WHAT: 10th Annual Museum District Day

WHEN: September 16, 2006

DETAILS: Explore the worlds of art, science, nature and history at KHOU’s Museum District Day. Enjoy fascinating exhibitions, live music and a family atmosphere at the many museums.

Get ready to enjoy a free day in the Houston Museum District on Saturday, September 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Board a free Metro shuttle and spend the entire day exploring favorite museums and discovering new destinations. Museum District Day will feature fascinating exhibitions, hands-on activities, demonstrations and performances throughout the day. Sixteen museums will waive their general admission fee to offer the community the opportunity to enjoy the district’s diverse displays of art, science, nature and history. For more details about Museum District Day please access www.houstonmuseumdistrict.org.

The offerings to be enjoyed on Museum District Day include:

Buffalo Soldiers National Museum,1834 Southmore, (713) 942-8920, www.buffalosoldiermuseum.com

Beginning at Noon and presented every hour until 5 p.m., enjoy a performance about the life of General Harriet Tubman of the Underground Railroad. The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum educates the public about the contributions of African-American soldiers toward the development and protection of the United States. The soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalries were nicknamed “Buffalo Soldiers” by the Cheyenne Indians who admired the men for their fierce fighting ability. The museum charts their accomplishments from the Revolutionary War to present day battles through more than 4,000 historical artifacts, documents, videos, prints and other historical memorabilia. Special exhibitions include: Women in the Military, WWII and Black Chaplains in the West. Guided tours of the permanent and special exhibitions will be available throughout the day.

The Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum, 4011 Yupon, (713) 521-3990, www.menil.org/byzantine.html

The Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum is the repository for the only intact Byzantine frescoes of this size and importance in the Western Hemisphere. These masterworks from the 13th century were stolen out of a chapel near Lysi in the Turkish-occupied section of Cyprus, cut into pieces, and smuggled off the island by thieves. The fresco fragments were rescued by The Menil Foundation and restored through a painstaking process with consent of the Church of Cyprus. They reside on long-term loan from the church in an intimate chapel designed by award-winning architect, Francois de Menil. This year on Museum District Day, the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum will debut a free family guide booklet and related craft project.

The Children’s Museum of Houston, 1500 Binz, (713) 522-1138, www.cmhouston.org

Fourteen galleries of hands-on, minds-turned-on exhibits and innovative programming offer young visitors and their families a myriad of fun and educational activities. Cyberchase – The Chase is On! opens on Museum District Day and presents math principles in a fun, kid-friendly format, encouraging children to make use of their critical thinking skills and approach math with an investigative, positive attitude. The exhibit, based on the Emmy Award-winning PBS KIDS GO! show Cyberchase, allows kids to be “beamed up” into Cyberspace through a special portal to explore the exhibit’s “Control Central,” the “Grim Wreaker” “Poddleville” and other cyber sites. Also enjoy Motion Commotion an exhibit that helps kids explore the laws of motion through hand-on activities using golf balls, dominoes, tops and tinker toys. Additionally, there will be hands-on activities centered around the celebration Fiesta Patrias, Mexico’s Independence Day. Families can enjoy making tortillas, weaving, making tissue paper flowers, and playing Lotera, a Mexican game similar to bingo.

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 5216 Montrose, (713) 284-8250, www.camh.org

Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980-2005 is the first full-scale major museum presentation of Kiki Smith’s work created over the past 25 years. More than 230 works explore the human condition, the body, mythology and spirituality through diverse media and methods. Perspectives 153: Demetrius Oliver is the first solo museum exhibition for this Houston-based artist who has created a new body of photographic work including a series of photographs inspired by Melville’s Moby Dick and two new slide projection installations. Inspired by imagery and narrative of the art in the Kiki Smith exhibition, kids can make chalk drawings of animals on the front ramp and listen to a storyteller throughout the day. The Museum’s FAQTeam (Frequently Asked Questions Team) — a group of specially trained artists and art historians—will be available to give instant tours of the exhibitions and answer visitors’ questions.

Holocaust Museum Houston, 5401 Caroline, (713) 942-8000, www.hmh.org

Bearing Witness: A Community Remembers, the museum’s permanent exhibit, features authentic documents, artifacts, film reels and photographs from the Holocaust era, interspersed with personal stories from Houston-area survivors and liberators. Special exhibitions include: Through the Eyes of Children: The Rwanda Project, an exhibition of children’s photography by orphans of the Rwandan Genocide. Survivors’ Journey documents the lives of Holocaust survivors who moved to Houston after the liberation. Antisemitism: Exodus to the Holocaust features a collection of miniatures in glass bottles eloquently depicting anti-Semitic acts from biblical times to today created by Burton D. Reckles of Sugar Land. On Museum District Day, Reckles will lead a free workshop for children where they can learn about his process of building miniature models inside glass bottles and construct paper versions of their own design.

