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Buzz on the Bus
News and notes for bus tour planners
Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park
Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park, located near Brinkley, reopened in April after renovations to preserve this National Historic Landmark. While smaller than most Arkansas state parks, the site is of major significance. The park protects the initial point of the Louisiana Purchase Survey of 1815, which is a vital, fixed coordinate for land surveying across the western United States.
The initial point was later rediscovered by land surveyors in 1921. Then in 1926, the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a granite monument commemorating its significance. The nearly 40-acre plot that surrounds the granite monument was acquired by Arkansas State Parks in 1961.
Water tupelos and cypress trees tower above the wetlands, transporting visitors back in time through land untouched by the surrounding agricultural industry. This headwater swamp environment is one of the few remaining; it was added to the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission’s System of Natural Areas in 1977. In 1993, the site was designated a National Historic Landmark.
For nearly 100 years, the granite monument rested in the bed of the wetlands. Over time, the monument began to sink. Today, you can walk a winding 800-foot, elevated boardwalk through the wetlands area to reach the location of the granite monument.
“In the past, the monument was often submerged in the wetlands. To protect this historic landmark, we have raised the monument from the waters and set a new base, ” Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park Super intendent Molly Elders said.
“We’ve also cleaned and repaired the boardwalk, installed a vault restroom facility and made walkway and parking lot improvements. ”
“The park is one of the most historic places in Arkansas. It is the roots of America’s settlement west of the Mississippi River. I’m delighted that it is once again open to the public with great improvements to its access, ” State Parks Recreation and Travel Commissioner John Gill said.
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Arkansas Delta Byways Launches New Tourism Games
Submitted by Delta Byways
Arkansas Delta Byways, one of the 12 regional tourist associations recognized by Arkansas Tourism, has introduced two new interactive games – a trivia game and a Scenic Byways Challenge – aimed at educating visitors and residents about the historical region.
The games were created in conjunction with Eksplor Gaming. The company creates apps designed to create unique, competitive and fun experiences for visitors to travel- and tourism- themed towns, attractions and historical sites.
The trivia game features 14 questions with multiple choice answers that link to each of the attractions featured. There will be a quarterly prize drawing for those who play, with extra entries for those who complete the trivia game.
The Scenic Byway Challenge features the interpretive centers for Crowley’s Ridge Parkway and Great River Road, located throughout the 15-county Arkansas Delta Byways region. Players can choose between Crowley’s Ridge or the Great River Road and then visit the specific interpretive centers for that scenic byway. Those players who visit each of the byway’s interpretive centers (15 for the Great River Road and nine for Crowley’s Ridge Parkway) will be sent a special gift.
Both games will run through May 1, 2022. To play, visit DeltaByways.com/games. To learn more about the entire Arkansas Delta Byways region, visit DeltaByways.com.
George Eastman Museum
The George Eastman Museum will open the major new exhibition Joshua Rashaad McFadden: I Believe I’ll Run On in its main galleries on Friday, November 5, 2021. The exhibition is an early-career survey of the Rochester-based artist’s work, in which McFadden critically examines the racism and anti-Black violence that Black Americans have experienced from slavery to the present. To this end, McFadden explores how racism, masculinity, sexuality and gender impact Black Americans, while at the same time he envisions Black life liberated from these strictures. The exhibition will be on view through spring 2022.
In his practice, McFadden works across genres, encompassing social documentary, reportage, portraiture, book arts and fine arts to explore “being-ness. ” Joshua Rashaad McFadden: I Believe I’ll Run On will focus on the series Selfhood, Come to Selfhood, A Lynching's Long Shadow, After Selma, Evidence, Unrest in America, and finally, premiering at the George Eastman Museum, the autobiographical series Love Without Justice.
“McFadden considers the contemporary condition of Black life while referencing U.S. history as a means to rediscover and define the Black self, ” said Dr. Bruce Barnes, the Ron and Donna Fielding Director of the George Eastman Museum. “The Eastman Museum is committed to supporting artists who advance social justice, using photography and moving images to provoke critical thinking, encourage dialogue, educate and effect lasting change.
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Museum of Selfies
The LINQ Promenade, the open-air dining, retail and entertainment district in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, welcomed the new, permanent location of the Museum of Selfies on June 1. The interactive exhibition provides guests premium selfie opportunities featuring works by artists from around the world. Museum of Selfies will be located on the Promenade next to the Welcome to Las Vegas gift store.
“With the opening of Museum of Selfies, The LINQ Promenade continues to be the premier location for world-class attractions on the Las Vegas Strip, ” said Tonia Chafetz, general manager of The LINQ Promenade. “We look forward to welcoming this top-rated museum to our impressive collection of attractions, such as the High Roller Observation Wheel, Fly LINQ Zipline, VR Adventures and I LOVE SUGAR—one of the world’s largest candy stores. ”
A family-friendly attraction, Museum of Selfies will feature iconic photo opportunities made famous by celebrity visitors at its Hollywood location, such as the mind-blowing Upside-Down room, the joyful Emoji Pool, the optical illusioned-filled Bathroom Selfie and many more. New vignettes exclusive to the Las Vegas location will include the Private Jet Experience, an installation built to give all visitors the chance to plunge themselves into the world of luxury. Visitors are encouraged to use their smartphones and selfie sticks to make the most of the opportunity to capture hundreds of stunning photographs.
