The Tallahassee Museum has a few old friends coming for a visit this October.

It's been over a decade since their last visit to the museum and this time around they're here for an extended vacation.  Born from the creative mind of the late Jim Gary, these metal dinosaurs have traveled all over the world and it's only fitting that they return as a Tallahassee Museum exhibit.  

It took a lot of skill to bring these beings into existence and what is so amazing about these pieces is that Jim Gary was completely self taught.  

The dinosaurs are made out of recycled and reclaimed materials that the everyday person would consider junk.  Old car parts, metal washers and other various metal scraps used for the pieces come together surprisingly well.  It's no wonder that he was often quoted as saying that “Old Chryslers make the finest dinosaurs.” The imagination involved in creating these pieces of art knows no real bounds.  

Through the years Gary's work has made quite an impact on thousands of young people.

Having made numerous guest appearances on children's television shows, and have lectured in schools throughout the country, he's inspired young minds across the nation. He had often talked about how creative children can be and how important it is to work with them in order to stimulate their minds.  

He tried to encourage them to recognize that they all can achieve great things regardless of their backgrounds.  I wouldn't be surprised if he had felt like all the work he had done with kids was what kept him young.

Even those who haven't heard him speak but have seen the pieces are undeniably affected by his work.  Jim Gary's 20th Century Dinosaurs has received attention from national broadcast media throughout the years and has been featured on the Discovery Channel, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and many others.  It had also been featured in articles from The New York Times, The New Yorker, Smithsonian and a lot of other notable publications. The exhibit has been so many places and has traveled across many highways that even its transportation gets a lot of attention.  I can imagine that seeing large metallic dinosaurs on flatbed trucks while driving down the highway would stay in anyone's mind.