It also appears that the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, closed for three years for renovations and expansion, will at last begin a phased reopening this spring. On Feb. 15 the museum, official repository of the city's material culture, is scheduled to open two small front galleries. The entire three-story museum, on South Seventh Street near Market Street, will reopen in late June, says its chief executive, Charles Croce.
- Stephan Salisbury, Inquirer culture writer
Spring Arts - Museums:
"From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen" (National Constitution Center, Feb. 17-Sept. 3) The Constitution Center will host a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show celebrating Bruce Springsteen's "commitment to illuminating the struggles and triumphs of 'We the People.' " Photos, scrapbooks, handwritten lyric sheets, the Boss' Fender Esquire featured on the cover of Born to Run (plus his duds from the same cover), and the 1993 Oscar he won for best original song ("Streets of Philadelphia"). (215-409-6600 or http://www.constitutioncenter.org)
"The Academy at 200: The Nature of Discovery" (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, opens March 24) To mark its bicentennial, the academy will mount a yearlong exhibition to celebrate its past and ongoing research and collecting. A giant skeleton of the now-extinct Irish elk will greet visitors to the show. Special programs will run concurrently, including a series by the academy's Center for Environmental Policy on issues of sustainability and the environment. (215-299-1000 or http://www.ansp.org)
"The Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Biblical Times" (Franklin Institute, May 12-Oct.14) This show contains what is believed to be the largest collection of ancient artifacts from Israel ever assembled in North America. The centerpieces of the traveling exhibition are a trove of 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls and a three-ton stone from the Western Wall in Jerusalem. It also includes weapons, religious objects, stone carvings, textiles, and mosaics. (215-448-1200 or http://www2.fi.edu)
"MAYA.2012: Lords of Time" (Penn Museum, May 5-Jan. 13, 2013) Ancient Mayans had a thing about time, and now visitors to the Penn Museum can see how big a deal it was to them. The museum will display more than 100 objects, including some recently excavated by museum archaeologists at Copan in Honduras. The Mayans created intricate calendar systems; their rulers derived power as "lords of time." The interactive exhibit will allow visitors to walk among sculptures and full-sized replicas of major monuments. (215-898-4000 or http://www.penn.museum)
"Titanic: The Rise of Rosenbach" (The Rosenbach Museum and Library, Feb. 15-June 24) This exhibition will explore the relationship between A.S.W. Rosenbach and young Harry Widener, a bibliophile who went down with the Titanic nearly 100 years ago, on April 15, 1912. Rosenbach went on to help Widener's mother create a library at Harvard University. The show will examine these intertwined lives and allow visitors to savor Titanic book tales. (215-732-1600 or http://www.rosenbach.org)
"The Constitution's 225th: Freedom Is Calling" (National Constitution Center, Jan. 18-Sept. 17) The center is launching a year-long suite of programs commemorating the 225th anniversary of the signing of the nation's fundamental legal document. Events, which will highlight the electoral process, among other things, culminate with the Liberty Medal ceremony and an array of Constitution Day festivities. (215-409-6600 or http://www.constitutioncenter.org)
"Tempus Fugit" (American Philosophical Society Museum, April 13-Dec. 31) The APS Museum has commissioned Chicago artist Antonia Contro to create an exhibition pairing her work with pieces she has selected from the society's collections, among them a ticket to Charles Darwin's funeral at Westminster Abbey and a computer tree created by the Ballistic Research Laboratories Electronic Scientific Computer. (215-440-3442 or http://www.apsmuseum.org)
Ancestry Day (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, March 2-21) The Historical Society will focus a series of March workshops on genealogy and also plans to announce a partnership with Ancestry.com, a leading website frequented by genealogists. On March 2, HSP and Ancestry.com sponsor Ancestry Day at the Convention Center, a day-long workshop. On March 7, from 6 to 7 p.m., the society will present (at its home at 13th and Locust Streets) "African American Genealogy: Tearing Down the Brickwalls." On March 14, 6 to 7 p.m., the topic is "Your Ancestor Was . . . Occupations of Our Ancestors," and on March 21, "Crossing the Pond" focuses on Eastern European immigrants. (215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org)
