Dinolandia

Dinolandia was a dinosaur art project and pop-up museum by American visual artist Mike Bennett. It operated in a former department store in Portland, Oregon, from May 31 to September 10, 2022. The exhibit featured themed displays with dozens of plywood cutouts depicting various dinosaur species in a forest setting. Dinolandia also had works by other artists, including Julia Hunkler's mural depicting the Columbia River and Mount Hood, as well as Chase Castro's installation depicting hatching dinosaur eggs. There was an original soundtrack by Joe Kye and a series of videos featuring a mad scientist character and a time machine. Dinolandia garnered a positive reception for appealing to a wide age range and for bringing immersive art to an unused downtown retail space.

Mike Bennett's dinosaur art project and interactive pop-up museum Dinolandia operated in a two-story, 22,000-square-foot (0.20 ha) space that previously housed a department store (Banana Republic)^[1] on Southwest Yamhill Street in downtown Portland, across from Pioneer Courthouse Square.^[2] Admission was $5 for adults and there was no fee for children aged eight or younger. Visitors followed a designated one-way route and were required to wear face masks because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There was also a gift shop.^[2]

Dinolandia had approximately 1,000 cutouts in Bennett's "signature" style,^[3] including 67 "whimsically" painted dinosaur figures made of reclaimed plywood, representing approximately 50 species.^[4][5] KBOO said the exhibit was "full of quirky, cute and often drooling" wooden dinosaurs.^[6] Among artworks was a "swaggering" Tyrannosaurus, multiple "impish" Velociraptor, two Stegosaurus, a purple-and-lavender-colored Albertosaurus, and an armored Ankylosaurus.^[1][4] The cartoon^[7][8] reptiles were displayed in a "psychedelic-tinted" prehistoric forest, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB).^[4] The Albertosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus were the two largest figures, each measuring 15 feet (4.6 m) tall.^[1]

One display, called Professor Rex's Collection Room, had black-and-white cutouts of fossils to commemorate the natural history museums featuring dinosaur skeletons visited by Bennett as a child. Following the Collection Room, visitors took an elevator re-imagined as a time machine to a second floor with the Stegosaurus in a green and brightly lit forest.^[1] Dinolandia also featured works by other artists.^[9] A mural of a prehistoric Columbia River and Mount Hood by artist Julia Hunkler was painted so the river appears to spill from the wall and down one of the exhibit's hallways. Another display, called Cretaceous Creations, featured dinosaur-themed works by eight artists in spaces formerly used as changing rooms.^[1] One installation by Chase Castro depicted hatching dinosaur eggs and was made from bamboo, feathers, polymer clay, parts of stuffed toys, styrofoam, and other materials.^[1] Another display was themed as an underwater cave. The Art Closet encouraged children to create new artworks for display and the Artist Hallway had art by Brian Cook.^[9] Among Dinolandia's last displays was one depicting the heads and necks of seven Brachiosaurus, painted the colors of the rainbow and installed over a curved staircase.^[1]

Bennett sought to make the exhibit both entertaining and educational from a paleontology perspective. It featured facts and timelines about dinosaurs and when they lived,^[1] as well as storytelling that incorporated time travel.^[4] Dinolandia had an original soundtrack and a series of interactive videos involving a mad scientist character and a time machine in need of repair.^[1] There were also allusions to the Jurassic Park franchise and other popular culture references.^[1]

Bennett announced plans for the exhibit in March 2022. Small signs were placed in the building's windows. On social media, Bennettt posted a video of him mixing paint, with cutouts of a stegosaur and a Triceratops in the background.^[10]

Dinolandia was open from May 31 to September 10.^[1][4] Thirty-three friends, artists, and volunteers helped Bennett paint, install, and illuminate the dinosaur figures and other displays, which were made with approximately 420 sheets of donated plywood and 120 gallons of recycled paint. It took five people to assemble the Albertosaurus.^[1] One friend Joe Kye^[11] composed the soundtrack and portrayed the mad scientist. Bennett commissioned the mural by Hunkler, which took two days to complete. He said the Brachiosaurus cutouts were the last to be made and "posed a challenge to install and translate from conception to creation", according to OPB.^[1] Curator and sculptor Lana Crooks also helped Bennett on Dinolandia, later also collaborating with him on his coffee shop with a similar "immersive art display" Wonderwood (2022).^[12] Bennett's business partner Teddy Albertson also collaborated on the project; the duo previously worked together on other pop-ups in Portland and would later relocate Mike Bennett Studios downtown and launch Portland Aquarium.^[13]

Laurel Reed Pavic of Oregon ArtsWatch called Dinolandia an "experiment with art in abandoned retail real estate" and said the exhibit "makes the case that filling abandoned retail spaces with art exhibitions is a good idea, one that can inject energy into flagging downtown sectors". Pavic also described Dinolandia as a "joy" and opined, "The exhibit is brightly colored, entertaining, and educational. Bennett's enthusiasm for the project and for creating an immersive space that delights the viewer is evident throughout."^[14] Meg Asby of PDX Parent said the exhibit appealed to a wide age range and wrote, "Younger children will marvel at the bright colors, cheerful dinosaurs and moving lights. Older kids will love reading about the dinosaurs and trying to match the names to their giant cutouts. Adults and kids alike will chuckle at the descriptions." Asby called Dinolandia a "joy-filled experience" and quipped, "It's so much better than a Banana Republic."^[2]

Kat Leon of the Portland State Vanguard, a student publication at Portland State University, praised the exhibit for eliciting nostalgia and for its inclusive atmosphere. Leon said Dinolandia "appeals to the inner child in its visitors" and wrote: "The safety and inclusivity within the museum were evident. From requiring and providing masks for all guests, to the bathrooms being gender-neutral, to pronoun pins supplied to all the employees—as a non-binary, queer human, this place felt like one of the most welcoming and safe spaces I have stepped into in a very long time."^[9] Leon also opined:

Dinolandia provides that space to create, be inspired and embrace joy and happiness in a moment where we could all use a bit more of that... This happiness is not exclusively limited to children—adults especially can receive something from this experience. We can go back in time. We can become young again and embrace the parts of us that desire fun, play and joy. As adults, we need to dust off our childlike imagination more often, slow down and embrace the joy, even if it sometimes feels impossible.^[9]

Suzette Smith of the Portland Mercury said Dinolandia and Bennett's pop-up Crypto-Zoo in north Portland's St. Johns neighborhood were "fun for youths and adults alike" and "a sign of Portland's regrowth from the tangles of corporate doom".^[15] In a 2023 article about Portland's "weirdness", Daniel Scheffler of the music magazine Spin said of Dinolandia: "Yeah, that's weird — it's not something you might expect, wouldn't seem to be precisely commercial, and that's perfect."^[16]

• 2022 in art
• Cultural depictions of dinosaurs
• List of museums in Portland, Oregon
• Stegosaurus in popular culture
• Tyrannosaurus in popular culture

• Dinolandia at Mike Bennett Studios
• Portland artist Mike Bennett goes prehistoric with Dinolandia exhibit, KGW
• Dinolandia, a cartoon dinosaur museum opens in downtown Portland on YouTube, KPTV