Opening day schedule

Planning to head to downtown Roanoke for the opening of the Taubman Museum of Art on Nov. 8?

Then be ready for a carnival. In addition to exhibits on Italian art and American painting in the museum itself, you’ll find circus performers, jazz bands, jugglers, puppets, ballet, rock ’n’ roll and a blues guitar legend named Guitar Shorty.

Some streets will be closed, with live entertainment on Market Street from 11 a.m. to
10:30 p.m. There will be face-painting and temporary tattoos for children. Acrobats on stilts will appear to ride by on birds and butterflies that bob their necks and open and close their eyes.

The Roanoke Arts Festival kicks off that Saturday, with free rock ’n’ roll from 4 to 10 p.m. at Elmwood Park. The arts festival will also feature ballet, blues, theater and bluegrass over two days, concluding with Sunday night’s performance at the Roanoke Civic Center Performing Arts Theatre by long-tressed country songster Crystal Gayle.

"It’s highly walkable" from the art museum to all festival events, said Festival Manager Richard Salzberg. Many of the events will take place at the Dumas Center on Henry Street, just a stone’s throw down the railroad tracks from the museum. "It’s all cooperative. It’s all complementary."

Inside the museum, meanwhile, "We’ve got everything from serious lectures to a great tattoo show," said museum Executive Director Georganne Bingham. Not to mention exhibits on American painting and photography and baroque Italian art.

"All of these things are going to be going on that I don’t think people expect," she said. "If we can impress people in a wonderful way, I think we’ll have done our job."

A big crowd is expected for opening day. The art museum will issue free tickets with assigned admission times to help regulate foot traffic through the galleries. A shuttle service has been arranged between the museum entrance and the Roanoke Civic Center parking lot.

Regular city parking rates will be in effect downtown, said city spokeswoman Melinda Mayo. Look for the "Park Roanoke" logo. Commercial lots abound as well.

Tickets needed for free opening day

Opening day schedule

Ribbon-Cutting/Press Conference at 10 a.m., Market Street

Grand Opening (ticketed entry to first group of ticket holders) at 11 a.m. Taubman Museum of Art

Tent Entertainment:

11 a.m.: Winds of the Blue Ridge
Noon: Cheryl & Erin Lunsford
1 p.m.: The Hillbilly Hot Club
2 p.m.: The Young Sinclairs
3 p.m.: Dave Eakin and Steve Hoke
4 p.m.: Ruth
5 p.m.: William Haskins (aka Cloudy)
6 p.m.: Sevenglory
7 to 8:30 p.m.:DecembeRadio
9 to 10:30 p.m.: Monkey Fuzz

Tent Children’s Activities:
Temporary Tattoo Booth, Sun Catchers, Magnetic Art, Shadow Puppets

Other Outdoor or Tent Activities:
Jugglers, musicians, face painting, Cirque stilt birds

Theatre Schedule:
12:30 p.m.: Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers
2 p.m.: The Bulding Explored: An Architectural Panel Discussion with Randall Stout, Benjamin Forgey and Joseph Goivannini
3 p.m.: Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers
4 p.m.: Rethinking Landscape Considered: Viewpoints with David J. Brown, Allen G. Thomas, Jr., Dennis P. Weller, and Burk Uzzle

Auditorium Schedule:
Noon: SWVA Ballet
1 p.m.: RSO Youth Flute Ensemble
3 p.m.: SWVA Ballet
5 p.m.: RSO Youth Harp Ensemble

Opening Events

The museum will host an Opening Gala on Friday, November 7 from 7 p.m. to 12 midnight. Musical entertainment will feature Big Ray & the Kool Kats and Brazilian tunes by Beleza Brasil. Governor Tim Kaine and First Lady of Virginia Anne Holton together with Tiki and Ginny Barber will serve as honorary chairs for the event. Tickets will go on sale on September 15 and are $250 per person. The event is presented by SunTrust Bank and sponsored by Shenandoah Life Insurance Company.

Media Partners are WSLS Newschannel 10 and CITY Magazine. The Taubman Museum of Art will open to the public on November 8 with a full schedule of free activities for children and families from 11 a.m. –11 p.m. The day will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. and will be followed by entertainment including musical performances by Winds of the Blue Ridge, Cheryl and Erin Lunsford, The Hillbilly Hot Club, The Magic Twig Community, Dave Eakin and Steve Hoke, Ruth, William “Cloudy” Haskins, Sevenglory, DecembeRadio, and Monkey Fuzz. Indoor activities include performances by the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers, a temporary tattoo booth, and art activities for children. Regional arts and culture organizations, including the Southwest Virginia Ballet and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, will perform in the auditorium. Admission to the museum on November 8 is free. The Public Opening is presented by Advance Auto Parts. Carilion Clinic and WDBJ-7 are supporting the day’s activities as major sponsors. Other sponsors include Allstate Insurance Company, Appalachian Power Company, Cox Communications, and Woods Rogers PLC.

“These events will celebrate the opening of the Taubman Museum of Art and provide a taste of what is to come as we begin to operate on a daily basis,” said Bingham. “We hope the community will join us in celebrating the museum’s opening and embrace the building as its own.”

Opening Lectures
Major Trends in American Art, 1776-1930, and the Taubman Museum of Art Collection
Thursday, November 6, 4 p.m.

A lecture, for Taubman Museum of Art members only, by Wilford W. Scott, head of the department of adult programs at the National Gallery of Art.

The Building Explored: An Architectural Panel Discussion with Randall Stout, Benjamin Forgey and Joseph Giovannini
Saturday, November 8, 2 p.m.

Randall Stout is the president of Los Angeles-based Randall Stout Architects, Inc. and design architect for the Taubman Museum of Art.

Benjamin Forgey is a former art critic and architecture critic for The Washington Post.

Joseph Giovannini is an architect, prolific author and architecture critic for The New York Times.

Rethinking Landscape Considered: Viewpoints with David J. Brown, Allen G. Thomas, Jr., Dennis P. Weller, and Burk Uzzle
Saturday, November 8, 4 p.m.

David J. Brown is the deputy director of art at the Taubman Museum of Art and co-curator of the exhibition.

Allen G. Thomas, Jr. is an art collector specializing in contemporary photography based in Wilson, North Carolina. Dennis P. Weller is the curator of Northern European art at the North Carolina Museum of Art and co-curator of the exhibition. Burk Uzzle is an exhibiting artist and celebrated photographer.