Feb. 27, 2019
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville has planned a full schedule of programs throughout the month of March for visitors of all ages. Guests can attend the openings of the Featured Artist of the Month exhibit and the 37thAnnual Marshall County Student Art Show. Other activities includeLibrary Story Time, Fossil Day, the lecture and film series, and the monthly craft activity at the museum’s Discovery Table, planting native grasses in cups to decorate and take home. All events are free and open to the public.
Schedule of March Programs
Saturday, March 2, noon – 3 p.m. – Exhibit Opening Reception for Featured Artist Eric Dye. A Wheeling native, Dye is the owner and operator of Eric Dye Art Studio, located in Bethlehem, W.Va., where he works as a painter, sculptor, teacher and artistic storyteller, and offers private and group lessons. The exhibit will feature pastel drawings, oil paintings and sculptures in wood and stone.
Saturday, March 9, 2 – 4 p.m. – 37th Annual Marshall County Student Art Show Opening Reception. The exhibit includes artwork by middle and high school students in Marshall County in a variety of media such as painting, drawing, photography and sculpture. Prize ribbons will be awarded to the best works in each category, and the public is invited to vote for “Best of Show” during the opening reception. The exhibit is organized and installed by students from the Cameron High School Art Club under the guidance of art teacher Amanda Jenree and will be on display through Saturday, April 6.
Saturday, March 9; 1, 2 and 3 p.m. – Second Saturday Film Series, “Lascaux Revisited,” a 35-minute film from the French Ministry of Culture, presents the exquisite images preserved in the Lascaux cave for over 17,000 years. These are the only images filmed in the cave since it was closed to the public in 1963. The film illustrates the ancient roots of today’s artistic talent.
Friday, March 22, 11 a.m. – Library Story Time with Kayla Grose from the Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library. The program theme will be art and artists and will include storybook reading, a craft project and visiting the art exhibits. Participants must preregister by calling Grose at the library at (304) 845-6911.
Saturday, March 23, noon – 4 p.m. – Fossil Day, B. Mitchel Blake, Jr., West Virginia State Geologist and director of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey (WVGES) in Morgantown, will provide expert identifications and answer questions regarding fossils brought in by the public. Activities include looking for small fossils in a sand “matrix,” making a clay fossil bed which will be excavated in September and searching for clues in a museum treasure hunt. Members of the West Virginia Fossil Club will display West Virginia fossils, and will be available to discuss fossils and club activities such as fossil hunting.
Thursday, March 28, 7 p.m. – Lecture Series, John Boleigh, archaeologist for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mineral Resources, will present “Oetzi the Iceman’s Survival Kit.” Over 5,300 years ago, a man now known as Oetzi was murdered and died in the Austrian Alps where his body became mummified by being covered by glacial ice. Today, Oetzi’s body, clothing and tools indicate that he was a hunter and a traveler. A closer look at his traveling gear draws parallels with camping gear used today and teaches about survival skills that have been practiced for thousands of years.
Operated by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex features one of the largest conical burial mounds built by the Adena people between 250 - 150 B.C. and ranks as one of the largest earthen mortuary mounds anywhere in the world. Exhibits and displays in the Delf Norona Museum interpret what is known about the lives of these prehistoric people and the construction of the mound. The complex also houses the West Virginia Archaeological Research and Collections Management Facility.
Admission to Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex is free. The Delf Norona Museum, located at 801 Jefferson Avenue, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed Sunday and Monday. Outdoor access closes at 4:30 p.m.
For more information about activities and programs at Grave Creek Mound, contact Andrea Keller, cultural program coordinator, at (304) 843-4128 or andrea.k.keller@wv.gov or visit www.facebook.com/gravecreekmound and www.twitter.com/gravecreekmound.
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