Current & coming exhibitions at the Springfield Museums.
New Permanent Exhibit, George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum: Ancient Treasures, a new permanent gallery of artifacts from ancient China, Greece, Rome, and Egypt. Highlights include a collection of Greek and Roman statues and an ancient Chinese burial suit made of jade. Also on display will be Chinese ceramics and bronzes relating to ancient burial practices, Greek pottery and glass, and the outer coffin of the Egyptian mummy, Padihershef. These and other works of art in the gallery will illustrate the role of art in society, daily life, mythology and religion, the written word and how thoughts were communicated, and the burial customs of these ancient civilizations. November 21, 2006-October 21, 2007, Museum of Fine Arts: Watercolor Blues, a selection of landscapes, seascapes and genre paintings from the museum's permanent collection highlighting the beauty and versatility of the color blue. The exhibition will illustrate how artists have used varying shades of blue as a way to create depth and drama in their paintings, and to evoke feelings of peace and tranquility. November 24, 2006-January 14, 2007, Connecticut Valley Historical Museum: The Middle Ages in Miniature, life in a medieval castle recreated by members of the Connecticut Valley Miniature Figure Society. November 24, 2006-January 7, 2007, Springfield Science Museum: 'Tis the Season: Antique and Collectible Dolls from the Museum Collection, a selection of dolls from around the world displayed in storefront windows in a Victorian village setting, surrounded by a winter forest scene filled with mounted woodland animals from the museum collection. Through December 17, 2006, Museum of Fine Arts: Ansel Adams: The Man Who Captured the Earth's Beauty, epic black and white photographs of the American wilderness, including Yosemite, the Sierra Nevada, New Mexico, the Grand Canyon, and Alaska. Adams' photographs express his reverence for the beauty of the earth and the healing power of nature. Through December 17, 2006, Museum of Fine Arts: The Camera's Eye: Intriguing Photographs from the Permanent Collection, black and white photographs by American photographers ranging from pictures by Dorothea Lange, including the iconic Migrant Mother; celebrity shots such as a photo of a teenage Shirley Temple by Philippe Halsman; and documentary photos of prisons by Northampton photographer Michael Jacobson-Hardy. Through December 31, 2006, Museum of Fine Arts, Lenore B. and Sidney A. Alpert Currier & Ives Gallery: A Nation Divided: The American Civil War Depicted by Currier & Ives, selections from the museum's large collection of hand-colored 19th-century lithographs. Through January 7, 2007, Community Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts: Natural Light Nature Photographs by John Green. Beautiful photos of wildlife and landscape by a talented photographer who is also an interpretive naturalist skilled in bird and plant identification. Through January 21, 2007, Museum of Fine Arts: Going Baroque: 17th Century Dutch Masterworks, a selection of prints from the museum collections. Through January 28, 2007, Connecticut Valley Historical Museum: Disasters in the Valley: The Republican Covers Storms of the 19th and 20th Centuries, historic news photographs of the great floods, hurricanes and blizzards to hit the region in the last century. January 7-July 8, 2007, Museum of Fine Arts: Liberty & Justice: American Ideals Portrayed by Currier & Ives, an exhibition of prints that examines the role played by the lithography firm of Currier & Ives in shaping American identity through images that reflected a prevailing cultural, social, and political ideology. Included will be pictures of great moments in American history, national heroes such as Presidents Washington and Lincoln, symbols of freedom such as the Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty, and other quintessentially American images that reflected what Americans wanted to believe about themselves and their nation. January 16-April 29, 2007, Community Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts: Dancing Partners by Henry Klein, abstract applications of color on a honeycomb-textured plastic surface. The textured surface restricts the viewer's point of view to a small patch of color which appears to move around and change size as the viewer changes perspective. February 10-May 13, 2007, Springfield Science Museum: Life through Time: Dinosaurs and Ice Age Mammals, giant moving, roaring robotic creatures from the past. The exhibit features five dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus rex and Apatosaurus, and four extinct prehistoric mammals such as a saber-toothed cat family, a giant sloth, and a woolly mammoth. The display also includes a visitor-activated Apatosaurus robotic frame and a dinosaur fossil dig box. February 13-April 22, 2007, Museum of Fine Arts: Quilt National '05, a collection of contemporary art quilts from the 14th biennial juried competition of the Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center in Athens, Ohio. May 8-September 9, 2007, Community Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts: Nature Photographs by Bob Hallock. September 18, 2007-January 13, 2008, Community Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts: Thread Paintings by Ruta Smilskains. November 25, 2007-February 3, 2008, Museum of Fine Arts: Josh Simpson: A Journey in Glass, a retrospective exhibition highlighting more than three decades of glassblowing by one of the most acclaimed artists in the field. Approximately 100 of Simpson's best works from 1972 to the present will be displayed, including vases, goblets, platters, and Simpson's signature pieces, "planets."