Updating the “Moon Shadow” in Wolf Diorama

When new energy-efficient lights were installed in the Wolf diorama at the American Museum of Natural History, they created new shadows that weren’t consistent with the scene—a moonlit December night on the southern shore of Gunflint Lake in northern Minnesota. Here, Museum artist Stephen C. Quinn adds various pigments to the “snow” to re-create the illusion of shadows that would result from the Moon casting its eerie blue light on the wolves and surrounding trees.