The Natural History Museum

Vashon, WA

Founded by the collective Not An Alternative—a nonprofit that works at the intersection of art, activism, and theory—the Natural History Museum (NHM) is a mobile and pop-up museum that produces exhibitions, events, and research aligned with environmental justice. Not An Alternative’s mission is to affect popular understandings of events, symbols, institutions, and history, a framework that informs NHM’s role as a cultural actor and organizing force. Based in Vashon, Washington, NHM reimagines the function of museums as civic platforms and tools for ecological solidarity, reaching diverse audiences in sites of cultural memory and environmental struggle—including parks, tribal lands, and climate-affected regions. The organization emerged from a long-term artistic intervention and has become a key partner to frontline communities, activating public space through visual culture, coalition work, and grassroots engagement.

With support from FCI, NHM is developing a climate-friendly mobile museum: an energy-efficient, solar-powered facility designed to reduce emissions, eliminate fossil fuel dependency, and embed climate responsibility into the museum’s core operations. The mobile structure will replace carbon-intensive logistics—including rented trucks, generators, and RVs—with a permanent, off-grid infrastructure tailored for touring exhibitions and participatory programming. This project advances NHM’s ongoing investment in building durable, low-carbon tools for environmental arts, while modeling how a decentralized cultural institution can activate public space, expand access to climate justice programming, and translate its values into operations.

Milestones

• Design and construct a solar-powered, energy-efficient mobile museum platform

• Replace rented fossil fuel-powered vehicles and infrastructure with off-grid system

• Reduce emissions and energy use across all touring exhibitions and operations

• Expand capacity to serve remote, frontline, and underserved communities

• Model ecologically responsible touring practices for peer institutions

• Integrate climate action visibly and structurally into visual arts programming

• Estimated 80 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions across art shipping, visitor transport, equipment deliveries, and program power needs

• Up to 95 percent carbon savings from an average year of managing museum operations

• Estimated energy savings of 232,795 kWh/year

• Estimated fuel reductions of up to 6,000 gallons of gas and approximately 60 metric tons of transport-related C02

• The solar system with lithium battery storage will power all public programs and backend operations—eliminating gas generators and significantly reducing shore power reliance.