1). N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher: Get ready to run, walk or shuffle…the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher is hosting the first “5K Race for the Planet – Seahorse Sprint” on Sunday, April 19. Race time is 8:00 a.m. with on-site registration and packet pick up beginning at 7:00 a.m. Scenic Fort Fisher will be your route as this race starts and ends at the aquarium. The first 100 runners will receive an organic t-shirt and reusable shopping bag. Afterwards, enjoy live music by The Casserole, refreshments, and vendor booths. Prizes worth over $1200 will be awarded to top three male and females in each category.

2). Asheville Art Museum: The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to screen the documentary film “Throwing Curves ~ Eva Zeisel” on Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26 at 2:00 p.m. each day. In this engaging film, documentary filmmaker Jyll Johnstone explores the amazing life of the centenarian industrial designer Eva Zeisel. The film follows Zeisel’s life from her birth in Hungary in 1906 through her career as she moved from Berlin to the Soviet Union (where she was imprisoned for a time) to New York City in the 1950s.

3). Cameron Art Museum presents a lecture: “Art and Architecture: A Conversation with Dr. Ned Rifkin and James Demetrion” on Sunday, April 26 at 3:00 p.m. Dr. Ned Rifkin is the former undersecretary of Art for the Smithsonian Institution. He has held several museum directorships, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Center of the Smithsonian; the Menil Collection in Houston; the High Museum in Atlanta, and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. Program admission: CAM and AIA Members: $5.00, Public: $10.00.

4). Joel Lane Museum House: The Joel Lane Museum House is proud to host a lecture by Jim Jones on “Comitia Americana Medals” on April 23, 2009 at 7 p.m. in the Visitors Center at 160 S. St. Mary’s Street in Raleigh. Admission for the general public is $15 per lecture and for members of the Joel Lane Historical Society, $10. Reservations are required due to limited seating. Refreshments will be served. Mr. Jones returns to the Joel Lane Museum House by popular demand after his engaging lectures on Colonial Currency given in 2007 and 2008.

5). Reynolda House Museum of American Art: Reynolda House Museum of American Art will display sculpture from the museum’s collection in a small, focused exhibition titled “Figures in Bronze: Sculpture at Reynolda.” The exhibition opens April 14 and continues through August 30, 2009 in the West Bedroom Gallery of the historic house. Reynolda’s collection of early 20th century bronze sculptures presents an exciting diversity of styles and subject matter.

6). Fort Dobbs State Historic Site: Recall the bloody struggle of the 1754-1763 French and Indian War at Fort Dobbs State Historic Site on Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, during the fifth annual “War for Empire” program. From 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. daily, visitors can thrill to battle reenactments, military drills and artillery demonstrations; 18th-century “doctoring” presentations; period music and dances; blacksmithing; colonial cuisine; and much more. The event will even feature a re-created Cherokee attack on Fort Dobbs at 1:30 p.m. each day. This program is free and open to the public.

7). Kings Mountain Historical Museum invites everyone to visit our current exhibit, “The History of Cleveland County: What You Need to Know.” The exhibit features the early years of the county’s development, agriculture, natural resources, education and the textile mills. The Museum is excited about borrowing objects from the Cleveland County Museum collection in cooperation with Destination Cleveland County.

8). Tobacco Farm Life Museum: Heritage Preservation announces that the Tobacco Farm Life Museum has been chosen to participate in the 2009 Conservation Assessment Program (CAP). The Tobacco Farm Life Museum joins 2,400 museums that have participated in CAP since the program began in 1990. Heritage Preservation's CAP is supported through a cooperative agreement with the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

9). N.C. Maritime Museum will offer a “Marine Life Collecting Cruise” aboard a Duke Marine Lab Research Vessel, Tuesday, April 14. Maritime Museum Associate Curator and educator Allison Besch will discuss sea creatures, their life cycles and foods. Participants will see trawling, to collect fish or shrimp, and dredging, for benthic organisms on the ocean bottom such as sea urchins or crab and shells. The R/V Susan Hudson is fully equipped for light duty oceanographic research.

10). Port Discover: How do plants and flowers suddenly appear when the weather gets warm? Toddlers will learn how seeds sprout, acorns grow and bulbs turn into beautiful flowers at Port Discover’s Toddler Time, “Plant a Bulb, Grow a Flower,” Thursday, April 16. Each child will plant a bulb to take home and watch grow. The program fee is $5 per family and reservations are required. Program is for 3 – 5 year-olds and parents or guardians must accompany the child.

11). Hickory Museum of Art: The Hickory Museum of Art unveils its latest exhibition, “The Imagination of Henryk Fantazos,” on Saturday, April 18. A reception will be held that evening from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Coe Gallery. Attendees can meet the artist, enjoy refreshments and watch actors bring a few of his paintings to life in tableaux vivants (living pictures).