- We're at the MSU Broad Art Museum in East Lansing, Michigan, where we help artists share important stories about their world.

And I'm going to share one of those stories with you.

We're standing beside a work of art by artist, Jenny Kendler, that she named Whale Bells.

Let's look and listen.

(bell rings) If we peer under these bell shapes, we can discover how the sound is made.

It's a fossil, a whale ear bone from an extinct species.

When it clinks against the side of the glass, we hear different rings.

What sounds do you make to communicate with your friends and family?

Humpback whales, like us, are very social creatures.

They travel together in groups called pods and sing songs, which can be heard in the ocean for up to 10,000 miles.

Scientists study these sounds to learn more about what whales may be saying.

The artist tells us that when she was little, she loved to be outside and to create paintings of beetles, and tiny sculptures out of feathers and grass.

What can you make and learn from the natural world just outside your door?

Thanks for joining me for this art story.

Your family can discover more art stories at the MSU Broad, or at a museum near you.

(upbeat music)