Tuesday, September 25, 2007

1). "Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure" will premiere on Friday, October 5 at Discovery Place's The Charlotte Observer IMAX Dome Theatre.

2). Author Paul Clancy will discuss his book "Iron-Clad: The Epic Battle, Calamitous Loss, and Historic Recovery of the USS Monitor" at the Museum of the Albemarle at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 4 -- free and open to the public.

3). Also participating in this week's "Take a Child Outside Week" through the 30th: The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh and SciWorks in Winston-Salem.

4). The Grand Opening of the yet-unnamed new Kids Museum for Wake County, created by the merger of Playspace and Exploris, will be held on Saturday, September 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the site of the former Exploris in downtown Raleigh. In addition to numerous events, the name of the new museum will also be announced (www.929.com).

5). Ava Gardner Fest is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Sept. 30th in Smithfield, centered around the Ava Gardner Museum on East Market St. For all of the events and details, visit www.avagardner.org or e-mail avainfo@avagardnermuseum.org.

6). Winston-Salem Delta Fine Arts has extended its "Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over 50" exhibit until October 13.

7). Kings Mountain Historical Museum has opened its annual "Honor Our Veterans" exhibit, focusing in 2007 on the Vietnam War -- the exhibit runs through November 14.

8). The Cape Fear Museum of History & Science, Wilmington has just opened a new exhibit, "Cape Fear Seashells," which will run for about one year as a prelude to a hands-on research exhibit, "OCEAN: explore, discover," slated for a February 2008 opening. The Learning Center topic for October 6, 13, 20 and 27 will be "Simple Machines," and Sunday, October 7 is a free day for New Hanover County residents.

9). At the Waterworks Visual Arts Center, Salisbury: "Discover Craft NC," "Sculptural Books" by Daniel Essig, "Carnival" by Gerit Grimm and "Wind Instruments," a year-round exhibist by Mike Roig. Artist lectures are set for October 11 and 18. Free admission.

10). The juried exhibition "Fiberart International 2007" continues at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, through February 24. A workshop will be held on Sat., Sept. 29 ("The Expressive Stitch: Markmaking on Fiber"; fee), and a Special Lecture will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30 (free with museum admission).

11). The Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro will screen "The End of Suburbia" at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27, and "Paradox" at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4. The opening reception for "UNCG Department of Art Biennial" is at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 7 - the exhibit remains through December 9. On Thursday, Oct. 11, the lecture subject will be "What's 'Modern' About Modernism?" (fee -- call 336-334-5770 to register).