Preparator, Artist, Author, and Diorama Historian (Retired)

Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University 

 

Michael Anderson began his career as an intern artist for the exhibition department at the American Museum of Natural History.  With an educational background in medical illustration, he was doubly interested in how dioramas merge science and art.  Michael considers himself fortunate to have worked with taxidermists including David J. Schwendeman and museum artists including Ralph Morrill and Raymond deLucia.  He joined the staff at the Peabody Museum in New Haven, CT, where he worked for over 30 years.  There, his projects ranged from renovating dioramas, producing new taxidermy mounts, fabricating insect models, to sculpting both a bronze dinosaur as well as a ten-panel bas relief facsimile for the Egyptian tomb.  Michael published museum artist James Perry Wilson’s biography, Painting Actuality, The Diorama Art of James Perry Wilson in 2019.