N.C. Museum of Art announces March events

Tours
Explore the Collection
Tuesdays through Fridays at 1:30 pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Free; no reservations necessary.
A daily docent-led tour of Museum highlights. Meet at West Building Information Desk. For individuals and groups smaller than 10.

Meet Your Museum tours
Fridays at 6 and 7 p.m.; Saturdays at 11 a.m., noon and 2 and 3 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 and 3 p.m.
Free; no reservations necessary.
Meet at East Building Information Desk. Guided tour introduces visitors to the Museum buildings, Plaza and related works of art.

Storytelling in the Galleries weekend family-friendly tours
Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 a.m.
Free; sign up that day; first come, first served.
Meet at West Building Information Desk. Half-hour tours for kids age 5 to 10 and their adult companions. Join a Museum guide for a lively discussion and activities in the galleries.

Special events
Lunch and lecture
Curator’s Highlights: El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote to You about Africa
Friday, March 23, at 11 a.m.
East Building | Museum Auditorium
$23 for members and $28 for nonmembers
Linda Dougherty, chief curator and curator of contemporary art, explores the five-decade long career of contemporary African artist El Anatsui and his ability to transform simple materials—bottle caps, milk tins, cassava graters, wood trays, clay pots—into stunning works of art that tell both personal and universal stories. The discussion continues over a lunch catered by Iris, the museum restaurant. To register, call (919) 664-6785. Registration and payment for the combined program is required by 4 p.m. on the Wednesday before the event.

Free tour: Friday Night Art Encounters
Friday, March 23, at 6 and 7 p.m.
Free; no reservations necessary.
Meet at West Building Information Desk. Enjoy a lively introduction to the museum’s collection with 30-minute gallery conversations that take you through a variety of explorations.

Mad about Mad Men spring film series
Film: BUtterfield 8
Friday, March 23, at 8 p.m.
East Building | Museum Auditorium
$3.50 for museum members, students, Cinema Inc. and Galaxy Cinema members; $5 for all others
A party girl wakes up in a strange bed and “borrows” a mink coat for the taxi ride home, jump-starting this sizzling adaptation of John O’Hara’s novel. Liz won an Oscar for playing restless Gloria Wandrous. Tickets are available online at www.ncartmuseum.org, through the museum box office by phone at (919) 715-5923 and in person (East Building).

Kids at the ncma: family fun Saturday
Family Fun Saturday: Transforming Everyday Materials
Saturday, March 24, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
East Building, Education Studio 2
$3 for members and $5 for nonmembers
Reuse, recycle, repurpose! Come learn how to transform the ordinary into extraordinary. At this gallery tour-plus-studio workshop for families with children ages 5 to 11, kids and adults delight in exploring the museum’s collection, creating projects together and discovering one another’s creativity. For more information or credit card reservations, call the museum box office at (919) 715-5923. Space is limited; advance purchase is strongly suggested.

Sketchbook Saturday
Saturday, March 24, from 10:30 a.m. to noon
$7 for members and $10 for nonmembers
Ages 11 to 14
Teens and tweens are invited for an in-depth exploration of tools and techniques used in keeping an artist sketchbook. We’ll be inspired by work in the galleries and Museum Park, and then head back into the studio to play with a variety of materials. Price includes one sketchbook per participant (not per session). Registration is required; space is limited. For more information or credit card reservations, call the museum box office at (919) 715-5923.

12th annual Abram and Frances Pascher Kanof lecture
Lecture: “John Singer Sargent’s Israel and the Law: The Key to a Missing Keynote”
Dr. Sally Promey, Professor of American Studies and Professor of Religion and Visual Culture, Yale University
Sunday, March 25, at 2 p.m.
East Building | Museum Auditorium
Free; ticket from Box Office required
Israel and the Law holds a crucial place in John Singer Sargent's mural cycle at the Boston Public Library. In multiple ways, this one painting exemplifies the artist's hopes for the shape of religion's triumph in secular modernity in a pluralist society. This lecture examines Israel and the Law in the context of its roles in Sargent's larger mural cycle, from this panel's 1916 installation through the controversy that ensued in 1919 and the recent conservation and restoration of the mural cycle.
A reception follows the lecture.

Senior sampler
Senior Sampler: “Taking Shape”
Tuesday, March 27, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Meet in West Building Lobby
$15 for members per session or $80 for all six sessions
$20 for nonmembers per session and $110 for all six sessions
How do artists use positive and negative shapes in a work of art? Explore shapes within a composition and make a collagraph using a printing plate made from collaged materials.

Kids at the ncma: preschool playshop
What’s in the Box?: Seasons and Nature
Thursday, March 29, at 10:30, 11 and 11:30 a.m.
East Building, Education Studios 1 and 2
Free for members; $3 for nonmembers
Tickets required from Box Office; first come, first served.
It’s spring! Come to the museum to celebrate and explore the seasons. Preschoolers, ages 2 to 4, and their caregivers discover a new adventure in the box each time and experience fun and engaging ways of looking at art together in the museum and at home. Activities are designed to stretch the imagination while children explore materials and make personal connections with art and their world.

Auction preview
Friday, March 30, at 5:30 p.m.
Free
The Auction preview combines live music, tasty bites and beverages with an opportunity to preview the works of art to be auctioned at Art of the Auction benefit on April 14. Enjoy the eclectic stylings of local jazz quintet Peter Lamb and the Wolves and mingle with many of the artists, who will be in attendance to discuss their work. This is your chance to see all the exceptional works of art, many by North Carolina artists, that can be yours to take home from the auction! This event is part of Art of the Auction.

Free tour: Friday Night Art Encounters
Friday, March 30, at 6 and 7 p.m.
Free; no reservations necessary.
Meet at West Building Information Desk. Enjoy a lively introduction to the museum’s collection with 30-minute gallery conversations that take you through a variety of explorations.

Mad about Mad Men spring film series
Film: Lover Come Back
Friday, March 30, at 8 p.m.
East Building | Museum Auditorium
$3.50 for museum members, students, Cinema Inc. and Galaxy Cinema members; $5 for all others
A prissy virgin gets ready to sacrifice her virtue to land the advertising account for a mysterious product called VIP. Day frantically woos the virile Jerry, played with great charm and not a little irony by Rock Hudson. Tickets are available online at www.ncartmuseum.org, through the museum box office by phone at (919) 715-5923 and in person (East Building).