Blanding: A City of Museums
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Blanding’s motto is “Basecamp to Adventure,” and one lookaround will solidify that claim! It’s the rafter’s adrenaline fix with their white-water rivers, the history buff’s forte to explore Mule Canyon or the fuel for a kid’s imagination at The Dinosaur Museum. No matter the thrill, the city of Blanding has an attraction for the whole family.
Stuff to do: 100 Years of Silence, Ancient Wayves, The Dinosaur Museum
Place to stay: Juniper Ridge Family Cabin, Rustic Western Wagon, Authentic Tipi
Good eats: Homestead Steakhouse, Destination Awake, Smoke Pizza Co
As a sculptor, stop motion animator and dinosaur enthusiast since the age of four, Stephen Czerkas found the perfect place to combine his passions at The Dinosaur Museum in Blanding. Now unfortunately deceased, his wife Sylvia Czerkas tells the story of how they opened up their dream museum together. Stephen and Sylvia met while both employed as life-size dinosaur model sculptors.
Originally from Los Angeles, they decided to take a day off from one of the many dinosaur books they published to get the paper and peruse out-of-state listings for their summer travels. It was there that they found what would later become The Dinosaur Museum, and they knew right away it was perfect. “We decided to move to Utah because it’s so beautiful, and there are fossils from every time period here,” Czerkas explains. “Blanding is a really nice place to visit because it’s a city of museums.”
The building was not in great shape when they bought it, but they took it one step at a time and built it into something that has stood for over 30 years. It started as an overall introduction to dinosaurs, but as the museum evolved, the exhibits became more specialized. Some of the longest-running exhibits include “Feathered Dinosaurs” and “Dinosaur Movies.” Czerkas reflects on the evolution of thought from believing all dinosaurs were scaly to understanding many had feathers. “Once we have the scientific information, we have to change our mind, no matter how much effort might be involved in that,” Czerkas claims.
As for “Dinosaur Movies,” that dates back to Stephen’s early childhood. His father was a title artist in the film industry, and Stephen was inspired to make animation of his own when he would join his father at the studio. “Now, children are exposed to dinosaurs at a young age, and it’s part of our culture. But when Stephen started sculpting dinosaurs at a young age, that was quite unusual at the time,” Czerkas reveals. “Stephen was truly such a fascinating person. He was a genius.”
That lifelong interest eventually led to a “full-time hobby” of collecting dinosaur movie posters. Now, the museum has a hall filled with posters from around the world. “When the movie makes it to another country, that country designs its own poster,” Czerkas explains. “So it’s interesting to compare the American and the foreign version. They’re fun, they’re beautiful and they really convey the history of dinosaurs in the movies.”
As the director of the museum, Czerkas wears many hats. Her favorite part of the job is seeing the school children visit. Both children and adults are encouraged to witness the magic of The Dinosaur Museum.
Read about interviews by Braxtyn Birrell:
Cougar Camp and Couture: Building Bridges
Cinnamon Brown and the Eskimos Break out of the Igloo One Last Time
