Discovering the Bluff Dwellers, The Rogers Historical Museum
Since the late 1800s amateur enthusiasts and trained archeologists have searched the bluffs along the White River for clues to the lives of the American Indians who became known as the “Ozark bluff dwellers.”  A new exhibition tells the story of that search.  A wide variety of artifacts recovered from the bluffs will be on loan from the University Museum Collections, University of Arkansas.  Panels will feature photographs from the collections of the University Museum and the Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution. 
A re-creation of a section of a bluff shelter will illustrate the ways Indians used the bluffs and will provide a space for hands-on activities. 
Visitors will be able to handle materials such as split cane, antler and deer hide that the Indians used.  Activities will include making a feather string to take home; such strings were woven together by the Indians to make warm robes and blankets. 

The Rogers Historical Museum is located at 322 South Second Street at the corner of Second and Cherry in historic downtown Rogers. 
For more information contact the museum by calling (479) 621-1154 or visit www.rogersarkansas.com/museum.
Opening March 24, 2007 – September 2008
Admission: Free

This piece of a basket found at Indian Bluff will be included in “Discovering the Bluff Dwellers.”  Courtesy University Museum Collections, University of Arkansas. 

Say Cheese!, Shiloh Museum, Springdale

An exhibit of cameras used by portrait photographers from the late 1800s to the 1970s,” said Susan Young, Museum outreach coordinator. “The earlier cameras are hand-crafted of polished woods, brass and leather, a far cry from modern metal and plastic cameras,” continued Young.
Contact: Susan Young, 479-750-8165
Admission: Free

Good Vibrations, Arkansas Discovery Network, Little Rock

This collection of innovative, inquiry-based exhibits was developed and built especially for the Arkansas Discovery Network by the world-renowned Exploratorium in San Francisco. Through hands-on investigation, boys and girls of all ages will be engaged in learning about weather, sound, light, geology and motion. Exhibits include a Heat Camera which displays heat as a color image on a large screen and a Seismograph which will record the patterns of a miniature earthquake made by stomping your foot on the floor. Ever wonder what your voice looks like? Find out with the Speech Dissector which slices a recording of your voice into pieces and displays a visual pattern on a screen.
For more information visit www.arkansasdiscoverynetwork.org

For more information about any of the below park events contact Holly Houser, Historical Park Interpreter at holly.houser@arkansas.gov or 479/846-2990.

Webb Civil War & Antique Collection:

Ann and C. W. Webb will display and talk about an array of items from their personal collection of Civil War and antique kitchen ware.  Meet at Hindman Hall.  Admission: Free

July 22, 2007 -
1 pm - 4 pm
August 26, 2007 -
1 pm - 4 pm
Sept 23, 2007 -
1 pm - 4 pm

Burgess Civil War Collection:

Local Civil War enthusiast Steve Burgess will display and talk about Civil War items from his personal collection, including bullets, cannonballs, and other items found in northwest Arkansas.  Meet in Hindman Hall.  Admission: Free

July 21, 2007 –
10 am – 2 pm
August 18, 2007
10 am – 2 pm
Sept 15, 2007 –
10 am – 2pm

Cannon demonstration with First Arkansas Light Artillery group:

Cannon demonstration with First Arkansas Light Artillery group - Firing of Cannon demonstration every hour from 10 am to 2 pm. 

July 8, 2007 -
1 pm - 4 pm
August 12, 2007 -
1 pm - 4 pm

Spinning Demonstration:

See members of the local Wool and Wheel Handspinners Guild demonstrate the ancient art of spinning thread, and discuss the basics of making cloth in the Arkansas Ozarks.  Meet in Hindman Hall.  Admission: Free

ARKANSAS

EXHIBITS/ EVENTS 

Sense of Place – Reconstructing Community Through Oral History and Archeology

Arkansas Tech University Museum, Russellville  

The Arkansas Tech Museum’s Techionery Gallery opened a new exhibit Saturday April 12, 2008. The Sense of Place exhibit focuses on the communities of Treat and Big Lick and the families who lived along the Moccasin and Indian Creeks in northwest Pope County.  Guest Curator for the exhibit is Mary Z. Brennan, Ph.D. candidate in anthropology.  Brennan has been researching the cultural landscape of the area and talking with associated families since 2003 and has documented approximately 50 sites that are the remains houses, farmsteads, fields, schools, and mills.  Her research builds on the work done by Tate C. ‘Piney” Page (The Voices of Moccasin Creek) and other local historians and genealogists. For more additional information contact Judith Stewart-Abernathy at 479/964-0826 or 479/964-0831

Admission: Free

Virgil Lovelace and Life on the Farm

Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers to celebrate April 12 opening of a new exhibit based on Virgil Lovelace's book 

The new exhibit is based on Virgil Lovelace’s book A Kid’s Eye View of Living on a Farm in Northwest Arkansas about growing up on a farm near Rogers back in the days when horsepower meant the two-legged kind.  On April 12 the Rogers Historical Museum opened a new family-friendly exhibit based on his stories of that childhood. 

