The Insect Asylum
Starting at USD 55
Mon, 08 Sep, 2025 at 11:30 am - Wed, 10 Sep, 2025 at 05:30 pm (GMT-05:00)
The Insect Asylum
2870 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, United States
🔎✨ Witness the Art of Taxidermy LIVE! ✨🦉
Join us for a three-day live taxidermy event at TIA, where you can marvel at the technical process of mounting a barn owl from start to finish! Watch as a world-renound museum taxidemist, Divya from Gotham Taxidermy, brings this stunning specimen to life using museum-grade techniques.
🗓 Day 1: Anatomy, skinning, and degreasing
🗓 Day 2: Sculpting the body form & preserving the skin
🗓 Day 3: Assembly, mounting & final preening
Each day is a 6–8 hour deep dive, from 11:30 pm - 5:30 pm, and museum-goers can ask questions, snap photos, and even participate with gloves on! Don’t miss this rare chance to experience taxidermy in action!
Ticket Option:
About the artist:
A unique combination of science and style, Divya Anantharaman is New York City's premiere taxidermist. An award winning licensed professional preserving animals with honor and compassion for clients ranging from museums, designers, gallerists, and collectors. Her specialties are birds, small mammals, and anatomic anomalies, with a select number of commissions open for pets. Her work seeks to combine the demonstrative aspect of scientific presentation with the symbolic, introspective nature of art, using taxidermy to engage diverse audiences with conservation. She is passionately curious about the untapped potential of this scientific art, and what happens when we surrender to enchantment with nature.
She left the corporate fashion industry to pursue her love of natural history as the resident taxidermist at the Morbid Anatomy Museum, and has since built a following creating taxidermy, skeletal, and entomology displays, along with jewelry and wearable art, for anyone who finds wonder in the natural world. She was recently featured in the award winning documentary, “Rearranging Skin”. In addition to running her own business, she works part time at the esteemed studio of George Dante, which specializes in museum taxidermy and historic conservation. Here, her passion for nature grows through helping preserve animals and exhibits for future generations. She is also a board member of the New England Association of Taxidermists and Garden State Taxidermy Association. She was awarded 2019 Best of Category Professional Division for both Birds and Mammals at the New England Taxidermy Championships, won second place in the Professional division at the 2017 World Taxidermy Championships, and is the coauthor of the book "Stuffed Animals: A Modern Guide to Taxidermy."
Highlights of her client list include various natural history museums, Tiffany' & Co, Neil Patrick Harris + David Burtka, Columbia University, and artists who have shown at the Venice Biennale. She is passionate about the human-animal relationship, engaging diverse perspectives, and demystifying taxidermy for beginners through workshops and lectures in a safe, inclusive environment. In her commitment to conservation, she works with various organizations like the Audubon Society, and runs a rescue. All animal parts are legally and sustainably obtained.
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Tickets for LIVE BARN OWL TAXIDERMY DEMO WITH GOTHAM TAXIDERMY can be booked here.
Ticket type | Ticket price |
---|---|
Single Day Barn Owl Taxidermy Demo | 55 USD |
VIP Single Day Barn Owl Taxidermy Demo | 82 USD |
3-Day Pass Barn Owl Taxidermy Demo | 130 USD |
VIP 3-Day Pass Barn Owl Taxidermy Demo | 162 USD |
We have gathered all the information for you in one convenient spot, but please keep in mind that these are subject to change.We do our best to keep everything updated, but something might be out of sync. For the latest updates, always check the official event details by clicking the "Find Tickets" button.