Upcoming events at Mars Hill University

Press release from Mars Hill University: 

May 12-15, 2017
**This listing will go on hiatus for the summer and will resume in August.**

All events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.
For more information, contact Mike Thornhill, Director of Communications, (828) 689-1298, mthornhill@mhu.edu
Friday, May 12

Pinning and Lamp Lighting Ceremony
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Broyhill Chapel
Graduating nurses in the Judge-McRae School of Nursing receive a pin which signifies their transition from the student role to the medical practice role. The tradition is said to have originated in the 1860s with Florence Nightingale, who presented medals of excellence to the graduating nurses of the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas Hospital in London, England. Friday’s event will recognize the second graduating class of Mars Hill’s RN to BSN (registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing) program.
Saturday, May 13

Spring Commencement
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Moore Auditorium
Graduation speaker: Walter Ziffer, Holocaust survivor and retired Mars Hill University religion professor. Student program participants will be Lily Anna Chapman of Lake Toxaway, North Carolina (invocation), Katrina Boings Dodson of Marshall, North Carolina (student address), Savannah Caitlyn Maynor of Asheville, North Carolina (student address), and Michael Anthony Lyons of Arden, North Carolina (trumpet performance).
Limited public access due to seating availability, but the commencement ceremony will be streamed live on the MHU website.
Monday, May 15

Lion Pride Day
Time: All day
Location: Various
Faculty, staff, trustees, and alumni will hold a work day, helping clean residence halls and campus grounds following the completion of the spring semester, and leading into the summer school and summer conferences and camps season.

Ongoing:

Shelter on the Mountain: Barns and Building Traditions of the Southern Highlands
Exhibit runs through May 28
Rural Heritage Museum
This exhibition presents an overview of the unique built environment created by the peoples who have, over many thousands of years, inhabited the mountains, valleys, buffalo trails, and river basins of the Southern Appalachians. The exhibition features an introductory film, a large log-pulling sled, broad axes and other log-shaping tools, tobacco planters, 27 large informational panels, and over 70 photographs, many never seen before.
Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and by appointment.

The Fight for Bluff: A Community’s Effort to Preserve Its Mountain
Exhibit runs through July 28
Liston B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies (inside Renfro Library)
The exhibit looks at the history behind the proposed cut of Bluff Mountain in the late 1990s and the public response to the National Forest Service’s proposal. It examines how the two sides were able to come to an agreement that drastically reduced the size of the proposed timber harvest. The exhibit was researched, written, and designed by history students who are a part of the Public History Concentration and were enrolled in the HIS 255: Archival Management/Museum Studies course in the Fall of 2016.
Hours are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m.; and by appointment.

Upcoming

Rock Creek Pottery Exhibit in Weizenblatt Gallery
May 23-August 12
Opening reception June 3, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
This exhibit which pays tribute to Rock Creek Pottery and its founders (and former WNC wood fire potters) Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin. This show will bring light to the amazing work they created and the continued widespread influence they had on regional ceramic artists. Also on display in “the glass gallery” will be some 17th century wood fired Italian Majolica pottery. Gallery hours are 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Summer Term Begins
May 29

Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week
June 4-10
Blue Ridge Old Time Music Week is a program offering beginning, intermediate and advanced lessons in most acoustical instruments, including guitar, fiddle, banjo, bass, dulcimer and mandolin.

Summer Music Camp
June 18-23
A week of music study, practice, rehearsal, and performance for middle and high school students. Many of the mountain region’s top conductors, music educators, and performers will serve on the faculty.

Baseball Camp
June 19-22
For kids ages 6-12. The camp will have several divisions to meet the needs of every skill level from beginner to intermediate to the advanced players. The camp will be conducted by the Mars Hill University coaching staff and will be assisted by Mars Hill University players and other selected coaches.

Mountain Science Exploration
July 17-21
Week-long program of recreation, investigation, and citizen science for high school students. Joint program of Madison County Economic Development, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and Mars Hill University.

Fall Semester Begins
AGS First Term: August 14
Traditional and AGS Full Term: August 22

Zena Howard Lecture
September 21, 7:00 p.m.
Zena Howard was the senior architect for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and is an architect and principal at Perkins+Will architectural firm. Her lecture is part of the Presidential Lecture and Performance Series.