Welcome to the Western Interior Paleontological Society

A workshop lead by Dr. Herbert W. Meyer and Dr. Deborah Woodcock

The Petrified Forest of Sexi, Peru

Check out articles from the Paleo Portal

If you are not a member and are visiting this web site, we hope that you will join us. Come to some of our meetings and visit with our members. We have excellent speakers, presentations, and socializing starting at 7 pm most first Mondays of the month (September to May) in Ricketson Auditorium at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

The doors to the west entrance of the museum will be opened until 7:30. After that they will be locked. These doors have to be guarded while they are unlocked so a WIPS volunteer will be watching the entrance until the program begins. No food or beverages are allowed in this atrium.

For book and literature reviews, articles about paleontology and more, join WIPS and get a subscription to our newsletter, Trilobite Tales.

Next Meeting

Monday, March 1--7:00PM

Dennis J. Wilson, Pangaea Designs

Paleontological Reconstructions from the demented mind and world of Dennis J. Wilson

Oviraptorid nest Paleoartistia starvikus with Velociraptor One of the worlds best paleontological reconstruction artists, Dennis J. Wilson will give a rare look inside his studio and his head on how he creates these one-of-a-kind paleontological sculptures. The lecture will focus on the projects and processes used to create his models and fossil reconstructions. One model highlighted in the lecture is a unique four winged dinosaur, Microraptor gui, recently discovered in China. The process of unraveling this evolutionary anomaly from the fossil slab and bringing it to a 3-dimensional life reconstruction will be discussed. Other examples will include fossil reconstructions, such as an extremely rare Alioramus skull that came to us about 20-25% complete.

Dennis received his BFA in sculpture and painting from Rhode Island School of Design in 1988. He went to Seattle where he was a studio assistant for well-known artists, Dale Chihuly Tarbosaurus batsaar and Buster Simpson. His skill and aptitude for anatomy along with his abiding interest in the natural world led to a position as a preparator at the American Museum of Natural History to work on their multi-million dollar renovation of the 4th Floor Fossil Halls. During his 5 year tenure at the AMNH, Dennis refined his skill as a reconstruction artist, preparator and exhibit designer, while expanding his knowledge of the natural sciences under the guidance of the museum scientists. Dennis’ works and sculptures have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.

Dennis started Pangaea Designs 15 years ago and has built a reputation for producing not only paleontological reconstructions but also extant animals as well. Recently we completed a life reconstruction of Archaeopteryx, using real feathers, for the Melbourne Museum and are currently working on a skeletal reconstruction of a 25 foot Deinosuchus for the new renovation of the Utah Museum of Natural History, we are also working on completing a Tarbosaur skull for a private collector.

Dennis merges form and function in every sculpture with the most scientific data available ensuring fidelity to both art and science that creates, says paleo-ornithologist, Dr. Luis Chiappe, “a crucial bridge between researchers and the museum audience.”

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