street and Woodall Rodgers Freeway in Victory Park adjacent to downtown Dallas. VIP guests got to preview this exciting new addition to our city this past Saturday, November 17, 2012.   Co-chairs, Kelly and R. Brock Compton and honorary co-chairs, Sally and Forrest Hoglund headed up the annual fundraising gala themed “Discover the Perot” which marked the first event before the Museum officially opens to the public.

The $185-million Perot Museum was designed by 2005 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and his California-based firm Morphosis Architects. The building itself was created to be a “living” example of engineering, sustainability and technology at work. There are five floors of public space featuring 11 permanent exhibit halls, including a state-of-the art exhibit hall designed to host world-class traveling exhibitions, and a children’s museum complete with outdoor play space/courtyard. The museum also features a theater, café, retail store and one-acre science park. 

John Pickett and Regina Bruce  |  Don and Barbara Daske

Patti Broyles, Debra Nelson, Gary Cogill and Hayley Hamilton

In the T. Boone Pickens Life Then and Now Hall, a towering Columbian mammoth specimen commands this scene of ice-age Texas, giving visitors the opportunity to get to know some of the mega-fauna that once lived in this ancient environment. Visitors learn about the ice age cycles and consider why much of the mega-fauna went extinct.

Scott Passaglia of the MAAS Ensemble plays Drumbrellas to entertain the crowd

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science  is located at 2201 N. Field Street, Dallas, Texas 75202

photos courtesy of Bob Manzano