Meadows Museum presents “Discover Spain!” festival on Oct. 10

DALLAS (SMU) — The Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University will mark the Columbus Day weekend with a free Discover Spain! Festival on Saturday, October 10.  Visitors of all ages will enjoy free admission from 2 to 9 p.m. and can take part in a fun and engaging learning experience including live Spanish music, dance, food, films, scavenger hunts and more.

“As the Meadows Museum celebrates its Golden Anniversary, we are delighted to invite the public to this festive and free educational celebration of Spain’s unique culture and heritage,” said Mark A. Roglán, The Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair in the Meadows School of the Arts.

Visitors to Discover Spain! are invited to:

• Sample Spanish foods and wines
     
• Watch film screenings presented by the Dallas Film Society (seating is limited, advanced registration required):
  • 3:30 p.m. Blancanieves (PG-13)
  • 7 p.m. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (PG-13)
  
     
• Listen to Spanish guitar performance at 6 and 7 p.m.
     
• Watch traditional Spanish dance performances every hour from 2 to 5 p.m.
     
• Take part in children’s art activities and gallery scavenger hunts from 2 to 6 p.m.
     
• Visit the special exhibitions Treasures from the House of Alba: 500 Years of Art and Collecting and Infanta Margarita in a Blue Dress: A Masterwork by Velázquez from Vienna.
     
• Hear gallery talks every hour from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. within Treasures from the House of Alba
       
• See a rare collection of handwritten documents by Christopher Columbus

About Discover Spain!

Discover Spain! coincides with the Columbus Day weekend, which honors one of Spain’s most celebrated figures, Christopher Columbus (1451-1506).  Like Columbus Day in the United States, Spain’s national day, Fiesta Nacional de España, commemorates the explorer’s arrival in the Americas in October 1492.

The Alba family owns one of the world’s largest and rarest collections of handwritten documents by Christopher Columbus. Visitors to Discover Spain! will be able to view Columbus’ logbook, containing his hand-drawn map of the coastline of Hispaniola from his voyage of discovery, as well as his roster of forty sailors and cabin boys that made the trip with him – highlights of the ongoing special exhibition Treasures from the House of Alba: 500 Years of Art and Collecting.

Made up of more than 130 objects, Treasures from the House of Alba is the first exhibition to be devoted entirely to the major works of art assembled by the Alba family, reflecting centuries of history in Spain and Europe. The House of Alba — for centuries the most illustrious household in Spain, with close ties to the monarchy — remains one of the foremost noble families in Europe, with roots dating back to the Middle Ages.

Organized chronologically according to significant periods in the family’s history, Treasures from the House of Alba: 500 Years of Art and Collecting ranges from paintings by Goya and Rubens to Renaissance tapestries by Willem de Pannemaker and 19th-century furniture created for Napoleon III, as well as illuminated manuscripts, books, historic documents, miniatures, antiquities, prints, sculpture, drawings, and other objects.

Members of the Meadows Museum who attend Discover Spain! will get special treatment during the event. The Gene and Jerry Jones Great Hall will be transformed into a VIP Members Lounge, offering food and beverages, as well as insider talks with the director, curator, and other museum staff members.

About the Meadows Museum

The Meadows Museum is the leading U.S. institution focused on the study and presentation of the art of Spain. In 1962, Dallas businessman and philanthropist Algur H. Meadows donated his private collection of Spanish paintings, as well as funds to start a museum, to Southern Methodist University. The Museum opened to the public in 1965, marking the first step in fulfilling Meadows’ vision to create a “Prado on the Prairie.” Today, the Meadows is home to one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain. The collection spans from the 10th to the 21st century and includes medieval objects, Renaissance and Baroque sculptures, and major paintings by Golden Age and modern masters. Since 2010 the Museum has been engaged in a multidimensional partnership with the Prado, which has included the exchange of scholarship, exhibitions, works of art, and other resources. The Meadows Museum is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2015 with a series of special exhibitions and programs. Visit http://www.meadowsmuseumdallas.org for more information.

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