Gaston County Museum  Open to the public T-F 10 am - 5 pm & Sat. 1-5 pm; 
fourth Sunday each month 2-5 pm    704-852-6025 info-line  

 

                   High Seas to High Shoals
World Premiere Concert   Saturday, Feb. 15th
    www.highseas.info  The Schiele web site
Exhibits
From late January through December 2003, the Gaston County Museum and The Schiele Museum will jointly present rarely seen artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution's original founding collection.
    These unique and beautiful paintings, drawings and illustrations, along with natural specimens and other artifacts, were collected by Lt. Charles Wilkes,  who lead the U.S. Naval Scientific Expedition of 1838-42  to the South Seas and the Pacific Coast. Wilkes was a co-discoverer and coined the name, Antarctica, for our South Pole continent. He later was promoted to Rear Admiral.
    From his early days as a Carolina mining entrepreneur, through his  command of America's landmark 1838-1842 around-the-world scientific Exploring Expedition, to his famous Civil War actions in the Union Navy, to his return to  Gaston County during Reconstruction, Wilkes was involved in significant events of American diplomatic, military and economic history.
    His life contributed to and broadly reflects the growth of the natural sciences, the economy of the southern piedmont, and the rise of the American nation to world prominence. 

    The museums' exhibit galleries will be accompanied by a series of special programs and performances for local school children, regional audiences, and international visitors.

World Premiere Concert
    A world premiere of an original composition  created for this exhibit was held on February 15th  at the Gaston Day School. The Gaston Symphonic Band performed period music, as well as a special composition written for the Wilkes Exhibit by composer Jerre Tanner, who lives in Hawaii. The Gaston Symphonic Band also will play the concert in Davidson at a date to be determined -- after being postponed by Spring rains.

    The concert and music composition program is a partnership of American Composers Forum and the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional funds provided by the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and from Marshall Field's Project Imagine with support from the Target Foundation.

Lecture Series
   
There will be a series on lectures throughout 2003 by outstanding historians, scholars and others relating to the Wilkes exhibit. This lecture series is sponsored by the North Carolina Humanities Council. Admission is free to each lecture. There are pre-lecture dinners by reservation only. See each lecture additional information.

Tuesday May 27
Titian Ramsey Peale and the Social History for American Landscape Art
Lili Bezner, Ph.D., Professor of Art History at UNC-Charlotte will present this lecture about the main artist accompanying the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. The Lecture Series is sponsored by the North Carolina Humanities Council. Admission Free. The Schiele at 7:30 p.m. Pre-lecture dinner by reservation only. Call museum at 704-922-7681 for details.

Saturday, June 21 High Seas to High Shoals Lecture Series*
Discovering Charles Wilkes in the Carolinas and in Washington, DC.

Gaston County Museum Director Barbara Brose is the guest lecturer in this series sponsored by the North Carolina Humanities Council. Admission Free. 11:30 am at the Gaston County Museum. Pre-lecture light brunch, call 704-922-7681to make reservations.