CLARKSVILLE, Tenn (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Customs House Museum and Cultural Center, located on Second Street in Downtown Clarksville, has a wide variety of exhibits and events planned for the month of February.
Exhibitions
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Lucy Dunwody Boehm Porcelain Collection
February 23-May 3: Crouch Gallery
Edward Marshall Boehm, with no formal art training, started his porcelain studio in Trenton, New Jersey in 1950. The works he created have been collected by museums around the world. Many of his bird figures were designed after the live animals at the Boehm aviary and gardens on the Delaware River. The Customs House Museum & Cultural Center has one of the largest collections in the Southeast. They will celebrate the 25 year anniversary of the collection by displaying it in its entirety with an exhibition in the Crouch Gallery.
Apron Strings: Ties to the Past
January 25-March 16: Jostens Gallery
Apron Strings: Ties to the Past features aprons dating from the 1900s through the present. The exhibition chronicles changing attitudes toward women and domestic work. It also surveys the wide range of design and craft techniques apron-makers have used to express themselves, while still working within creative venues traditionally available to women. This is a program of ExhibitsUSA and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Reimagined Lore: the Art of Tara Swalgren
January 14-May 5: Orgain Gallery
This animal-themed mixed media exhibition showcases the work of local artist & APSU graduate Tara Swalgren. She is currently an art instructor at Madsion Street Art & Music Academy in Clarksville. Swalgren explains, “I want to create these intricate and beautiful creatures that we only see and hear about in folk lore or our fantasies. I want to bring them into our reality, our view. To allow us to gaze upon something so fantastical that it can only be made through art.”
I Have a Voice: Traveling Exhibition from Tennessee State Museum
January 14-March 29: Memory Lane
The exhibition, on loan from the Tennessee State Museum, gives a snapshot of Tennessee’s rich African American musical heritage and its influence on worldwide music. The exhibit gives visitors a chance to hear the voices of the many Tennessee African American men and women who made their mark on American music from ragtime to Motown.
Serepta Jordan: From the Collection
January 14-March 29: Main Level Foyer
Serepta Mildred Jordan was born January 27, 1839 in New Providence, Tennessee. Jordan started a journal around 1857, when she was 18. She continued writing in her journal until 1864, close to the end of the Civil War. The journal, recently restored, is featured in the exhibition along with photos and a collection of Jordan’s personal belongings.
Explorations in Color: Tennessee Women of Glass
January 8 – March 1
This exhibition features more than 30 works created by seven women artists working in glass. Artists Betty Turner, Sam Simms, Tammy O’Connor, Mary Beth McClure, Yvette Campagna, Alice Shepard, and Meredith Edmondson will have their glasswork on display.
Sher Fick: Imitation of Life
January 7- March 30: Bruner Gallery
Sher Fick brings her carefully crafted assemblages—works inspired by her spinal cord surgery. Fick was the inaugural artist at Seed Space for Experimental Art & Dialogue in Nashville, TN. Fick was one of nine female artists in TAKE CARE: Biomedical Ethics in the 21st Century , a traveling exhibition featured at The Pool Art Fair, during Art Basel–Miami and ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, MI. She has exhibited in select museum, solo, and juried exhibitions since 2001.
Tom Malone: Works on Paper from the Museum Collection
January 3-March 1: Harvill Gallery
See works on paper by beloved Clarksville resident Tom Malone. Malone studied at Austin Peay State University from 1971-1972 and continued art classes in 1974-1975. This series includes 10 portraits. Malone died in 1998 as a result of an aneurism.
Programs and Events
All events are free with paid admission or membership.
Little Explorers: Groundhog’s Day Play
Fridays, February 7, 14, 21, 28 (10:30-11:30 a.m.): Explorer’s Landing
Will the groundhog see its shadow? We don’t know, but your little ones will have fun participating in activities that are associated with Groundhog’s Day. Experiment with shadow science using flashlights, cut-out animal silhouettes, and your own body. Explore the groundhog sensory bin, play a game where you match the groundhog to its shadow, and create a cute craft that lets you make the groundhog pop in and out of its burrow.
Hands-On Explorers: Launch into Fun with Catapults!
Saturdays, February 1 & 15 (2:00-4:00 p.m.): Family Art Studio
National Engineer’s Week is observed in February. During the Middle Ages, catapults were designed for use during battles, shooting rocks and hot tar into castles. Catapults are still used today to launch jets from aircraft carriers that have limited runway space. Catapult your creativity as you engage with the science and engineering of catapults. Build your own simple catapult using craft sticks, and send pom-poms and ping-pong balls flying. Can you hit the target and knock down a tower of emoji paper cups? Experiment and make predictions using different variables in your design and projectiles—what can you do to create more force? What affects the accuracy of your launch? Each participant will be able to take home their catapult and either a pom-pom or a pingpong ball.
Family Fun Learning: A Salute to the Model Train Crew
Sunday, February 16 (1-4 p.m.): Family Art Studio
Join us in the Coca-Cola Café for some tasty, kid-friendly snacks as we say a great big “Thank You” to this group of volunteers who have kept the model trains running for 32 years! Help us say “Thank You” by joining us this Sunday for snacks and conversation about the trains with the people who maintain and run them. Since its beginning, the model train exhibit has been funded, run, and maintained solely by volunteers. Our engineers are always eager to discuss ways others can help with the Museum’s most popular interactive exhibits.
First Thursday Art Walk
Thursday, February 6 (5-7 p.m.)
The Museum is open to the public with free admission as part of Downtown Clarksville’s First Thursday Art Walk.
Second Saturday Free Admission
Saturday, February 8 (10 a.m-5 p.m.)
The Museum is open to the public with free admission all day from 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. as part of our monthly Second Saturday Free Admission Day.