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) , 4848 Main Street, (713) 529-4848, www.crafthouston.org

Potters, blacksmiths, weavers and metal artists will make objects on site at the “Gathering of the Guilds.” Through October 1, enjoy CraftHouston 2006: Texas, an exhibition which showcases 52 works created by 28 outstanding contemporary craft artists from around the state. One of the only places in Houston to experience artists working in their studios, Craft Center artists are available every day to answer questions about their work, demonstrate their craft and let visitor’s in on “trade” secrets. The Craft Center is dedicated solely to museum quality contemporary craft and all things hand-made, featuring exhibitions, educational programs, a retail gallery and artists in residence program. Admission is always free.

Houston Center for Photography, 1441 W. Alabama, (713) 529-4755, www.hcponline.org

The Houston Center for Photography (HCP) presents The 2006 Fellowship Exhibition with photographs by the two winners, Houstonian Divya Murthy and Sara Rytteke of Florida and video installations by last year’s Fellowship winner, Serena Lin Bush. This year’s recipients were selected by jurors and FotoFest founders Fred Baldwin and Wendy Watriss. Also on view, Picture This! Outreach Exhibitions by M.D. Anderson Pediatric Patients. Young cancer patients use the camera as an investigative tool to examine life with cancer and life beyond the disease.

Houston Museum of Natural Science, One Hermann Circle Drive in Hermann Park, (713) 639-4629, www.hmns.org

Museum District Day visitors can enjoy free general admission to nine permanent exhibit halls that include dinosaurs, African wildlife, the world’s largest snail and Discovery Place. Don’t miss the new exhibit – free with general admission - Rex Brasher’s Birds & Plants of North America. Artist and naturalist Brasher (1869-1960) created a 12 volume set of paintings of birds and plants he had observed in North America. A selection of more than 35 of these exquisite paintings will be on view. Please note: Admission to the Wortham IMAX ® Theatre, Cockrell Butterfly Center and Burke Baker Planetarium require separate paid tickets.

The Health Museum, 1515 Hermann Drive, (713) 521-1515, www.thehealthmuseum.org

Do mental gymnastics with Brain Teasers – a collection of 20 mind benders guaranteed to work out your gray matter. Learn more about your body and how it works in the Hickox Amazing Body Pavilion, a fantastic larger-than-life walking tour through the human body. In addition, compete with a friend on Mindball – the game where you win by relaxing; get your heart pumping on Pump It Up dance machine; and observe one of the hugely popular dissection demonstrations throughout the day.

The John C. Freeman Weather Museum, 5104 Caroline, (713) 529-3076, www.weathermuseum.org

The new John C. Freeman Weather Museum at Weather Research Center opened in April to educate the community about the fundamentals of weather and help them become weather wise. Hurricanes, tornadoes and El Niño are explained through fun experiments and interactive exhibits. The Museum’s Weather Sphere, a digital video globe, projects various weather situations in a high-tech yet easily understandable manner. The first museum of its kind in the country, this is also the first time The Weather Museum has participated in Museum District Day.

The Jung Center of Houston, 5200 Montrose, (713) 524-8253, www.junghouston.org

The Jung Center of Houston is an educational institution dedicated to individual growth, development and community service. Currently on exhibit in the main gallery: Breathing Spaces, an exhibition of works on canvas by artist Maud Lipscomb, uses images to search for personal meaning related to family, society, religion and politics. The narrative is conveyed through transferred images from periodicals and books juxtaposed with handwritten mantras and sutras.

Lawndale Art Center, 4912 Main Street, (713) 528-5858, www.lawndaleartcenter.org

Lawndale Art Center is an alternative art space dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art with an emphasis on work by Houston artists. The Center presents the work of three artists: Troy Stanley, Betsy Huete and Lauren Kelley. Troy Stanley’s Zephyr, is an installation of tall sails on the outside of the building connected by monofilament to white strings attached to platform in the center of the O’Quinn Gallery. Sail movement causes the densely packed white strings to move, resembling a field of grass blowing in the wind. For her installation, Palimpsest, Betty Huete will copy the most personal letter she has ever written onto the walls of the Small Gallery in black, washable marker. Once the wall is covered, she will wash it down and repeat the process every day through October 14. Lauren Kelley employs video to explore African-American identity and sexuality in Collect Them All! Soft Brown Narratives.

The Menil Collection, 1515 Sul Ross, (713) 525-9400, www.menil.org

The Menil Collection, is part of a “museum village” that includes the Cy Twombly Gallery and a rainbow of fluorescent light by the renowned minimalist sculptor Dan Flavin at Richmond Hall. The permanent collection includes Surrealism master works as well as Oceanic and African art collections. A special exhibit, The Imagery of Chess Revisited, celebrates a renowned exhibition organized by gallery owner Julien Levy, Dada leader Marcel Duchamp, and Surrealist Max Ernest in 1944. The co-curators invited a host of artists to create their own interpretation of a chess set or artwork which explored the metaphors and forms of chess. The current exhibition examines this seminal exhibition by reuniting more than 40 works from this historic gallery show, including most of the original 13 chess sets, as well as numerous documentary photographs of the exhibition. Artists included in the exhibition include Alexander Calder, Arshile Gorky, Man Ray, Robert Motherwell, Isamu Noguchi, Yves Tanguy and Dorothea Tanning.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet, (713) 639-7300, www.mfah.org

