The Springfield Museums’ monthly tour and lecture schedule continues in May with the popular Thursday Museums à la Carte lectures, held weekly at 12:15 pm in the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts. Admission is $4 ($2 for members of the Springfield Museums); visitors are invited to bring lunch (cookies and coffee are provided). The programs are sponsored by Big Y World Class Market.

For more information about Museums à la Carte, call 413.263.6800, ext. 488. This month’s lectures include:

• May 1 – Realm of the Polar Bear:  The Norwegian Arctic. Amy S. Dane, MA, world traveler and Museums docent, takes visitors on a tour of the settlements and wildlife of this cold and often bleak part of the world.
• May 8 – The Romantic Roots of Steampunk. Lynne Z. Bassett, Costume & Textile Historian, examines the style of the Romantic era and its recent revival in Goth and Steampunk fashions.
• May 15 – How To Buy Fine Art Without a Spare Million In Pocket Change. Leonard D. DeMaio, KCosa, Ksma. author, fine art advisor & collector, on where to look for art and the various types of art collecting.
• May 22 – Miles Morgan: Man & Myth. Frances Gagnon, Springfield Historian, reveals the truth behind the legend of one of Springfield’s most famous early settlers.
• May 29 – Living Steampunk. Bruce Rosenbaum, Steampunk Evangelist & guest curator, Steampunk Springfield discusses how Steampunk celebrates history by telling the personal stories of individuals, families, organizations and places.

Also scheduled in May are informal half-hour “mini-tours” every Sunday at 1 pm by volunteer docent educators. The tours highlight a different element of the unique collections of one of the four museums, and are free with Museum admission (check with the Welcome Center staff or the Museums’ website for an updated schedule of mini-tours). Topics for May are:

• May 4 – Jenny Lind: The Swedish Nightingale; John Howell, Wood Museum of Springfield History
• May 11 – Aviation Assets; Arch Battista, WMSH
• May 18 – American Scene Artists: The New Woman in the Neighborhood; Pat McCarthy, D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts
• May 25 – Architecture in and Around the Quad; Dave Carlson, Quadrangle grounds

Monthly Walking Tours are presented in collaboration with the Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association (AQCA). On May 10 at 10:30 am, join Brian Connors for a tour titled “Development Jackpot,” covering the history of Springfield’s south end and the proposed future development of the neighborhood. Walking tours are free for Springfield Museums and AQCA members, $5 nonmembers, and start at the Museums’ Welcome Center.