ncmuseums

An occasional list of exhibits, programs, and events at North Carolina museums. Sponsored by the North Carolina Museums Council.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

On Saturday, December 9, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, Asheville, will host Christmas at the Old Kentucky Home with special tours from 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, call (828) 253-8304 or visit their website.

The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum, Harkers Island, will host Waterfowl Weekend on December 2 and 3. This free event includes special performances and talks, and an auction, preceded by a dinner-dessert fundraiser on December 1. See their website for all the details.

The Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, will host OBSERVATIONS—works by Ann Wolff from January 27 through July 29, 2007. For information on this and related programs, including opening receptions, see their website.

The N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher has just announced its January 2007 events schedule. Check it out at their website.

An exhibit focused on hand-on, construction-related activities for ages 2 through 7 will open on January 19th at The Health Adventure, Asheville, and continue through May 6. Details on Little Builders can be found at their website, or by calling (828) 254-6373.

The National Development Institute will hold a Session on Planned Giving in Columbia, SC on January 23rd. If you are interested in more information, visit their website.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Evenings of illumination and wonderment are back at Airlie Gardens, Wilmington, on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from now through December 23rd, during the Second Annual Enchanted Airlie. Tickets must be purchased in advance. See their website or call (910) 798-7700.

Port Discover and the Museum of the Albemarle will hold a day-long science and history camp, Break-out!, for 3rd to 5th graders on Thursday, December 28. Reservations and details are available from Port Discover (252-338-6117) or Museum of the Albemarle (252-335-1453) in Elizabeth City. Port Discover will also host Second Saturday Science on December 9 with How Does It Fly?

Destination Moon is the Museum of Natural Sciences' Natural Horror Picture Show, showing on Friday, December 1 at the museum in downtown Raleigh. Admission is free -- see their website for more details.

The Light Factory, Charlotte, has a variety of exhibit and class options in December and January, including photography and digital filmmaking courses. Call (704) 333-9755 or visit their website to learn more.

The Greensboro Children's Museum is offering a free event from 5-7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 5. Young guests are invited to come in their pajamas to celebrate the arrival of Disney's Pixar's Monsters Inc. on Ice characters to town. Visit their website for more information.

Ingram Planetarium, Sunset Beach, is offering holiday laser shows for the whole family, Tuesdays through Saturdays from December 19 through 30. For admission fee and showing information, visit their website or call (910) 575-0033.

High Point Museum will hold its 23rd Annual Holiday Open House from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 3. Special reenactments, music, demonstrations and hands-on activities will be included. The current exhibit is Beyond the Pulpit: Faith and Community Action. See their website for more information.

The Cape Fear Museum of History and Science
will hold a fundraiser, with its fourth annual Rendezvous - "It Happened One Night," on Saturday, February 3, 2007. For details on this movie-themed event in Wilmington, call (910) 798-4364.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

The Gallery of Art & Design at NCSU has announced a call for entries for SPoT!2007, the inaugural Southeastern Photography Triennial. This exhibition, to be juried by world-renowned American photographer Joyce Tenneson, is open to residents of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee & Virginia. The exhibition will run from August 23-October 7, 2007, and an exhibition of Ms. Tenneson's work will run concurrently in the adjacent gallery. A $3000 cash award will be presented to the Best in Show and other cash awards for 2nd and 3rd place will be available. In addition, Purchase Awards in excess of $10,000 will be granted to enhance NCSU's already impressive and growing photography collection. A catalog will accompany the exhibition. For pertinent dates, submission guidelines, prospectus and entry forms please see their website.

The Country Doctor Museum, Bailey, will host a holiday open house from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on December 2, with Daniel Shingleton speaking at 4 p.m. on the history of public health in North Carolina. At 5:30 p.m., the lighting of luminaries and singing of traditional holiday songs will take place on the grounds. For more information, call the museum at (252) 235-4165

The N.C. Museum of History, Raleigh, will hold its Sixth Annual African American Cultural Celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 27 (free). For more details, call (919) 807-7900 or visit their website.

The Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex, Fayetteville, will hold Live! At the Arsenal on Sunday, November 19 with guided tours and living history demonstrations at 1:15, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. Also, on Sunday, December 3 from 1 to 5 p.m., the museum will hold its Holiday Jubilee. More information: (910) 486-1330 or e-mail mcf@ncmail.net.

