Harrisburg, PA – The State Museum of Pennsylvania today announced its program schedule for October 2015:
New Exhibit: “The Pennsylvania Turnpike: America’s First Superhighway”: The first in a series of modular upgrades to the museum’s popular second floor gallery opens to the public on October 2. This new exhibit highlights the Turnpike’s contribution to the ongoing quest to improve the state’s transportation infrastructure. By tunneling through the mountains rather than routing over or around them, and maintaining uniform design and construction standards across its entire length, the original 160-mile section of roadway cut travel time between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh by nearly half.
Learn@Lunchtime/National Fossil Day: Join Museum Volunteer Sid Hostettler and Museum Educator Cherie Trimble in celebrating National Fossil Day on Wednesday, October 14. This year’s theme is “Cenozoic Era Life and Landscapes”. The Cenozoic is commonly referred to as the "Age of Mammals", because of the great proliferation and diversity of mammals which evolved and successfully inhabited terrestrial and marine environments worldwide during this period. This era of "Recent Life" spans from 66 million years ago to the present. Join Cherie and Sid from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM near the Mastodon in the Paleontology Gallery to explore fossils from the era. General admission to the Museum is free during the hours of the event.
Night of the Great Pumpkin & 3rd in the Burg: From 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM on Friday, October 16, Get Gross for Halloween! Join the museum staff and the Department of Health for this family-friendly event, Night of the Great Pumpkin. Make a “germy” craft and poster, grab a treat, and attend special presentations throughout the night including the show Grossology and You in the Planetarium (showtimes: 6:00 PM, 6:45 PM, 7:30 PM, and 8:15 PM). Costumes are encouraged and admission to Night of the Great Pumpkin is free of charge as part of 3rd in the Burg.
Community Free Day: Join Nathaniel Gadsden’s Writers Workshop and Jump Street at the State Museum from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Sunday, October 18 for Everyone Has a Story to Tell: The African American Story-Telling Festival. Admission is free for this community event.
New Exhibit: “The Pennsylvania Modern”: In recognition of the 50th anniversary of The State Museum and Archives Complex, The State Museum presents “The Pennsylvania Modern: A Juried Photography Exhibition of Midcentury Modern Architecture.” This photography exhibit honors iconic modern architecture throughout the commonwealth and documents this important architecture which is often “hidden in plain sight.” Photographers focused on both the details and the overall views of residences, schools, commercial structures, religious buildings, among others. In addition, buildings designed by several world-famous architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra and Louis Kahn were captured by photographers for the show. “The Pennsylvania Modern” opens Sunday, October 25, 2015 with a 2:00 PM awards ceremony. Admission to the museum and the ceremony is free.
The Planetarium at The State Museum of Pennsylvania: The planetarium is offering two shows from October 1 through November 29, 2015:
Dynamic Earth (grade 4 and up):
Explore the inner workings of Earth's climate system. With visualizations based on satellite monitoring data and advanced supercomputer simulations, this cutting-edge production follows a trail of energy that flows from the sun into the interlocking systems that shape our climate: the atmosphere, oceans and the biosphere.
Narrated by Liam Neeson
11:00 AM Wednesday, Thursday & Friday
11:00 AM and 1:00 PM Saturday
1:00 PM Sunday
Please note Dynamic Earth will not be showing the week of October 25-31.
Solar Superstorms (grade 6 and up):
A fury is building on the surface of the sun: high-velocity jets, a fiery tsunami wave that reaches 100,000 kilometers high and rising loops of electrified gas. What’s driving these strange phenomena? How will they affect planet Earth? Find the answers as we venture into the seething interior of our star.
Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch
12:00 PM Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
12:00 PM and 2:00 PM Saturday
2:00 PM Sunday
Special Presentation: October 24-October 31
Grossology and You
It’s a normal day for one teen-age boy until he encounters Scabby, Boogie and Flatus, three game show contestants who are determined to learn which system of the human body – immune, respiratory, or digestive – is the most important. It’s funny, educational and…just a little gross!
11:00 AM Wednesday, Thursday & Friday
11:00 AM and 1:00 PM Saturday
1:00 PM Sunday
Planetarium shows are $3 per person in addition to general admission. Planetarium admission is free to members of the State Museum Affiliate and the Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation.
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 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Admission is $7 for adults (ages 12-64), $6 for senior citizens (ages 65 and up), and $5 for children (ages 1-11).
For more information about the museum, visit www.statemuseumpa.org.
MEDIA CONTACT: Howard Pollman, 717-705-8639
# # #