Since 2004, experienced museum curator and executive Joel A. Bartsch has served as president and CEO of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Under his direction, the museum has realized major expansion goals, including the addition of more than 200,000 square feet of additional programming, storage, and exhibition space. Joel Bartsch personally curated Tourmaline Treasures, one recent special exhibit found in the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals.
The exhibit contains striking examples of naturally crystallized tourmaline gemstones, including one known as the Rose of Itatiaia, mined in Brazil and on temporary loan from the Qatar Museum Authority. For half a millennium, Brazil has served as the world’s leading site for tourmaline mining.
While the Rose of Itatiaia was the exhibition’s focal point, other examples of beautifully formed and cut tourmaline were also on display. These included specimens mined from renowned deposits in Afghanistan, Madagascar, Russia, Mozambique, and California.
Tourmaline, a boron silicate mineral, typically occurs as an accessory mineral to metamorphic and igneous rocks. It comes in a true rainbow of colors, depending on its chemical composition. Some of the most beautiful finished tourmaline pieces are pink, red, blue, or green.
The exhibit contains striking examples of naturally crystallized tourmaline gemstones, including one known as the Rose of Itatiaia, mined in Brazil and on temporary loan from the Qatar Museum Authority. For half a millennium, Brazil has served as the world’s leading site for tourmaline mining.
While the Rose of Itatiaia was the exhibition’s focal point, other examples of beautifully formed and cut tourmaline were also on display. These included specimens mined from renowned deposits in Afghanistan, Madagascar, Russia, Mozambique, and California.
Tourmaline, a boron silicate mineral, typically occurs as an accessory mineral to metamorphic and igneous rocks. It comes in a true rainbow of colors, depending on its chemical composition. Some of the most beautiful finished tourmaline pieces are pink, red, blue, or green.
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