Crazy about dinosaurs? COSI opens new gallery full of them

In cooperation with the American Museum of Natural History, COSI — the Columbus science center — has just opened a 13,000-square-foot gallery dedicated to dinosaurs and natural history.

The new space features a permanent American Museum of Natural History Dinosaur Gallery, the life-sized cast of a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex and more specimens from AMNH’s famous dinosaur collection.

We’ll be sharing more details about the new exhibit in upcoming weeks. Keep in mind that Boonshoft Museum of Discovery members receive 50 percent off admission to COSI; ID’s are needed.

DPO performs today at Inspiration Church

Conductor Neal Gittleman and members of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra will kick off the Stained Glass Concert Series at 5 p.m. today, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017, at Inspiration Church, 2900 Philadelphia Drive, Dayton.

The concert will close with a piece by Richard Smallwood entitled “Holy Thou Art God,” which will be performed by the DPO musicians and the Inspiration Church Praise Team under the leadership of Cynthia Ridgell.

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This concert is one of three free concerts in the DPAA Stained Glass Series for the 2017-2018 season. No ticket is required.

Cincinnati Children’s Museum closed through spring

There’s good news and bad news for those who were planning a family trip to the Duke Energy Children’s Museum in Cincinnati over the holidays. The bad news is that the Cincinnati Museum Center has closed the children’s area through spring 2018 because of construction in the space.

Although they had originally hoped to keep the Children’s Museum open through the Union Terminal restoration, it was found that water damage repair required the closing.

The good news is that Holiday Junction featuring Brickopolis will still be open. The attraction covers 12,000 square feet of CMC’s special exhibition gallery and includes Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends and the Super-O interactive layout trains. In addition to a variety of train layouts of different sizes and themes, the riding train will be back and there will be 1,800 square feet of Lego landscapes feature motorized trains.

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Holiday Junction tickets are $10.50 for adults; $9.50 for seniors; $8.50 for children and 3-12; $5.50 for toddlers ages 1-2, and free for infants.

Wright State grad’s film to be shown at Little Art

She grew up on a small farm outside Tipp City, graduated from Wright State with a BFA in photography and became the first woman photographer at WDTN in Dayton. After that she worked at ABC in Washington, D.C., then started her own television production company there.

In May, filmmaker Catherine Zimmerman moved back to our area and now resides in Yellow Springs. Tecumseh Land Trust and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Yellow Springs are sponsoring the first area screening of Zimmerman’s film “Hometown Habitat — Stories of Bringing Nature Home” at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 3, at The Little Art Theatre in Yellow Springs.

The Ohio native will introduce the film and discuss it at the end of the screening. The film takes viewers around the country, as Zimmerman explores how local communities and individuals are building an army of “habitat heroes” by planting native species on their properties. “I plan to continue my film work on environmental issues as I rejoin my family and friends here in Ohio,” she says.

Admission is $5. Advance ticket purchase is advised and tickets can be purchased at the box office or through the following link: http://6827.formovietickets.com:2235/T.ASP?WCI=BT&Page=PickTickets&SHOWID=350

Literary Peace Prize winner says peace begins with each of us

One of the most inspiring speeches at this year’s Dayton Literary Peace Prize event was the acceptance speech by 2017 Fiction Winner Patricia Engel. Peace, she said, begins with the individual.

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“We often think of peace as the antidote to war,” Engel told those gathered for dinner and the awards presentation on the Schuster Center’s Mead Theatre stage. “But what about our small, silent violences; the automatic neutrality, coldness, and indifference with which we walk through life? We are all quietly, and even gently perpetuating injustice on one another, those we know as friends or as we pass judgment on strangers on the street or the person standing beside us; and even on our own family members, or those whom we profess to love most in this world.

“We do this, not only with cruel words, but every time we consciously or even unconsciously withhold kindness or compassion, empathy or mercy. Every time we hold onto a grudge. Every time we choose not to forgive. Every time we see or learn of someone who needs help and tell ourselves: Not my problem and look away. The pursuit of peace demands action in everything we do.”

Engel’s book, “The Veins of the Ocean,” follows a young Columbian woman raised in Miami, as she strives to find her bearings in the world after the devastating loss of her brother who killed himself while on death row.


Arts writer Meredith Moss writes about the people and events making news in our region. If you have an item you would like to submit, contact Meredith: MMoss@coxohio.com

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