Museum of Selfies will be open Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight.
Museum of Selfies will be located at The LINQ Promenade at 3545 S. Las Vegas Blvd., Ste. L-07B, Las Vegas, NV 89109. For more information about Museum of Selfies, visit SelfieVegas.com or follow on Instagram and Facebook.
Alcatraz East Crime Museum
Crime fighting is not just for humans. There are furry friends throughout the country that also help to solve crimes. Alcatraz East Crime Museum is highlighting the importance of police service animals in a new display. The exhibit opened on July 23, 2021, and as part of the exhibit, they will have on-going guest appearances from varying
departments. The first of which will be the morning of the launch from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., where guests can meet local K9s from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
“Police animals do important work and we are happy to help put a spotlight on them, ” states Summer Blalock, sales and marketing manager for Alcatraz East. “We are pleased to partner with TBI, so our guests can learn about these spectacular K9s and what it takes to train them. ”
All the K9s from TBI are expected to be at the museum, barring they are not called to duty. The K9s expected include four arson dogs (Faith, Diesel, Honey and Millie), and Zeus, which is an electronic storage detection K9.
Faith is the agency’s first accelerant detection canine and specializes in sniffing out evidence at fire scenes around the state. Honey was part of the “Puppies Behind Bars” program before becoming an accelerant detection canine. Millie and Diesel are also both accelerant detection canines, while Zeus is TBI’s only dog trained to detect odor from chemicals consistent across all electronic storage devices.
Some of the featured items in the new exhibit will include horseshoes from the New York City Mounted Police unit, a K9 vest used by a Pigeon Forge Police dog, and information that sheds light on the important work that animals do to help in law enforcement.
According to the National Police Dog Foundation, the most popular dogs used in police work are German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherds. They report that the dogs typically start working when they are 12-15 months old, and they retire around age 10. The training for such a dog costs between $12,000 to $15,000 per dog, depending on the length of each class they take. The dogs are trained in a variety of areas, including obedience, agility, tracking, evidence searches, open area and open building searches.
Brandywine Unveils a New Bronze Sculpture
Following its grand reopening to the public, the Brandywine River Museum of Art has unveiled a towering new sculpture at its front entrance by local artist Rikki Morley Saunders. Titled Tipping Point (2019), the sculpture is cast in bronze and features two majestic and fearsome peacocks intertwined in mid-air battle.The life-sized sculpture measures almost seven feet tall with a length of six feet and a width of more than five feet.
Inspired by nature, Saunders focuses exclusively on animals in her sculptural practice, capturing the passion and spirit of various creatures in intricate detail based off her direc study. In Tipping Point, the artist’s largest work to date, Saunders explores the drama of pea-
cocks, conveying the complexities of a bird that is prized for its serene beauty – yet is also remarkably strong and fiercely territorial. As portrayed in Tipping Point, peacocks fight by rising into the air on their massive wings and using their beaks and talons. Despite the weight of the bronze, Saunders created a buoyant, spiraling composition that reveals and obscures aspects of the two birds as you walk around it. The sculpture symbolizes defining moments – the tipping point referenced in the title is revealed here as the last moment in which an action can be stopped without repercussion.
Based in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the artist has exhibited at the Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York; the National Sculpture Society; Brookgreen Gardens; Murrells Inlet, South Carolina; and The Philadelphia Show, presented by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where her work was included in the collection curated by Martha Stewart. Saunders is also included in many prestigious private collections across the United States and Europe. A fellow of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Saunders is an active member of the National Sculpture Society, the California Art Club, the Society of Animal Artists and the Audubon Society.
In addition to Tipping Point, the Museum’s campus grounds are home to four other bronze sculptures: Boy with Hawk (1971), by Charles Parks (1922-2012); Miss Gratz (1984), by J. Clayton Bright (b. 1946); Helen (1989), by André Harvey (1941-2018); and R. B. (2004), by Dan Ostermiller (b. 1956). Formerly at the entrance to the Museum, Boy with Hawk was recently relocated to a new home on the Brandywine’s campus overlooking its Monarch Migration Station, which features plantings of milkweed and other native flowers enjoyed by local pollinators. The late artist Charles Parks originally intended for this sculpture to be viewed at ground level so that visitors could interact spatially with the larger-than-life figure and could see the details of the doves and hawk. The sculpture’s new location along the Brandywine’s inner campus trail will offer visitors a fresh perspective of this beloved sculpture surrounded by nature.
Capacity limits and other safety measures, including timed ticketing, remain in place and will be adjusted as needed. Up-to-date information about visiting the Brandywine can be found at brandywine.org/now-open.
The Brandywine River Museum of Art features an outstanding collection of American art housed in a 19th-century mill building with a dramatic steel and glass addition overlooking the banks of the Brandywine. The Museum is located on Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. . TippingPoint
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