
Sept. 11-20: The Gallery @ Festival Exhibition, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, Room 2104, Festival Conference and Student Center: “The World of the Ancient Greeks and Romans” is an interactive, fun and child-friendly exhibit that encourages exploration of classical Mediterranean culture through objects drawn from the Madison Art Collection; learn about how Western life today is strongly influenced by the Greeks and Romans; free.
Sept. 11-20: New Image Gallery Exhibition, noon-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 131 Grace St.: The contemporary photography gallery presents the printmaking of Jack McCaslin, JMU professor of art and art history; for information, call (540) 568-7175; free.
Sept. 11-12: artWorks Gallery Exhibition, noon-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 131 Grace St.: JMU Graduate Student Exhibition; free.
Sept. 11-12: Experimental Theatre, 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Theatre II: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”; admission is $4.
Sept. 14-20: artWorks Gallery Exhibition, noon-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 131 Grace St.: Features the work of JMU undergraduate students; free.
Sept. 17: Constitution Day.
Sept. 19: Old Trees Tour, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., tour leaves from the upper parking lot of the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum for Cypress Bridge on the Nottoway River at 8 a.m.: Ecologist Gary Fleming and retired teacher Byron Carmean lead the wetlands tour via canoe and kayak; retracing the route of their 2005 expedition, the guides lead tourists through an impressive grove containing record-sized bald cypress and swamp tupelo, including specimens thought to be over a thousand years old; cost is $40 and includes round-trip transportation and canoes to ferry tourists to the site; participants should bring their own lunch and snacks, pest repellant and drinking water and should wear clothes and shoes suitable for a wetlands habitat; for information and registration, visit www.jmu.edu/arboretum or call (540) 568-3194.
Sept. 19: JMU American Choral Directors Association Choralfest, 5 p.m., Harrisonburg High School: The JMU student chapter sponsors the annual high-school festival that blends the voices of the student guests with college musicians; check the School of Music’s Concert Hotline at (540) 568-3481 for venue and time changes; donations accepted.
Sept. 20: JMU Steel Band, 3 p.m., Room 108, Music Building: Admission is $2 at the door; check the School of Music’s Concert Hotline at (540) 568-3481 for venue and times changes.
Attractions
Through December 2009
Annual Area Youth Art Exhibition, during regular building hours, first floor hallway, Memorial Hall: The JMU College of Education, with support from the Office of the Dean, sponsors the exhibition, which features over 60 pieces of K-12 student work from area public and private schools as well as home schooling groups; for more information, call 568-6572; free.
Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, open daily dawn to dusk, off University Boulevard: Contains a wide variety of trees and plants native to Virginia; call 568-3194 for tours; free.
JMU Meteorite Collection, open daily, first- and second-floor hallways, Physics and Chemistry Building: Features fragments of meteoroids that survived passage through the atmosphere to fall to the earth’s surface as masses of metal or stone; includes specimens from Diablo Canyon, Ariz., the Sahara Desert and the Central European Strewn Field; free.
JMU Mineral Museum, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, Room 6139, Memorial Hall: The Department of Geology and Environmental Science opens its collection of over 550 crystals and gemstones from around the world to the public; for information, call 568-6130; free.
Madison Art Resource Site, 1-4 p.m. Friday and by appointment, Room 2102, Festival Conference and Student Center: The gallery and study center houses the 3,000-piece Madison Art Collection of artifacts and art objects from the Neolithic period to the 20th century; for information, call 568-6934; closed March 9-15 for Spring Break; free.
John C. Wells Planetarium Shows, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Saturdays, through April: Shows are free, with tickets required due to limited seating; tickets may be obtained by calling the Warren Hall Box Office at 568-7960 until 4 p.m. the day before the show and may be picked up at the Warren Hall Box Office; each show is followed by a 25-minute “star talk” that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible; school groups may make reservations by e-mailing [email protected].