826 National is a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization with locations in eight cities across the country. Their goal is to assist students ages six to eighteen with their writing skills, and to help teachers get their classes excited about writing.
“Our work is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success,” says Oliver Munday, Design Director, who along with co-curators Oliver Uberti and Minh Le are developing the program.
The Museum of Unnatural History is the theme for the 826DC writing center. The same way the “Brooklyn Super Hero Supply Store” is 826NYC‘s theme. All 826 branches function as writing/tutoring centers that have a themed component, that encompasses a store/shop, to help fund the writing center and its various programs. “The idea behind the Museum of Unnatural History is to tell the stories of the lesser known (mostly fictitious) characters, creatures, and ideas that relate to the idea of our natural history,” Munday adds.
Here is some more information the museum bestows:
“The Unnaturalist Society was founded on August 26, 1826 in Quito, Ecuador, when eight extensively unknown scientists sat down around a large octagonal table and declared they would “no longer cling like helpless little babies to the so-called scientific method.”“At their headquarters in Washington, DC, Unnaturalists from all over the world gather to swap stories from the field and share their discoveries with the public. At the Museum of Unnatural History, all of the exhibits, events, and educational programs therein are dedicated to a simple truth: The world is as strange as you imagine it to be.”
These are a few of the products, and the “Unnatural History Wheel,” designed by Munday, that will be one of the attractions in the Museum. The other chapters include: the Brooklyn Super Hero Supply Store, The Time Travel Mart (LA), and the Pirate Supply Store (SF).
The store isn’t officially going to be open until the end of October, but there will be posters, shirts, bags, etc. for sale until then.
Main logotype for the museum.
Main Museum of Unnatural History poster.
Instant Scientific Theory Generator featured in the museum.
Some of the brands/products sold at the museum: Unnaturalist brand: koala containment jar.
Musuem of Unnatural History’s own brand of wood. Comes in a range of dispositions.
Tradescent’s Rarities brand of unfiltered, bottled unicorn tears.