Happy Wednesday Smarties. It is an arts weekend in the Queen City. Head Uptown to visit one of the fantastic museums and Friday, it is Art Museum Day and admission is free. The Smarty Team is having an incredible experience wearing our Smarty Lilly scarves for Kaylee, I challenge you to take a day this weekend to do the same in honor of a loved one who is struggling with illness or any other problem. After a day, your outlook will change and you will have as renewed spirit. Get out and enjoy!
Fun Fridays – Dinosaur Day
Discovery Place KIDS
May 18
Join us each Friday for fun, themed activities throughout the Museum that last throughout the day. Calling all little paleontologists! Dig for fossils, make your own fossil and study real dinosaur fossils up close while learning more about this exciting career.
Britax Fitting Station
Britax North American headquarters, 13501 South Ridge Drive
May 18, 8:00am-noon
A car seat checking station is where certified child passenger safety technicians assist you with car seat installation. There they will teach you the correct way to install your child seat, provide safety recommendations, and answer any questions that you may have. For best results, please bring: your child, your vehicle and vehicle owner’s manual, your child safety seat and all parts, accessories, and instructions, a second adult to assist with watching your child while you learn how to install your car seat . No appointment is needed, and seats from all manufacturers are welcome. Instruction lasts approximately 30 minutes per car seat. Cost is free.
Art Museum Day
Bechtler, Harvey Gantt, and Mint Uptown and Randolph
May 18
Three of the cultural institutions: Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, and Mint Museum Uptown/Randolph, are joining forces to offer visitors an unparalleled arts experience.
Nature at Night Hayride
McDowell Nature Center
May 18, 8:15am-9:45pm
Bring your family and experience McDowell Nature Preserve at night. Weather permitting we will venture into our Prairie in search of coyote, bobcat, deer, and owls while taking in the sights and sounds of the night. Come to the Family Campfire early to take advantage of first-come first-serve seating, contact McDowell Nature Center at 704-588-5224 for more information. Cost is free.
Cowboys: Dust of the Trail
Schiele Museum
Opens May 19, Sat., 9:00am-5:00pm; Sun., 1:00pm-5:00pm
Take a ride back in time to the real Wild West. Journey beyond the fiction and beyond the myth, to the real world of the American Cowboy. Retrace their evolution from the Mexican vaqueros of the old Spanish southwest to the hardworking cowhands of today’s Great Basin ranches. Along the way you’ll learn the true story of the historic Texas cattle drives-when men moved thousands of unruly animals north across hundreds of miles of prairie, mountains and desert. As you travel from ranch, to trail camp, to cow town, you’ll discover the tools and techniques necessary for work in the cattle trade. It’s a story of adventurous lives lived in the saddle and under the hat. It’s an epic tale of doggies, drifters and drovers-roundups, reatas and rodeos-bunk houses, bronc busters and buckaroos!
May’s Creature Feature – Nature’s Babies
Charlotte Nature Museum
May 19, 10:00am– 1:00pm
Spring has sprung and babies have been born! Get up close to our spring arrivals including young turtles and learn what different animals need to survive and thrive.
Matthew’s Summer Concert & Movie Series: Kung Fu Panda 2
Stumptown Park
May 19, 7:00pm
Come out to Stumptown Park every Saturday night for free concerts and movies in the park! Concerts begin at 7 PM, pre-movie activities begin at 7 PM, movies begin approximately 8:30 PM or dusk. Vendors will be on site selling dinner food, treats, and drinks. No pets please. Pre-Movie activity, National Turtle Day exhibits.
Sunday Fun Day Fantastic Beasts & Creepy Crawlers
Mint Museum Uptown
May 20, 1:00pm-4:00pm
Enjoy family-friendly craft projects, family tours, movement and healthy-living activities, artist demonstrations, and more! This month, delve into the dark side of craft in the intriguing exhibition Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear. Build a freaky face jug, craft a kirigami spider web, film your own handmade animation with John Lemmon and the READY animator, enjoy fairytales with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, and get your thriller on at a Monster Mash dance-off with Create Don’t Hate Productions!
