Topic: Customs House Museum

“Milking the Rhino” chronicles the struggles of wildlife conservation in Africa

November 2, 2009 |

The Customs House Museum and Austin Peay State University’s Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts presents “Milking the Rhino” with Producer/Director David E. Simpson as part of the Southern Arts Federation’s Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers at the museum on Saturday, November 7th at 2 pm. Following a screening of his documentary, “Milking the Rhino,” Simpson will engage the audience in a discussion about the film and his work as a filmmaker. Admission to the screening is free.

“Milking the Rhino” tells a nuanced tale of human-wildlife coexistence in post-colonial Africa. The Maasai tribe of Kenya and Namibia’s Himba—two of Earth’s oldest cattle cultures—are in the midst of upheaval. Emerging from a century of “white man conservation,” which turned their lands into game reserves and fueled resentment towards wildlife, Himba and Maasai communities are now vying for a piece of the wildlife-tourism pie. Community-based conservation, which tries to balance the needs of wildlife and people, has been touted by environmentalists as “win-win.” The reality, however, is more complex. “A rhino means nothing to me! I can’t kill it for meat like a cow.” And when drought decimates the grass shared by livestock and wildlife, the community’s commitment to conservation is sorely tested.

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“Pants on Fire” Shares the Humorous Misadventures of Struggling Actor in L.A.

September 25, 2009 |

The Customs House Museum and Austin Peay State University present “Pants on Fire” with Producer/Director Colin Campbell as part of the Southern Arts Federation’s Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers in the museum’s theater on October third at 2 pm. Admission to the screening is free. Following a screening of his feature film, “Pants on Fire,” Campbell will engage the audience in a discussion about the film and his work as a filmmaker,

“Pants on Fire” tells the story of Brad Spoofer, a pathological liar on a quest for glory. Brad quit the Feed Barn Etc. back in Nebraska and moved to L.A. to become a movie star. His Hollywood career, however, has been a dismal failure. He’s the guy on the street corner dressed like a pirate and hawking mattresses. To save face, he’s been telling his naïve friends back home that he’s a movie star whose blockbusters are all about to be released in theaters. When his buddies decide to surprise him with a road trip to L.A., he has to scramble to prop up the illusion. Luckily, he scores a house-sitting gig for a wealthy couple in Bel Air and is able to keep the lie going, until he foolishly claims to be friends with the guy who played Pedro in “Napoleon Dynamite.” His awed buddies clamor to meet their idol. In the meantime, Brad has fallen for Lucy, a cute painter who decorates trash cans for a living and who mistakenly assumes Brad is a rich actor living in the hills. As his lies multiply and his checks bounce, he has to dodge the thug who took his headshots and never got paid, woo the girl, keep his job and, somehow, deliver Pedro. «Read the rest of this article»

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The Customs House Museum to present their Fall Equinox Writers Hour

September 17, 2009 |

On Tuesday, September 22nd the Customs House Museum will host a Autumn Equinox Writers Hour. The event will feature local published and amateur authors reading to the group from their works. There is no theme or style required from the writers. Previous writer’s hours have involved poetry, short stories, and blogs. The museum event, which begins at 7 pm is open to the public with no admission fees. There is still room on the agenda for people interested in reading.

Alan LeQuire's Dream Forest (Photo by: Amy Anderson)

The Fall Equinox Writers Hour is in conjunction with artist Alan LeQuire’s installation Dream Forest. LeQuire is an international artist whose work is highly sought after. LeQuire is best known for creating Athena, one of the largest indoor sculptures in the western world, located in Nashville’s Parthenon. Alan’s work includes Tennessee’s Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and a large bronze relief for the Tennessee State Capitol. Included in his many awards and commendations are a Tennessee Governor’s Citation in 1987 and the American Institute of Architects Design Award for Athena Parthenos.

