The Denver Museum of Nature & Science's 104 dioramas represent actual scenes from nature, showcasing birds, mammals, insects and reptiles, caves and mines, ethnic lifestyles, prehistoric scenes and the surface of Mars. Anthropology is represented by 6 dioramas (two are walk-through); Geology has three dioramas (one is walk-through); Paleontology has 9 dioramas (two are walk-through); Space Science has one diorama; and Zoology has 85 dioramas. The following continents are represented by DMNS dioramas: Africa (7), Australia and South Pacific (8), Central and South America (8), and North America (80) (one diorama depicts a location on the planet Mars). About 46% of the dioramas represent the inter-mountain West of the United States. The majority of the museum's diorama exhibits were built under the leadership of the museum's second director, Alfred M. Bailey. But since his time, dioramas have continued to be incorporated into the museum's newer permanent exhibit halls, including the Coors Mineral Hall, the Mary W.A. and Francis V. Crane American Indian Hall, Prehistoric Journey and Space Odyssey. Other exhibit galleries with dioramas are: the Charles Boettcher Colorado Mammal Hall (Edge of the Wild), the Walter C. Mead Ecological Hall (Explore Colorado), the Ella M. Dalton Hall (Bear Hall), the Ellen M. Standley Hall (Rare Bird Hall), the Frederick G. Bonfils Hall (Alaska Hall), the William H. James Memorial Hall (Bird Hall), Australia Hall, South Pacific Hall, South American Hall, Boettcher North American Hall and the Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Botswana Africa Hall. A partial list of artists who have contributed to the Museum's dioramas includes: A. Lang Baily, John P. Boone, Frederick G. Brandenburg, Emma B. Butler, Ray Carrasco, Carlotta Espinoza, John Gurche, Henry Wichers Inchumuk, Jamie Irvin, Jean Israel, Joseph Kish, Dexter Landau, Raphael Lillywhite, Charles Waldo Love, Norma Lovelace, Donald Leo Malick, Dennis McElvain, Len McCann, Cindy McGonagle, Greg Michaels, Blanche N. Mills, Robert J. Niedrach, Sue Evans Olson, Charles Parson, R. Kent Pendleton, Timothy Prutzer, Jack D. Putnam, Susan Grant Raymond, Peter Reshetniak, Albert C. Rogers, Tom Shankster, Duncan Spencer, Gary Staab, Marilyn E. Thomas, William H. Traher, Kent Ullberg, Jan Vriesen, Hugh Watson, Virgil L. Wells, Sharon Riddle Wolverton, Harry E. Wright, and Jeff Wrona. Other contributors to the diorama construction have been Work Project Administration (WPA) employees and many volunteers.