The Museum of the Albemarle, Elizabeth City has two holiday events on tap: Deck the Halls: Designers Workshop is on Saturday, December 9 from 10 to 1 (reservations and fee required, call 252-335-1435); and Jingle Bells Are Rockin' from 3-5 p.m. on Friday, December 15 for grades K-2 (reservations and fee required, call 252-335-1435).

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Don't forget—in case you didn't get a card in the mail—to carve out the dates of February 28 through March 2, 2007 on your calendar. The 2007 Annual Meeting of the NC Museums Council will be held at the Holiday Inn Select just off I-40 in Hickory, N.C. More details will be coming soon!



The Cape Fear Museum of History and Science, Wilmington, will open The Lure of the Land and Sea exhibit on December 2 and 3, with free admission during the opening weekend. Addition exhibits are coming up on February 15, 2007 (Civil War photography) and June 18 (Playing Together: Games). For information on these exhibits, Family Science Sundays, Learning Center offerings and more, call (910) 798-4350.



The Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, will kick off the Henry Ossawa Turner: Painter of the Spirit exhibit on Sunday, November 19 at 2 p.m. with a lecture by Dr. David Driskell, followed by an opening reception. The exhibit remains in place through February 25, 2007. Other exhibit-related activities are a teacher's workshop on November 30; a Tuesday@Two public tour on January 9; a Tanner Symposium on February 3; and a lecture on the early photojournalism of Anthony and Julian Dimock on February 22. For full details, visit their website or call (336) 256-1451.



The Textile Heritage Museum, Burlington, will hold its 5th Annual Mill Village Christmas Tour at Glencoe Mill Village—Saturday, December 2 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, December 3 from 1-5 p.m. Tickets are available at the village entrance on NC Hwy 62 North. For more information, call (336) 260-0038 or visit their website.



Current exhibits at the Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, include Live with History: Images from the New York Times Photo Archives (through Jan. 14); Everest Not Everest: A Himalayan Journey with Jeff Botz (through March 11); Painted Earth: Catawba Landscapes by Jean Cauthen (through Jan. 7); and, opening soon (November 18-April 15, 2007), The Paintings and Poetry of Arbon Lane: A Black Man Speaks. Go to their website for more info.



The Charlotte Observer IMAX Dome at Discovery Place, Charlotte, will open the new animated comedy adventure Happy Feet on Friday, November 17; the movie show times have been set through December 21; showtimes through January 25 will be released at a later date. For prices, times and more, see their website.



The High Point Museum will offer a demonstration of open hearth cooking in the Hoggatt House on Saturday, Nov. 18th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free admission; call (336) 885-1859 for more information.



Christmas Decoration of the 1897 Poe House at the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex, Fayetteville, will commence on November 21 and run through the holiday season.



Christmas in the Albemarle: Winter Wonderland is an annual event at the Museum of the Albemarle, Elizabeth City. This year, it will be held from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 2.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Emily Cranford announced that Senator Burr's office will host a federal grant workshop for North Carolina's Museums and Libraries on Thursday, November 30, 2006, in Hickory, North Carolina. The workshop will focus on competitive grant opportunities available to museums and libraries and will include speakers from federal government departments. You may register to attend at the website, or contact Emily if you need further information, by email or (202) 224-3154.

The North Carolina Preservation Consortium (NCPC) is accepting applications for preservation grants to assist N.C. libraries, archives, museums, historic sites, and other heritage organizations preserve their collections. These collections may include books, manuscripts, documents, journals, photographs, film, sound recordings, maps, architectural drawings, art, and artifacts. Maximum award is $2,000.00; application deadline is January 15, 2007. Details and application are available on the NCPC Web site.

2006 NCPC Preservation Grant recipients include:

  • The Forest History Society in Durham was awarded $1,500 for re-housing and stabilization of records in the American Forestry Association Collection. Now called American Forests, the association is the nation's oldest nonprofit environmental conservation organization.
  • The North Carolina State Archives Non-Textual Materials Unit, located in Raleigh, was awarded $1,300 to fund a preservation needs assessment of audiovisual holdings including recordings on discs, audio tape, digital files, motion picture film, and video tape.
  • The Carol Grontes Belk Library at Appalachian State University in Boone was awarded $1,600.00 to support the reformatting of reel-to-reel videotapes in the Howard Dorgan Papers and Helen Lewis Papers in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection. Dorgan and Lewis are two of the founders of the Appalachian Studies movement.
  • The Corriher Linn Black Library at Catawba College in Salisbury was awarded $500 to purchase archival boxes for at risk collections in the College Archives. Material in the Archives includes organizational records of Catawba College and collections from Reformed and Evangelical Churches in North Carolina.
  • The Historic Hope Foundation in Windsor was awarded $1,100.00 to hire a consultant to perform a preservation needs assessment and provide guidelines for developing a disaster plan for collections at Hope Plantation. The consultant will also be asked to identify strategies for cooperative disaster response with other institutions in the region.