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston houses a magnificent collection of more than 51,000 works of art from around the world. Visitors can view works from the collection and special exhibitions in the Audrey Jones Beck Building, the Caroline Wiess Law Building, the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden and the Glassell School of Art. Special exhibitions on view during Museum District Day include: Singular Multiples: The Peter Blum Edition Archive, 1980-1994; John Szarkowski: Photographs; Rare Resources: A Celebration of 25 Years of the Hirsch Library Endowment; Old Master Prints from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Cat’s Meow; Teaching with Art; Crafting a Collection; and The Past Made Present: Contemporary Art and Memory. At 2:00 pm on Museum District Day the MFAH has organized a special performance by Sabor Mexico Theatrical Dance Company of Houston, in honor of Mexican Independence Day, entitled A Tribute to Las Adelitas. This short performance is an adaptation of Amalia Hernandez' La Revolucion, a ballet dedicated to the Soldaderas (female soldiers) who fought alongside their men in the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Throughout the day visitors to the MFAH can enjoy Sketching in the Galleries lead by a local artist. All materials are provided and there is no better way to understand a work of art than to “be an artist” yourself. Art to Wear is also offered throughout the day. Visitors create a work of art to wear using beads, colorful wire, pipe cleaners, paper and ribbon. See the MFAH’s masks, crowns, and paintings of fashionable people for inspiration.

Rice University Art Gallery, 6100 Main, Campus Entrance 1, Ground floor of Sewall Hall (713) 348-6069, www.ricegallery.org

Rice Gallery invites outstanding contemporary artists to create new installations on site. In that vein, Los Angeles design team Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues will create an inhabitable, rolling landscape out of 4,000 sheets of precision-cut cardboard in Rice Gallery. Ball and Nogues trained as architects and use their sense of space and design to fabricate installations that transform the way people interact with environments. Visitors to the gallery on Museum District Day can watch the artists at work. The installation opens to the public on September 21 at 5:30 p.m.

The Rothko Chapel, 1409 Sul Ross, (713) 524-9839, www.rothkochapel.org

An intimate sanctuary open to people of every belief, The Rothko Chapel and its fourteen paintings by Mark Rothko was commissioned for Houston by John and Dominique de Menil and dedicated in 1971. The Chapel encourages the experience and understanding of all traditions and cultures and hosts a range of educational programs, inter-religious dialogues and symposia on critical issues. Support for human rights is central to the Chapel’s concern with peace, freedom, and social justice throughout the world. It is located on the southwest corner of Sul Ross and Yupon, near The Menil Collection.

Continue your evening at Miller Outdoor Theatre and enjoy a free performance, Tapestry of World Dance, which traces the African Diaspora through music and dance in Hermann Park. For information please contact (713) 533-3285 or visit www.milleroutdoortheatre.org.

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Metro rail

If you take the METRORail to the District, you may park your vehicle at the South Fannin Park and Ride Lot for $2 for the entire day. Then, hop on the METRORail for only $2 for a day pass and make your way to one of the four METRORail Stations located in the Houston Museum District. The Memorial Hermann Hospital/Houston Zoo station between MacGregor and Ross Sterling brings passengers to the Houston Zoo (which does not have free admission on Museum District Day). The Hermann Park/Rice U station at Fannin and Sunset brings passengers near Rice Gallery, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Miller Outdoor Theatre. The Museum District station between Ewing and Binz brings passengers to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and within walking distance of The Children’s Museum of Houston The Health Museum, Holocaust Museum Houston, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and The Jung Center. The Wheeler station at Main and Wheeler brings passengers near the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and Lawndale Art Center. The free METRO bus shuttles will make stops at or near each of the four METRORail stations in the Houston Museum District. For METRO information please visit www.ridemetro.org.

Parking in the Museum District

There are numerous places to park throughout the Museum District. Parking is available in the free lots at the MFAH on Bissonnet and Main and at Main and Oakdale; The Menil Collection, Holocaust Museum Houston; The Health Museum; Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston Zoo and Lawndale Art Center. Paid parking garages and lots include: the lot at The Children’s Museum of Houston; the MFAH garage on Binz; the Houston Museum of Natural Science garage on Caroline; Rice University and the Park Plaza Hospital parking garage.

Free Days in the District

Each museum and the Houston Zoo offer visitors a variety of free admission hours and days throughout the year. Ten museums offer free admission year round including Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; Holocaust Museum Houston; Houston Center for Contemporary Craft; Houston Center for Photography; The Jung Center of Houston; Lawndale Art Center; The Menil Collection; Rice University Art Gallery and The Rothko Chapel. The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum offers free admission every Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; The Children’s Museum of Houston is free on Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m.; The Health Museum offers Free Family Thursdays from 2 to 5 p.m.; Houston Museum of Natural Science offers free admission on Tuesdays from 2 to 5 p.m.; Houston Zoo is free five days per year – Labor Day; the Friday after Thanksgiving; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; 4th of July; and Memorial Day; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is free to visitors every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information about the Houston Museum District please access www.houstonmuseumdistrict.org.