NCMC Events from Around the State… December 21, 2015

1). Mount Airy Museum of Regional History (www.northcarolinamuseum.org) invites you to ring in the New Year with them on Thursday, December 31^st from 9:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.  Music will be provided by the band, Face the Music.  Tickets are $25, tax included and all ticket proceeds will benefit the Museum.  Countdown the New Year with the 2nd annual Sheriff Andy Badge Drop from the Museum roof at midnight. Please call 336-786-4478 for more information or to purchase your tickets.

2). Hands On! (www.handsonwnc.org), a Child's Gallery in Hendersonville, invites you HOLLY-DAYS WORKSHOPS AT HANDS ON!  On Wednesday, December 23^rd from 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. join them for Elves Workshop – Felted Ornaments. Ages 7 years & up.  Learn how to make felt ornaments to decorate with or to give as gifts. $20 non-members (includes admission for child participating in workshop); $12 for members. Pre-registration required. Call 697-8333 to register.

3). Charlotte Museum of History (www.charlottemuseum.org) invites you to a Downton Abbey Tea on January 3^rd from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. This event celebrates the final season of Downton Abbey. Join us as we recap the previous seasons and make predictions about how the series will end. The predictions will be put into a time capsule to be opened at our final Downton Abbey Tea. The tea will feature dishes eaten on Downton Abbey. $20 for members; $25 for public. Please go online to charlottemuseum.org to register.

4). Cameron Art Museum (www.cameronartmuseum.org) invites you to join them for Group Singing: Wilmington Sacred Harp Singers on Sunday, December 27^th at Weyerhaeuser Reception Hall.  1:30 p.m. is instruction for beginners, and 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. is the main program for everyone. Songbooks provided, and beginners are welcome! This program is free and open to the public, but donations are appreciated.  Sacred Harp Singing is a dynamic form of a cappella social singing that dates back to Colonial America. Sacred Harp and related shape-note styles are the oldest continuous singing traditions in the United States. The music is loud, vigorous and intense. It is meant to be sung, not just observed. No previous experience is necessary. Learn more about this singing at http://bit.ly/WilmNCSacredHarp.

5). Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (www.secca.org) invites you to the Camel City Jazz New Year’s Eve Party @ SECCA on Thursday, December 31^st from 8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.  Dress to the nines for an evening at SECCA's historic mansion and galleries. Enjoy a concert hall performance by Winston-Salem's own Big Band and after-party with more live music. Hors d'oeuvres and full bar service from our friends at Milner's and Jeffrey Adams, dessert and cordial bar, champagne toast. Proceeds jointly benefit SECCA and Camel City Jazz Orchestra. Tickets are $150 per person or $280 per couple. To purchase tickets contact Connie Schroeder: (336) 397-2104 or connie.schroeder@secca.org. Call Now - Tickets are limited!

6). The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee (www.nccat.org) announces the touring exhibit, “Understanding our Past, Shaping our Future,” is now on view at their Center.  The interactive presentation focuses on Cherokee language and culture, using sound recordings as the basis for representing a coherent story in words and text.  Designed to include community input as a way to develop its content, major themes include Cherokee Homeland, Heritage Sites, Tourism, Family, and Community Celebrations.  The exhibit is sponsored by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  The exhibit remains open through January 21, 2016. For directions and hours, visit: www.nccat.org.

7). The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Whiteville (www.naturalsciences.org) presents “Science Cinema,” on Saturday, December 26^th, featuring Disneynature’s “Monkey Kingdom.” This spectacular tale is set among ancient ruins in the jungles of South Asia. Maya, a clever and resourceful monkey, finds her world forever changed when she welcomes her son Kip into her colorful extended family. Maya and her family will make you laugh and warm your heart as she realizes her dreams for her son’s future.  This free 81-minute film will be shown at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. This film is rated G. The last Saturday of each month the museum will be showing engaging nature and science films perfect for the entire family. Science Cinema programming is funded by a grant from the International Paper Foundation.   Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated. For more information, please call the museum at 910-914-4185 or email Whiteville@naturalsciences.org.     

8). The Blowing Rock Art and History Museum (www.blowingrockmuseum.org) invites children aged 6 years and older to a two-day puppet-making workshop with artist Julie DelRosso on two consecutive Mondays: January 4 and 11. In this class, children will choose a character from a chosen folk tale, and construct their own, large-scale puppets. They will get to breathe life into the puppets they build by animating the puppets in the Winterfest Snowflake Parade in downtown Blowing Rock on January 30, 2016, at 3 p.m. Preregistration is required for this two-day workshop, and ideally participants should be available to walk in the Snowflake Parade, which is part of Blowing Rock’s many Winterfest festivities. Cost is $10 for members, $15 for nonmembers. Register by phone 828.295.9099 or in person at the Museum.

9). Hickory Museum of Art (www.HickoryArt.org), together with Catawba Valley Camera Club, presents an evening with international photojournalist Steve McCurry on Saturday, January 9^th, at Hickory Museum of Art and SALT Block Auditorium. The evening program is being held in conjunction with the Museum’s limited engagement exhibition, Unexpected Beauty: Views from the Lens of Steve McCurry. The exhibition includes 69 images, including one of McCurry’s most recognizable photographs – that of a young girl named Sharbat Gula – taken in December, 1984, in a refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan. Visitors can view exhibit images in the Museum’s Coe and Entrance galleries through May 8, 2016.  An Evening with Steve McCurry starts with a reception at 6 p.m. in the second floor Coe Gallery of Hickory Museum of Art. The artist reception includes drinks, heavy hors d’oeuvres and reserved seating for the Artist’s Talk in the SALT Block Auditorium. Cost to attend the reception is $50 per person for HMA and Catawba Valley Camera Club members, and $75 per person for nonmembers. McCurry will present a talk with Q&A at 7:30 p.m. in the SALT Block Auditorium. A book signing will follow the talk in the Museum’s Coe Gallery. Cost to attend the Artist’s Talk only is $20 per person for HMA and Catawba Valley Camera Club members, and $35 per person for nonmembers. Prices include tax. Space is limited for both the reception and talk. To reserve space, call 828-327-8576 or visit www.HickoryArt.org.

10). Greensboro Historical Museum (www.GreensboroHistory.org) reminds you that there is still time to join in the mouse hunt! It’s the kind of mouse hunt everyone will enjoy. Little felt critters, dressed for the holidays, have made their home in museum exhibits, and smiles are guaranteed for the seek and find in every gallery. Our Mousetastical friends are having lots of fun, too, from checking out a First Lady’s fancy slippers to sneaking into a movie theatre, and will remind you to make a peppermint cane mouse to take home. The hunt will continue through Sunday, January 3^rd. The Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., and on Sundays from 2-5 p.m. It is closed Mondays, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.