On Monday, November 20, the N.C. Museum of Natural Science will host sociobiologist Bert Hoelldobler, showing the film Ants: Nature's Secret Power at 7 p.m., followed by a question and answer session.

The High Point Museum will show the art of cooking over an open hearth throughout the day on Saturday, Nov. 18th (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) in the Hoggatt House. Costumed interpreters will cook an entire fall harvest meal during this free event.

Old Salem, Winston-Salem, is getting ready for its busy holiday season schedule. The details of day-to-day activities are available at their website.

The Health Adventure, Asheville will host a special day on December 9. Visitors can obtain a half-price admission that day by bringing a can of food to the museum -- which will be donated to MANNA Food Bank to help minimize hunger during the holiday season.

The Orange County Historical Museum, Hillsborough, is currently hosting an exhibit --Weaving and Rug Making in the Oaxaca Valley: An Intergenerational Family Tradition, by Eric Chavez Santiago – through December 10. The museum will also host a Holiday Wreaths exhibit from December 2-24. Information at their website, or call 919-732-2201.

Friday, November 03, 2006

The Greensboro Historical Museum has opened a new, 3,000-square-foot exhibition on early 1900s Greensboro, called Welcome to the Gate City! For more information, visit their website or call 336-373-2043.

Old Salem, Winston-Salem, will honor the military with special activities on Veteran's Day, including a drill by the Salem Light Infantry. Veterans visiting Old Salem's museums on the 11th of November will also get a special discount ticket price at the Visitor Center. F0r more, see their website or call 336-721-7350.

The Light Factory, Charlotte, will show Native American filmmaker Chris Eyre's From Smoke Signals to Skins. Tickets are $20 at their website or 704-333-9755. The event is on Thursday, November 16 at 7 p.m.

A new special event will debut at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, on Saturday, Nov. 18 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. Archaeology Days looks at the state's human history, dating back 10,000 years. Visit their website or call Erin MacEntee at 919-733-7450 extension 502.

The Asheville Art Museum
will present the Black Mountain Revue: Spoken Word Performance by Poet Sebastian Matthews & Friends, on Friday, Nov. 17 from 6-8 p.m. The event is free with museum membership or museum admission.

The Greensboro Children's Museum's Sixth Annual Make Believe Ball will be held Saturday, Nov. 11th from 5 to 8 p.m. There is a discount for advance ticket purchases. Learn more at their website or e-mail tsullivan@gcmuseum.com.

SECCA, Winston-Salem, will host a HotTopics lecture on Thursday, November 16 at 6:30 p.m. ($5 general admission, $3 students and seniors), on Regarding the History of the Object. M. Ann Fariello is the speaker.

The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has announced that Cokie Roberts, currently with ABC News and formerly with NPR, will be the keynote speaker of the 2007 Annual Meeting, to be held Sept. 5-8 in Atlanta, Ga.

The Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, has announced a host of lectures, classes, and other live events for December and January. Visit the website for more details.

The Health Adventure, Asheville, will reprise its popular holiday season Rent-A-Santa program as a fundraiser, offering costumed Santas for business and family events. Details on fees and reserving a Santa: visit their website or call 828-254-6373, extension 326.

The N.C. Museum of History, Raleigh or 919-807-7900 has several events set for early December including photographer Tim Barnwell, On Earth's Furrowed Brow (Dec. 2, 3 p.m.); Time for Tots: Let It Snow! (Dec. 5 or 12, 10-10:45 a.m.); (Dec. 10, 3 p.m.); Ralph Campbell, Jr., A Victorian ChristmasHistory a la Carte: Raleigh's Premier Dressmaker (Dec. 13, 12:10 p.m.); and First Night Raleigh on December 31. Check the website or call for more details.