NCMC Events From Around the State… May 4th, 2015

1). President James K. Polk State Historic Site (www.polk.nchistoricsites.org) invites you to join them on Thursday, May 14^th for an evening with author John Bicknell as he discusses his fascinating book, America 1844. Mr. Bicknell will explore a variety of important events from 1844, including the momentous election of 1844. The evening will begin at 7:00 p.m. General Admission: $25.00, Members: $20.00, Students: $15.00. Students must show a valid student ID. Tickets may be purchased at www.presjkpolk.com. Only 30 tickets will be sold for this special event.

2). North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (www.naturalsciences.org) welcomes North Carolina Potter Ben Owen III, who will give two live pottery demonstrations and a presentation on Friday, May 15^th to celebrate the opening of the Museum’s newest special exhibition, Dig it! The Secrets of Soil. A sneak preview of the exhibit will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. The pottery demonstrations will be held from 6 to 6:45 p.m. and 8 to 8:45 p.m. with a lecture entitled, “Roots in Clay” at 7 p.m. in the Museum’s main auditorium. Tickets for the entire evening are $15 for the general public, $10 for members. Space is limited. Visitors will learn how form and utilitarian qualities of pottery influence common styles of pottery today, see how pottery is crafted on the wheel, glazing techniques, and firing processes.  Dig it! The Secrets of Soil runs Saturday, May 16 through Sunday, August 16, 2015. For tickets, call the Museum box office at 919-707-9950 or reserve tickets online at naturalsciences.org.

3). Cowan Museum of History and Science (www.cowanmuseum.org), in Kenansville, presents "Nano Mini-Exhibition," May 7 – August 2, 2015, with a reception, "Nano Night," on May 9, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. "Nano," a traveling exhibit developed by the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network, is an interactive exhibit that engages family audiences in nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. Visitors may build a giant carbon nanotube, play with a tippy table, and discover what ferrofluid does in the presence of a magnetic field. The Museum is open Tue. – Sat., 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Admission is free. Donations are appreciated.

4). Fort Fisher State Historic Site (www.nchistoricsites.org/fisher) invites you to their special upcoming World War II Program. On Saturday, May 9^th, Fort Fisher shifts its historical perspective from the American Civil War to World War II when it presents “Fort Fisher’s V-E (Victory in Europe) Day.” Open to the public, this free program runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features something for all ages eager to learn about World War II. Special guest, historian, and author Cliff Tyndall will be on hand to discuss the period, as well as sign copies of his book, “Greetings from Camp Davis.”  Program highlights include new hands-on kid’s activities, new exhibit items, World War II reenactors and civilians, and a variety of military equipment and memorabilia. Visitors will also have the opportunity to pose with the historical Carolina Beach Moon, a popular photo prop in the 1940s. For more information on the site, call (910) 458-5538.

5). Asheville Art Museum (www.ashevilleart.org) is pleased to welcome back Sarah Stacke, guest curator for Keep All You Wish: The Photographs of Hugh Mangum, for a lecture on Hugh Mangum’s life and work on Friday, May 8^th at 5:30 p.m. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to hear Stacke discuss Mangum’s fascinating photographic process and her own pursuit to learn more about the individuals who are the subjects of the photographs.  Working as an itinerant photographer between 1890 and 1922, Hugh Mangum traveled to various small towns in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia taking images of men, women and children using his Penny Picture camera and a 5x8 field camera. Keep All You Wish features over 35 images by Mangum, along with photo buttons, fliers, contact sheets and original photographic prints from the artist’s studio.

6). Kings Mountain Historical Museum (www.kingsmountainmuseum.org) invites you to the fourth and final program in their 2015 Women’s History Lecture Series, “Radium Halos”, a lecture & book signing by Shelley Stout, on Saturday, May 9^th at 5:30 p.m. Radium Halos is an historical fiction based on the true events of the Radium Dial Painters, a group of female factory workers who, in the early 1920s, contracted radiation poisoning from painting glow-in-the-dark watch and clock dials with radium paint.  Admission is FREE and open to the public.  Donations are appreciated.  To find out more about upcoming exhibits and events, please visit us at: www.kingsmountainmuseum.org  or call (704) 739-1019. 

7). Hands On! (www.handsonwnc.org), a Child's Gallery in Hendersonville, invites to Nano – Imagine and Discover a World You Can’t See – a new engaging exhibition for family audiences about nanoscale science, technology, and engineering. This traveling exhibition opens May 7^th and includes hands-on, interactive exhibits that invite exploration of nano phenomena and real world applications and implications for ages 4 to adult. The exhibit will span the Art Area and the current Go Fish! area and will be available for visitors until August 2nd. Visit www.whatisnano.org for more information via digital media, video, podcasts, and more! An audio description for blind and low vision museum visitors is available at whatisnano.org/ad, which may be downloaded at any time. Hands On! is open Tuesday–Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and can be contacted at 828-697-8333 or www.handsonwnc.org for more.

8). Vance Birthplace State Historic Site (www.nchistoricsites.org/vance) invites you to join them for “Hardcore Homestead” on Saturday, May 16^th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Join local historians, primitive skills specialists, and wilderness experts on an exploration of the ways 19^th-century homesteaders and farmsteaders used, changed, and survived the mountains of Western North Carolina. Bring the whole family and join us for an entire day of engaging demonstrations, lectures, and workshops. Visit the full calendar of events online at http://hscal.ncdcr.gov/vance or follow us on Facebook.

9). The Blowing Rock Art and History Museum (www.blowingrockmuseum.org) is excited to be partnering with the Blowing Rock Historical Society and the Blowing Rock Fire Department on its upcoming exhibition, 1923: The Blowing Rock Fire, open to the public from May 9^th - July 26^th, 2015. The exhibition takes a detailed look at a significant point in Blowing Rock’s history that left the town anxious to start anew. A reception for this exhibition and others on view will be held during BRAHM’s Summer Exhibition Celebration on Saturday, May 9th from 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m., following Blowing Rock’s Art in the Park. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please call (828) 295-9099 or visit www.blowingrockmuseum.org.

10). The Museum of the Cape Fear (www.ncdcr.gov/ncmcf) invites you to a presentation on Civil War Bands by Dr. Robert Downing on Saturday, May 9^th at 2:00 p.m. Many local residents will recognize Dr. Downing as the founder of the Regiment Band, 11th NC Troops. He founded the band in 1981 with a group of dedicated musicians from Fayetteville. Though retired, Dr. Downing now conducts presentations to keep alive the history and the purpose of Civil War bands. At the presentation, there will be 5 original Civil War-era instruments on display as well as many reproduction instruments representative of the time period.  The event is free and open to the public. For more information please call 910/486-1330. The presentation is part of the community’s 31 Day Salute observance held throughout the entire month of May.