"Capitalism by Gaslight: The Shadow Economies of 19th-Century America" (Library Company, Jan. 17-Aug. 24) Back alleys of 19th-century American commerce and money-making are the subject of this recently opened show at the Library Company. It explores everything from pickpocketing to prostitution and gambling as reflected in pamphlets, books, newspapers, prints, and photographs from the library's vast collection. (215-546-3181 or http://www.librarycompany.org)
"The Life and Times of Congressman Robert Smalls" (The African American Museum in Philadelphia, Jan. 16-March 20) This show examines the career of Robert Smalls, who began life as a slave in Beaufort, S.C., in 1839. In May of 1861, he and several other enslaved crew members of a Confederate military transport seized it and guided it out of Charleston Harbor to freedom among Union forces blockading the city. After the war, Smalls was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving five years. He died in 1915, politically active until the end of his life. (215-574-0380 or http://aampmuseum.org)
In Praise of a Dream (The National Museum of American Jewish History, Feb. 1-April 22) The museum will welcome Tu B'Shevat - the Festival of Trees - with a large-print exhibition of Israeli artist Tal Shochat's photographs of trees. (215-923-3811 or http://www.nmajh.org)
Other museum shows and events of interest:
"Design Zone: Behind the Scenes" (Franklin Institute, Jan. 28, April 1) The Franklin Institute has just opened the highly interactive "Design Zone" exhibition, which allows visitors to see how skate-park designers, music producers, roller-coaster engineers, video-game designers and others use math to do what they do. Museum-goers will be able to try it all. The institute is also organizer of the citywide Philadelphia Science Festival, April 20 to 29, including the Science Carnival on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on April 21. (215-448-1200 or http://www2.fi.edu; for the science festival also see http://www.philasciencefestival.org)
"Everything Under the Sun" (Academy of Natural Sciences, March 3-May 12) One of two photography exhibitions the academy is mounting this spring. "Everything Under the Sun" will feature new photographs of academy specimens by Rosamond Purcell. Shortly after it closes, on May 26, "Flirtatious Feathers: A Colorful Collection of Academy Bird Photographs" will open, and run until Sept. 23. (215-299-1000 or http://www.ansp.org)
"Fiber Points: Textile and Handcraft Heritage From the Collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania" (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Feb. 28-June 15) The exhibition will feature images and materials from the David S. Brown & Co. records, Chew family papers, and other collections detailing the history of textile manufacturing in the Philadelphia area. It will also include craft artifacts - bonnets, gloves, lace, antique fabric swatches. At 6 p.m. March 15, Pamela Butler of the University of Notre Dame will present a talk, "The Knitting Revolution," which will explore the legacy of knitting and feminism. (215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org)
"Run! Super-Athletes of the Sierra Madre" (Penn Museum, March 31-Sept. 30) The show is about the Tarahumara people, considered the world's greatest long-distance runners. Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen (2009), will give the museum's annual Petersen Lecture on April 11. (215-898-4000 or http://www.penn.museum)
"Sosúa: Dare To Dance" (National Museum of American Jewish History, March 4) The museum presents this original musical, based on the story of European Jews who escaped Germany before the Holocaust and found refuge in the town of Sosúa in the Dominican Republic. Composer Liz Swados also directs. (215-923-3811 or http://www.nmajh.org)
"Home of the Brave: The War of 1812 in Art, Story & Song" (Independence Seaport Museum, March 15-Dec. 31) The show marks the 200th anniversary of the war. The museum will also commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster with "Titanic Philadelphians" (April 14-Dec. 31), which focuses on the personal lives of the Philadelphians directly affected by the disaster. (215-413-8655 or http://www.phillyseaport.org)
- Stephan Salisbury
Contact culture writer Stephan Salisbury at 215-854-5594, ssalisbury@phillynews.com, or @SPSalisbury on Twitter.
