NCMC Events From Around the State… November 21, 2011

1). Turchin Center for the Visual Arts Don’t miss Gabriel Lehman’s exhibition “My World”, ending on December 3rd! Gabriel Lehman creates landscapes and scenes with a unique style that stirs up childhood memories of simpler times when imaginations were allowed to run wild. Visit our website or call 828-262-3017 to learn more!

2). High Point Museum presents “28th Annual Holiday Open House” on Sunday, December 4, 1 pm to 4 pm. This annual event has become a tradition with local families. Come for a day of special reenactments, music, demonstrations, refreshments and hands-on activities like candle dipping! Free and fun for all ages. No reservations required.

3). Cameron Art Museum presents Book reading, Discussion and Signing: “Meet the Help ~ An Anthology of True Stories” by Rhonda Bellamy and Bertha Boykin Todd on Sat. Dec. 3, 2:00 pm. Free and open to the public. “Meet the Help” offers rare glimpses into the lives of domestic workers and their employers. Through the eyes of 40 different people from 10 states, the book looks at the relationships from all perspectives. In narratives compiled and written by veteran journalist Rhonda Bellamy and community leader Bertha Todd, readers will get factual accounts of servants and the served. Copies of “Meet the Help” will be available for purchase during the program.

4). Historic Oak View County Park presents “Sleigh Rides and Cider: A Winter Night at Oak View” on Saturday, December 3rd from 5:00-7:30pm. This annual winter event is free and open to the public. This event features decorations and displays showing “Christmas at the Oak View Farm: How they celebrated from 1850 to 1950” on view in the Main House, for starters. Then visitors can ride in a horse-drawn carriage through Oak View’s Pecan Grove, listen to holiday music and stories in the 1855 farmhouse, drink hot apple cider near the 1825 Plank Kitchen, browse and buy handcrafted decorations and crafts, and, of course, visit with Old St. Nick!

5). Orange County Historical Museum On November 26 the Orange County Historical Museum will be hosting "Home for the Holidays: A Storytelling Event" at Leland Little's Auction Gallery with local authors including Daniel Wallace, John Claude Bemis, Stephen Demorest, Jill McCorkle and Alan Gurganus. At 7:30 is the wine and cheese reception, with music from a local bluegrass trio and the storytelling begins at 8 pm. Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door.

6). HandsOn! the children’s museum in downtown Hendersonville, invites you join us for “Ivy & Bean Day” on November 22nd all day. If you love these best friends from literature, you will enjoy our crafts and give-aways. Craft is free with $5 admission and is free for museum members. This event is sponsored by Fountainhead Bookstore.

7). Cape Fear Museum Be inspired by the riveting—sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous—stories of the first Jewish immigrants to North Carolina. “Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina”, which opened at Cape Fear Museum of History and Science in October, is in many ways the story of the state itself. The documentary, produced by the Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina, will show Sunday, December 4 at 2 p.m. Run time is 81 minutes. The documentary as well as the accompanying book is for sale in the Museum Shop.

8). Reynolda House One of the Piedmont Triad’s newest holiday traditions returns this year as Reynolda House Museum of American Art hosts three evenings of candlelight guided tours on Thursday, Dec. 8, Friday, Dec. 9, and Saturday, Dec. 10. Tours will be offered every half hour from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Tours conclude with live holiday entertainment and refreshments, and beer and wine will be available for purchase. Also included is admission to “Modern Masters from the Smithsonian American Art Museum,” the museum’s featured fall exhibition that has received critical acclaim.

9). N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher Artists have long been enchanted by the sea and its creatures.The N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher, as a learning center for Coastal America, is now accepting original ocean-inspired artwork from full-time students, kindergarten to university level. The contest encourages young artists to use their creativity and talent to express the importance of our oceans, both personally and globally. Submissions will be judged on visual impact, communication of the ocean literacy principle, and artistic merit. Categories are defined by grade levels. Participating teachers are able to submit their top three entries to the Aquarium by Dec. 20, 2011.

10). Hunter Library at Western Carolina University has released “Travel WNC” a new digital collection. The online exhibit includes images and commentary about 27 towns and communities in western North Carolina over five decades. Visitors can follow a route along footpaths and wagon trails in the 1890s, take a train ride in the 1910s, and drive by car along mountain roads in the 1930s. This digital resource makes rare and unique research materials images from Hunter Library’s Special Collections accessible to students, researchers, teachers, and the viewing public. Photographs and documents can be accessed from a searchable database.