Las Cruces History Week March 24, 2008

Mark your calendars for March 24th 28th, 2008; its the first annual Las Cruces History Week at the Branigan Cultural Center. This is the week following Easter and coincides with the Las Cruces Public Schools Spring Break. With kids out of school and extra family members in town for Easter, its a perfect time to drop in the museum and explore our past stated Garland Courts, Manager of the Cultural Center.

Each gallery will have special activities every day of the week. Gallery talks in the new permanent exhibit, Las Cruces: Crossroads of History, will be lead by staff and docents at 10 am, 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. The history gallery will also be the site of a history detective challenge where clues are provided about an artifact or photograph in the exhibit and detectives will follow the clues to find it.

The Shannon Gallery will contain multiple activities for participants including various board games such as Generations and Reminiscing. There will also be rounds of Las Cruces Bingo, and games based on travel on the Camino Real and Santa Fe Trails. There are also several lectures scheduled during the week in the gallery.

The smaller Richardson Gallery will be the site for story time and story tellers. This carpeted gallery is the perfect place to gather children, of all ages, around the traditional grandmothers chair to listen to a well-read story.

Two Treasure Trunks on loan from the Center for Museum Resources of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs will be on site. The trunks are brimming with artifacts, artworks, and projects that are meant to be picked up and explored. The New Mexican Toys and Games trunk is filled with the ingenious and creative toys made by the many different cultures of New Mexico. The second trunk provides an opportunity to learn about a Spanish colonial family through crafts, clothing, cooking tools and videotapes.

Galleries are open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. All events and activities of Las Cruces History Week are free and open to the public. The Cultural Center is located at the north end of the downtown mall. Parking is available at intersection of Water and Hadley streets. The Cultural Center is fully accessible for all patrons. For more information contact the Branigan Cultural Center at (575) 541-2154.

Event submitted by Eventful.com on behalf of lcms.