July 9, 2012
CHARLESTON, W.VA. – Visitors are invited to come “Stump the Curator” of the West Virginia State Museum, enjoy films, take Capitol statuary tours and much more on Saturday, July 14, at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. Programs will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and are free and open to the public. The day’s activities coincide with the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s 35th anniversary.
Joe Geiger, director of archives and history, will describe the online and library resources available on the archives and history website for researchers and genealogists from 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Jeff Pierson, director of the arts section of the division, will discuss the grants and services available from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts from 10:45-11:45 a.m.
From noon to 1 p.m., Susan Pierce, deputy state historic preservation officer, will discuss historic preservation efforts in West Virginia, including an overview of the historic preservation movement and current statewide activities of the State Historic Preservation Office.
Visitors are encouraged to bring family heirlooms, keepsakes and antiques from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. and learn from Jim Mitchell, museum curator, how, when and why they were used.
Betty Gay and Darren Husband, exhibits coordinator and touring exhibits designer respectively for the Division, will present “Conceptualizing an Artistic Creation” from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.
Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the Capitol statuary from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A walking tour brochure will be available at the front desk in the Great Hall that includes information about the history of the statues and the artists who created them. Historic Preservation staff also will be on hand to conduct educational activities for children.
The museum media center will present West Virginia documentaries, including A Moving Monument: The West Virginia State Capitol from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Children and their families can visit the museum education center and make handkerchief dolls and color reprints of old cross-stitch samplers. With a photo ID, they also can check out a video camera and use it as they go through the State Museum. Their videos will be downloaded to a jump drive for them to take home.
The West Virginia State Museum and the Archives and History Library will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information about the 35th anniversary activities, contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner for the Division, at (304) 558-0220.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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