Virgil Arthur Lovelace was born on September 11, 1907, in the Little Flock community northwest of Rogers.  Years later he recalled being told that “I was already a squalling baby when Dr. Rufus Rice arrived in his one-horse buggy.”  His parents were John and Dora Lovelace.  Virgil lived the typical life of an early 20^th century farm boy.  He attended a country school, swam in the river, hunted and fished, and helped with the chores. 

In his writings Lovelace described not only chores, but also trips to swim in the White River, Halloween pranks, and picnics after church on Sunday.  He noted that even if it might seem “that I did not enjoy my boyhood, now I realize that it was the best years of my life, and only having these experiences makes me appreciate the luxuries of today: the automobile, airplane, electricity, refrigeration, natural gas and television.”   

Contact: For more information on this and other exhibits and programs, call 479/621-1154 or visit www.rogersarkansas.com/museum

Admission is free. 

The Life Atomic: Growing Up in the Shadow of the A-Bomb

Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers 

The Rogers Historical Museum will be opening a new exhibit on May 10 through October 25.  "The Life Atomic: Growing Up in the Shadow of the A-Bomb " takes both a serious and a light-hearted look at life in the early atomic era.  From a re-creation of a family basement fallout shelter to B-movies and "atomic" toys, this exhibit will illustrate the impact of the atomic bomb on everyday life in the 1950s and early 1960s.     

Funded by Museums for America grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, "The Life Atomic" is intended as a vehicle for intergenerational discussion about the threats faced by Americans in the early atomic age and the threats that face our nation today.  After the panels and a selection of props and teaching collection objects that can be used in a shelter re-creation or in cases will become a traveling exhibit.  The traveling version of the exhibit also will include plans for building a shelter re-creation, brochures, posters, and a press kit.  The exhibit can be borrowed for $800 for a six-week loan period, plus shipping to the next venue.  For more information on the traveling version of "The Life Atomic," contact John Burroughs at 479-621-1154 or jburroughs@rogersark.org.

The title panel of "The Life Atomic."

World of the Pharaohs

Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock

The Arkansas Arts Center is proud to announce it will present the epic exhibition World of the Pharaohs:  Egyptian Masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from September 10, 2009, to June 27, 2010.

“World of the Pharaohs will be the first exhibition of Egyptian art to come to Arkansas,” said Arkansas Arts Center Executive Director Nan Plummer.  “The Arkansas Arts Center is committed to bringing the best art to our state. The art of this amazing ancient culture is utterly fascinating—and important—to human beings all over the world. To see 3,000 years of advanced civilization right here in Little Rock,—it’s a thrill that Arkansans deserve,” she said.

Spanning more than 3,000 years of dynastic history, World of the Pharaohs consists of more than 200 objects.  The exhibition dramatically illustrates the rich and diverse aspects of one of the world's great civilizations and is particularly strong in excavated material from the Pyramid age (2675-2130 B.C.), widely regarded as Egypt's finest hour. 

Contact: 501-372-4000 or visit www.arkarts.com

Funded in part by: Arkansas Arts Center programs are supported in part by: the City of Little Rock; Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the National Endowment for the Arts.

September 28^th, & October 19^th

Webb Civil War & Antique Collection

Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, Prairie Grove

Park volunteers Ann and C. W. Webb will display and talk about an array of items from their personal collection of Civil War and antique kitchen ware. July 6^th, August 24^th,

September 28^th, & October 19^th

Admission: Free

Burgess Civil War Collection

Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, Prairie Grove

Local Civil War enthusiast Steve Burgess will display and talk about Civil War items from his personal collection, including bullets, cannonballs, and other items found in northwest Arkansas on the following dates July 20, August 17 and September 21

Admission: Free

Spinning & Lace Making Demonstrations

Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, Prairie Grove 

See members of the local Wool and Wheel Handspinners Guild and Dogwood Lace groups demonstrate the ancient art of spinning thread, and discuss the basics of making cloth in the Arkansas Ozarks on July 13, and August 10.

 Admission: Free

57th Annual Clothesline Fair

Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, Prairie Grove 

This event features more than 200 craft booths with artisans demonstrating and selling their wares. Living history, musical entertainment, and square dancing are all important parts of this celebration, August 30 - September 1

Contact: Praire Grove Battlefield State Park 479/846-2990 or email prairiegrove@arkansas.gov . 

Admission: Free, Parking is $4 per vehicle