Thanks to artists like Charles R. Knight and Rudolph Zallinger, whose prehistoric murals and artwork have graced the pages of encyclopedias, magazines and museums across the nation, the general public can envision a time long ago when dinosaurs ruled the land. And adventurers can do it without a degree in paleontology.
Los Angeles-based artist William Stout can now add his name to the list of renowned prehistoric muralists, thanks to a partnership with the San Diego Natural History Museum through which Stout was commissioned to produce 12 murals to coincide with the museum’s permanent “Fossil Mysteries” exhibit.
During a Nov. 16 dedication ceremony at the museum, Michael Hager, museum president and CEO, reminisced about his days as a paleontologist sitting around the campfire at excavation sites.
“It was usually after a few brews in the evening, sitting around the campfire, that we would begin to speculate on what it looked like here 70 million years ago,” Hager said, “What did the animals look like, what was the habitat like and so on.”
With the scientific background and education, Hager and his fellow paleontologists could vividly see in their minds the landscape and behavior of the period.
However, it was harder to explain to the average person, Hager said.
“We needed help in telling that story that was scientifically accurate and yet easily understood by the public,” Hager said. “Museum murals tell a scientifically accurate story in a very dramatic way. They capture a moment in time, a time so distant that it would be impossible to imagine without the mural art.”
According to Stout, there are only two or three dozen skillful paleo-artists working today. Most of them do book and magazine illustrations, while less than a handful can do murals.
“There aren’t many museum prehistoric muralists around, but in my estimation, none are as talented as William Stout,” Hager said.
Stout, who previously worked as an album-cover artist and comic artist before entering the film industry, has worked on over 30 feature films, including “The Return of the Living Dead” (1984), “Jurassic Park” (1993) and, most recently, “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2004) and “The Prestige” (2005).
Stout has also worked for Walt Disney Imagineering, and his prehistoric artwork also led to the design of an animated television series as well as work as a concept designer for electronic gaming through GameWorks.
Due to his wide variety of work experience, Stout was offered two other projects at the same time that the museum approached him.

All were lifelong dreams, making the decision of what project to accept a difficult one.
The first was the opportunity to design a children’s television show. The second was a chance to design a motion picture around Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “John Carter of Mars,” a favorite science-fiction series of Stout’s growing up.
While each project held a special allure, Stout explained that, ultimately, the decision was easy.
“I though about it and thought about it,” Stout said. “But then I asked myself this question: ‘When you go to New York, what is the first thing you do?'”
His answer? Go directly to the American Museum of Natural History to look at Knight’s prehistoric murals that grace the walls.
“It made my decision easy. Just as those murals were Knight’s legacy, these murals will be my legacy,” Stout said. “It was easily the most important of the three projects.”
Unfortunately, during the murals’ creation, Stout was diagnosed with cancer.
“When we were informed that there would be a delay in the completion of these murals, there was never a thought of trying to find someone else to finish them or changing the project,” Hager said. “It has been very well worth the wait.”
Stout is grateful for the support the museum showed him during that difficult time.
“The museum would have had every right to replace me on this project. Instead, they rallied around me like family,” he said, “and waited for me to recover from my surgery.”
Stout said his collaboration with the museum went smoothly and without the constant changes typically apparent in partnerships with large institutions.
“It felt as if we had the same goal, to make this exhibit the best that it could be,” Stout said. “The staff knew just when to guide me and just when to step back. I thought that upon the completion of this mammoth undertaking ” pun intended ” I would perhaps, deservedly, feel burned out. Instead, I felt just the opposite. I was exhilarated and ready to do more.”
According to Stout, the “Fossil Mysteries” exhibit murals include the largest prehistoric mural commissioned in the last 30 years, titled “Feasting in San Diego’s Pliocene Bay.” It measures 14 feet tall and 34 feet wide.
“It took a director with real vision like [Michael] Hager and the whole dedication and commitment of the San Diego Natural History Museum staff to make the entire ‘Fossil Mysteries’ project “” with all of its components “” a reality,” Stout said.
“Fossil Mysteries” is a permanent exhibit at the Natural History Museum, located at 1788 El Prado in Balboa Park. General admission tickets are available Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the last ticket sold at 4:15 p.m. all days. Ticket prices are $9 for adults; $7 for seniors; $6 for active military, children ages 13 to 17 and students with ID; and $4 for children ages 3 to 12. Children age 2 and under and museum members enter for free.The museum will be open free of cost to the public during Balboa Park’s December Nights celebration on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7 and 8 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“Over the years [the murals] will be seen by millions of visitors,” Hager said, “and we hope that they will inspire some young people to pursue a career in science or art and develop a sense of understanding of this place, this remarkable place … which we live in.”