State Museum of Pennsylvania Announces April Highlights

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The State Museum of Pennsylvania today announced its program schedule for April:

Making it Better Exhibition, continuing through April 29:  "Making It Better:  Folk Arts in Pennsylvania Today" tells the stories of more than 30 master artists whose works represent a wide array of community traditions. The exhibit is on loan from the Erie Art Museum.

Harrisburg's 3rd in the Burg – Friday, April 20, 5–8:30 p.m.:  Be There and Be Square!– In conjunction with the special exhibit "Making it Better: Folk Arts in Pennsylvania Today," The State Museum will host a square dance featuring noted callers Natalie Phelps and Harry Erhard and a barn dance band. Escorted tour of the "Making it Better" exhibition and dance practice, 5­–6 p.m. Free to the public, with support from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the Pennsylvania Folklife Archive at Jump Street.

Special Titanic Centennial Presentation – Sunday, April 22, 2 p.m.: Attend a fascinating presentation and panel discussion, "The Titanic and its Pennsylvania Passengers," led by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commissioner William V. Lewis Jr. Dr. Lewis will be joined by two descendants of Titanic passengers from Pennsylvania as well as a journalist who has profiled the state's connections to the ill-fated voyage which took place 100 years ago in April. The State Museum event is free with museum admission and is followed by a reception and signing by the panelists of a new pamphlet Dr. Lewis has written on the disaster published by the Luzerne County Historical Society, Wilkes-Barre.

National History Day in Pennsylvania Display, continuing through June 17: The State Museum is displaying winning student entries from the 2011 statewide competition of National History Day (NHD) in Pennsylvania.  NHD is a year-long educational program that engages students in grades 6–12 in the process of discovery and interpretation of historical topics. Students produce imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries, websites and research papers based on an annual theme. These projects are then evaluated at local, state, and national competitions.  Presented in cooperation with the U.S. Army Heritage Center Foundation, Carlisle; the state coordinator for NHD in Pennsylvania.

DOSHI Gallery Exhibit:  The Susquehanna Art Museum (SAM) of Harrisburg presents "Art is an Entrée, Not a Dessert," a juried group exhibition, on view at The State Museum through July 15.  SAM members and State Museum Affiliate Members receive free general admission.

Featured Planetarium Shows April 7 through May 27:

"Stars" (grade 3 and up).  Journey to the furthest reaches of our galaxy and experience both the awesome beauty and destructive power of stars.  Narrated by Mark Hamill.  Saturdays, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Sundays, 1 p.m.

"Passport to the Universe" (grade 4 and up).  Narrated by two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, this exhilarating flight through a precise, virtual re-creation of our universe is an astounding visual adventure through space.  Saturdays, noon and 2 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.

The State Museum Store:  The State Museum Store is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Purchases support the ongoing educational mission of The State Museum of Pennsylvania. 

Holiday Closure: The State Museum will be closed on Easter, Sunday, April 8.

The State Museum of Pennsylvania, adjacent to the State Capitol in Harrisburg, is one of 25 historic sites and museums administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission as part of the Pennsylvania Trails of History®. The State Museum offers expansive collections interpreting Pennsylvania's fascinating heritage. With exhibits examining the dawn of geologic time, the Native American experience, the colonial and revolutionary era, a pivotal Civil War battleground, and the Commonwealth's vast industrial age, The State Museum demonstrates that Pennsylvania's story is America's story.

Museum hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for children and senior citizens.

For more information about the museum, visit www.statemuseumpa.org.

Media contact: Howard Pollman, 717-705-8639

SOURCE Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission