1). The Fine Art Museum of Western Carolina University: The Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University will exhibit a portfolio of regional photographs by Ken Abbott that it recently acquired as part of its permanent collection. “Hickory Nut Gap Farm Portfolio: Photographs by Ken Abbott” will run from Tuesday, June 3, to Saturday, June 28, at the museum, in WCU’s Fine and Performing Arts Center. The exhibit is free and open to the public, with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, June 5. (The reception also is for a concurrent exhibit featuring the fine furniture of three regional artists.)

2). Reynolda House Museum of American Art: Sunday, June 8, 2008, 2 – 4 p.m. – “Beat the Heat Tour.” Reynolda House Museum of American Art takes visitors behind-the-scenes to rooms normally closed to the public. This “Beat the Heat Tour” will feature kitchens, laundry and mechanical rooms, ice-block air conditioning rooms, the squash court, and areas below the swimming pool. Visitors will even climb to the former roof garden for views across the lawns. The tour is on Sunday, June 8 from 2 to 4 p.m. For information, please call 336.758.5150. Cost is $12, $10 for members and students.

3). Cape Fear Museum presents “Summer Shorts: Pirates Ahoy!” beginning Tuesday, June 10. Uncover the secrets of pirates who once lurked along Cape Fear waters. Examine artifacts from local shipwrecks, discover the meaning of pirate symbols and design your own pirate emblem and flag to take home. “Summer Shorts” are hands-on adventures for groups of 10 or more children and their adult chaperones. Appropriate for children ages 5 - 14, these 60-minute programs are available Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 and 11 a.m. Pre-registration is required. To register, call 910.798.4362.

4). Greensboro Children’s Museum will be celebrating its 9th birthday on Saturday, May 31st, 2008 from 10 am to 3 pm. In honor of this milestone, we are inviting you to the Museum’s party: “Luau Wow!” There will be festive luau and birthday party music, special craft activities, face painters, limbo, a water balloon toss, a parade, food and a special birthday cake to celebrate!

5). The Mint Museum of Craft & Design: Showcasing the work of six young North Carolina studio craft artists, “Possibilities: Rising Stars of Contemporary Craft in North Carolina,” running from June 7 – November 30, 2008, illustrates the vitality and diversity present among a new generation of artists. The exhibition features works by Vivian Beer (metal), Devin Burgess (glass), Cristina Cordóva (ceramics), Anne Lemanski (paper), Brent Skidmore (furniture) and Jerilyn Virden (ceramics), all of whom are creating extraordinary and distinctive work that is quickly gaining national attention.

6). The North Carolina Humanities Council invites museums to consider hosting “New Harmonies: American Roots Music,” a Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibit. The call for proposals can be found on the web site or via dstover@nchumanities.org .

7). The Museum of the Albemarle pays tribute to Newspaper Editor W.O. Saunders with their latest exhibit entitled: “The Independent: A Century of Progress.” The exhibit celebrates the 100th anniversary of editor W.O. Saunders’s newspaper, “The Independent,” and features photographs, typesetting “leads,” ink, and a few of Saunders’s publications. Saunders was responsible for the idea of the Wright Brothers National Memorial, and was instrumental in making the production of the Lost Colony a reality. The exhibit will be open through July 13, 2008.

8). Ackland Art Museum, “Flowing like Water: The Art of Liquidity” (June 8 - August 17, 2008), a special collection installation at the Ackland Art Museum at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explores how the liquid materials of painting, drawing, and even sculpture have provided analogies to the flow of water. Installed in the Museum's upstairs gallery with artwork drawn predominantly from the Ackland Collection, “Flowing like Water” features works by James Abbott McNeil Whistler, Otto Dix, Minor White, Henri Matisse, and Willem DeKooning, among others.