Atlanta History Center’s Sheep to Shawl Page 2
MEDIA CONTACT:
Leigh Massey-Besalke
404.814.4033
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER'S SHEEP TO SHAWL, IS "SHEAR" FUN
- Annual Spring Celebration Offers Variety of Family Activities, Demonstrations,
Docent Led Tours, Music, and More –
Spring has sprung at the Atlanta History Center! Beyond exhibition doors and outside to the History Center's backyard, visitors will find that the six historic gardens and trails situated around the museum, Smith Family Farm, and Swan House, are in full bloom. With the arrival of spring comes a variety of engaging outdoor programs and activities to the Atlanta History Center's schedule.
The season kicks off with the popular annual family program, Sheep to Shawl, on Saturday, April 16, 2011 from 10:30 am – 4:30 pm.
Join the Atlanta History Center for “shear fun” as the sheep at the 1860s Smith Family Farm receive their annual spring haircuts. Through a variety of activities, visitors journey back in time to experience antebellum homesteading while learning about the traditional practice of shearing sheep’s wool.
The journey from sheep to shawl begins with sheep shearing demonstrations at the Smith Family Farm barnyard. Children receive a handful of wool as a keepsake before traveling on to other entertaining hands-on activities and demonstrations as the wool is washed, sorted, carded, spun, dyed, and woven into a shawl.
Take docent led tours of the Smith Family Farm. Discover the traditional lifestyle and activities of a nineteenth-century Georgia farm as you interact with costumed living history interpreters presenting authentic demonstrations of blacksmithing, sweet grass basket weaving, candle dipping, wood working, and open hearth cooking. Listen to Southern folktales spun for both young and old. And, the little ones can even participate in egg races!
For more nineteenth-century entertainment, venture over to the Mable Dorn Reeder Amphitheatre at 12:30 and 2:30 pm to enjoy old-fashioned music with live performances from local Southern musicians, Little Country Giants. Step inside the museum, to explore Southern folk arts in the permanent exhibition, Shaping Traditions. At the Garden Overlook hear the traditional sounds of the InTown DownHome band. And, at 11:00 am or 1:00 pm, head over to McElreath Hall for the Waldorf School’s faculty production of the puppet show, “Dawn Strider,” utilizing handmade wool puppets. After the performance, join fellow inspired visitors to craft your own wool puppet.
Sheep to Shawl is sponsored by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners under the guidance of the Fulton County Arts Council and supported by the Poppy Garden Club, Macy's, and the Waldorf School of Atlanta.
This special program is included with the price of general Atlanta History Center admission. For information call 404.814.400 or visit www.AtlantaHistoryCenter.com/S2S. Girl Scouts can purchase a special Sheep to Shawl patch for participation in the day’s activities. For a group rate for Girl Scouts call 404.814.4062.
ABOUT THE ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER:
Founded in 1926, the Atlanta History Center is an all-inclusive, thirty-three-acre destination featuring the Atlanta History Museum, one of the Southeast’s largest history museums; two historic houses, the 1928 Swan House and the 1860 Smith Family Farm; the Centennial Olympic Games Museum; the Kenan Research Center; the Grand Overlook event space; Chick-Fil-A at the Coca-Cola Café, a museum shop, andacres ofHistoric Gardens with paths and the kid-friendly Connor Brown Discovery Trail.
In addition, the History Center operates the Margaret Mitchell House. Located in Midtown Atlanta, the two-acre campus features tours of the apartment where Margaret Mitchell wrote her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gone With the Wind, an exhibition highlighting the life of Margaret Mitchell, a Gone With the Wind movie exhibition, and a museum shop. For information on Atlanta History Center offerings, hours of operation and admission call 404.814.4000 or visit AtlantaHistoryCenter.com.
###