Walla Walla’s Museum Of UnNatural History Is A Quirky Gem

The Museum of Un-Natural History in Walla Walla, Washington, is a quirky, intimate art space founded by actor/comedian Gerald "Gerry" Matthews in 2001. Located at 4 & ½ West Main Street, it features bizarre Dadaist and Surrealist assemblages, including "Velocipedus Rex" (a bike-bone creation), fabricated fossils, and humorous, satirical, or slightly creepy sculptures. It's a unique art installation that offers a memorable, often satirical, look at a "un-natural" world. 

Who curated the unique Walla Walla Museum?

Throughout the '70s and '80s, Gerald Matthews lived next to the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. It was during this time that he was inspired to design and create a museum that presented a “less factual point of view."

Gerry Matthews had a successful acting career on Broadway and appeared in TV commercials, including the memorable Sugar Crisp cereal ads. He voiced the character Sugar Bear for 40 years. In 1989, Matthews and his wife moved to Washington State. About a decade later, he found himself uncertain about what to do with the large pieces he had created for his first solo show in Walla Walla. Eventually, he discovered a space above a drugstore on Walla Walla’s Main Street. He installed his Surrealist and Absurdist sculptures and collages and opened the Museum of Un-Natural History on September 10, 2001, the day before 9/11.

Matthews continues to create new works in the large basement of his nearby retirement home. Every Saturday, he can be found surveying the museum's patrons, admiring or gawking at them, what he lovingly calls “opinionated, satiric iconoclastic creations of questionable taste.”

Key Details About the Museum of Un-Natural History:

The museum is crafted as a "three-dimensional collage" that uses found objects to challenge perceptions with humor and irony.

Exhibit displays include the "Egg of the Giant Squawk," "Doctor Mesmer’s Happy Wheel," and various "un-natural" specimens.

The museum is typically open on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm or by appointment.

Known for its "Stranger Things" vibe, this experience is highly personal and artistic. It is not a traditional science museum but rather a unique art installation that offers a memorable, often satirical view of an "unnatural" world.