I was disappointed last month when I dropped in on the Levine Museum of the New South only to find my favorite part of its award-winning “Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers” exhibit was closed for renovation.The other displays – ranging from a one-room tenant farmer’s house to a civil-rights-era lunch counter – are interesting enough, but the end section (closed since mid-January) is so much more urgent because it covers 1970 to 2010. It’s always fascinating to walk through knowing that these changes happened in Charlotte so recently.
The good news is that the uptown museum will reopen this expanded end section next Friday. Here are just a few of the many new highlights:
The 10-minute intro film has been completely revised, and now features narration by former Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl, famed NASCAR promoter Humpy Wheeler, and radio personality Ramona Holloway.
A 1908 Union National Bank ledger displayed juxtaposed next to one of the first computer-linked ATMs.
A fire suit worn in 2009 by NASCAR driver and California native/now-New Southerner Jimmie Johnson.
The interactive “Picture Yourself in History,” which uses green-screen technology to allow visitors to superimpose themselves into a historic scene from the exhibit; they can then e-mail the image to themselves.
If you’d like a sneak peek at the updated exhibit – and have some disposable income to spend on a nice night out – the museum is hosting a 20th anniversary party called “Taste of Time” next Thursday evening. ($125 per person, or $100 for museum members.) Otherwise, make plans to visit on or after the grand reopening next Friday.
Details: www.museumofthenewsouth.org.
Also, read more about this great museum in the online version of SouthPark Magazine by clicking here.
