NCMC Events From Around the State… January 30, 2012

NCMC announces its 2012 conference to be held in Asheville, NC, on March 18 and 19. Registration is in process and can be done on-line or by mail; Early Bird deadline is February 17. The conference theme is “Elevating Expectations.” Visit www.ncmuseums.org to register and for more information.

1). Reynolda House Museum of American Art presents ‘Talk by Douglas Fordham: James Gillray and Home Rule” on Tuesday, February 7, 5:30 p.m. Members/students free, non-members $5. Artist James Gillray (1756–1815) was known for his satirical prints about politics, imperialism, and domestic life. This talk will examine Gillray’s representation of domestic interiors, and will explore whether the artist’s vision of “Home Rule” carried both domestic and imperial connotations. Fordham is associate professor of art history and director of graduate studies in the McIntire Department of Art at the University of Virginia.

2). Cameron Art Museum The opening reception for the exhibition “Civil War Era Drawings from the Becker Collection” will take place on Thursday, February 2, 2012 from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. The exhibition features 127 “first hand” drawings depicting colorful aspects of life and action during the Civil War era. These original drawings by artist-reporters for the “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper” were used to inform a reading public consumed by the need to know what was happening throughout America as it struggled to establish its national identity.

3). Museum of the Albemarle Join us on Saturday, February 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for the commemoration of the Battle of Elizabeth City fought in 1862. On site will be Civil War living history presentations, exhibits and displays, live artillery firing in Waterfront Park, demonstrations of the mustering of the troops and various programs by the Tar Heel Civilians that bring the civilian aspect of the war-time era to visitors. Talk to local historians and view the arms, medical equipment and other items of the day. Junior Docents will encourage children in hands-on history activities including period dances, games and chores.

4). Preservation Society of Chapel Hill presents a Black History Month Film Series, “Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery”. “Africans in America” examines the economic and intellectual foundations of slavery in America and the global economy that prospered from it. And it reveals how the presence of African people and their struggle for freedom transformed America. Episode One, "The Terrible Transformation: 1450-1750" on Wednesday, February 8th at noon. Episode Four, "Judgement Day: 1831-1865" on Wednesday, February 22nd at noon. Free admission but donations welcome.

5). N.C. Museum of History will present "Music From the Carolinas: Boo Hanks" on Feb. 12. The program will showcase Hanks' virtuosity in the delicate finger-style Piedmont blues. The program is presented by PineCone with support from the N.C. Museum of History Associates, Williams Mullen, and WLHC-FM/WLQC-FM. 3 p.m. Free.

7). Bennett Place State Historic Site Words of the formerly enslaved will be shared in a lecture at Bennett Place State Historic Site on Thursday, Feb. 16, 6:30-9 p.m. The presentation, "The First Year of Freedom in North Carolina: Pursuing Freedom with the Hoe and the Sword, the Book and the Lord," by Dr. Reginald Hildebrand, UNC-Chapel Hill, will offer first-hand accounts based on his research. The program, hosted by the Durham Civil War Roundtable and the Bennett Place Support Fund, is free to members, and has a $5 fee for visitors.

8). Asheville Art Museum invites visitors to enjoy a casual reception and evening of conversation with Asheville Symphony Orchestra Conductor and Musical Director, Daniel Meyer, and Asheville Art Museum Executive Director, Pamela Myers, on Wednesday, February 8 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. Held at the Museum, this event is free to Symphony and Museum Members; tickets are $5 for non-Members.

9). N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences Weather in North Carolina is certainly unpredictable but Sir Walter Wally is almost always right! Come join us at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for the 15th annual Groundhog Day celebration. The free event is Thursday, February 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the shadow ceremony beginning promptly at noon on Bicentennial plaza in front of the Museum. The ceremony will be held in the Museum’s auditorium in case of inclement weather.

10). Mount Airy Museum of Regional History presents “History Talks” with Mike Wiley- “A Game Apart: The Life of Jackie Robinson” on Thursday February 2 at 7pm in the Museum Annex. Mike Wiley’s performance, sponsored in part by a sub grant from the Grassroots Program of the NC Arts Council through Surry Arts Council, provides a glimpse of Jackie Robinson’s life during a bygone era of separate and unequal locker rooms, of whites only hotels, and of restaurants with only a back door for colored athletes to enter. Witness the hopeless humiliation of a star player who was showered with adulation on the field and became a second-hand citizen when he walked off the diamond.