Inside the Mertz Library, a world of stories invites you to dig deeper into the long history of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, with explorations of the era of discovery that inspired Lewis Carroll’s imaginative tale, a look into its lasting popularity around the world, scientific dives into some of the plants and fungi in the book—and contemporary art that draws from Alice’s journey.
Second Floor Rotunda | Expand Your Mind and Giant Triple Mushroom
Nature is a curious and unpredictable thing, and its story unfolds in the Mertz Library, where you’ll see a monumental mushroom sculpture—Giant Triple Mushroom, by artist-biologist Carsten Höller—greeting you in the Rotunda. Wander the space to discover the place where science and psychedelics meet, with a fascinating display of the psychoactive plants and fungi most associated with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and the miraculous and sometimes dangerous ways they can affect our brains.
Second Floor Art Gallery | Visions of Alice
Modern-day works fill the second floor gallery, spotlighting contemporary art inspired by Alice, and creations that invite us to look at our world from fascinating new perspectives. Peer into miniature dioramas—part of the Portals for Alice series by Patrick Jacobs—and sit for a viewing of Sunflowers, a video piece by African American artist Paula Wilson that asks you to consider women’s identities through the lens of cultural history. Awe-inspiring dreamscapes by Indonesian painter Agus Putu Suyadnya show us environmental conservation taken to imaginative new heights, while Beverly Semmes’s In and Around the Garden dissects power and influence with iconoclastic video and photography you won’t soon forget.
Sixth Floor Rotunda | We Are All Alice
In Wonderland, we’re ALL Alice! Her story has resonated across generations, nations, and continents, and here, you can pore over the many artistic, theatrical, and pop reimaginings of Alice’s adventures interpreted through so many varied eras and cultures.
Sixth Floor Gallery | Age of Wonder
The Victorian period in which Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) was first published was a time of exploration and wonder that some might call mad. Age of Wonder shows you the era’s impact on this timeless story, with original manuscripts, illustrations, and rare first-edition printings of Alice. See how famed evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin and his fellow scientists of the time turned our understanding of the natural world on its head, and take in photos by Cuban artist Abelardo Morell that show us everyday items and situations through Lewis Carroll’s curious lens.