With this exhibit, Alan LeQuire has merged environmental beauty with the human form, something he believes all viewers respond to as far as subject matter in art. The large textured forms of “Dream Forest” morph gracefully into classical Italian torsos reminiscent of the works LeQuire apprenticed under in his early years. The sculptures flow into the forest floor with poetic narration. The vision completes with eight-foot woodcut prints and a suspended forest ceiling. «Read the rest of this article»

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Dare Not Walk Alone explores the civil rights struggle through St. Augustine, Florida

September 2, 2009 |

The Customs House Museum and Austin Peay State University presents “Dare Not Walk Alone” with Producer/Director Jeremy Dean as part of the Southern Arts Federation’s Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers at 2 pm on September 12th in the museum’s auditorium. Following a screening of his documentary, “Dare Not Walk Alone,” Dean will engage the audience in a panel discussion sponsored by the Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center. A reception with the filmmaker is scheduled immediately following the discussion.

On June 18, 1964 a white hotel owner in St. Augustine, Florida, poured acid in a swimming pool filled with black and white youth conducting a civil rights demonstration. Photographs of this horrific incident were on the front page of every major newspaper around the world and broke the filibuster in the Senate allowing President Johnson to sign the Civil Rights Act into law. With rarely seen news footage and revealing interviews, “Dare Not Walk Alone” uncovers the untold story of the St. Augustine movement that led to this historic legislation. But far from a history lesson, the film also looks at the aftermath of desegregation and the grim realities of life today on streets where those campaigns were fought, in a place that symbolizes what Barack Obama has called “the gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of our time.” This film has been called the “Civil Rights film for the modern age” and in the end we see signs of hope and reconciliation as well as a challenge to take the next step forward.

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Customs House Museum getting ready for their 2009 Flying High fundraiser

By Bill Larson | May 24, 2009 |

Flying High, the Customs House Museum’s 26th annual fundraiser will held on June 6th. Event co-chairs are Mary Luther and Liana Wallace, who have chosen a Spanish theme for the evening. This will be a night rich with dinner, dancing and bid auctions. Hosting the event are Jimmy and Piper Bell, who have graciously opened their home to the museum for its fundraiser.

The evening’s activities will include a silent auction and following the dinner, a live auction with items that include art by Suta Lee and Olen Bryant, a Titans “Weekend for Two,” and a Big Green Egg grill. The signature piece for this year’s auction was created by David Redmond, who is a retired dentist living in the Memphis area with ties to Clarksville. Redmond recently exhibited his watercolors at the Customs House Museum.

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BLF Marketing and Customs House Museum win award from T.A.M.

May 5, 2009 |

An exhibit catalog chronicling the creativity and skill of Kentucky artist, Tim Lewis, has earned a first place award from the Tennessee Association of Museums (TAM). BLF Marketing and The Customs House Museum of Clarksville, Tenn., produced the 64-page publication entitled Time Made Real: The Carvings of Tim Lewis. Frank Lott and Ron Watson of BLF Marketing co-designed the award-winning catalog, which features a collection of Lewis’ works and essays exhibited at Customs House Museum during 2008.

The Lewis publication is the third exhibit catalog produced by BLF Marketing and Customs House Museum to win top TAM honors. The catalog Olen Bryant: A Retrospective Reelfoot Lake: Tradition, Mystery & Lore won the top award in 2006.

TAM awards are intended to recognize, encourage, and promote excellence within the Tennessee museum community. The Lewis catalog won in the category of publications produced by medium-sized museums. Factors considered by TAM included content, design, writing, art/photos, appeal, quality, concept, originality and successfulness, as measured in published reviews or other documentation. «Read the rest of this article»

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“Meet the Photographer” Event

April 18, 2009 |

On Friday, April 24th, David Farmerie will be holding a lecture and discussion in the museum auditorium at 7 pm. This event, sponsored in part by the Arts and Heritage Development Council, is free to the public. The subject of David’s talk will be his Seven Deadly Sins series. Farmerie says,” When I was asked to create this series I was virtually unaware of the Seven Deadly Sins other than a vague recollection from my youth while attending Catholic school. After researching, I was amazed at what I discovered. They were not the oppressive doctrine that I was expecting. In fact, they seemed to have a profound place in our society today…and that was the beginning of the conceptualization”. «Read the rest of this article»

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TrainFest 2009 pulling in to L&N Depot

March 29, 2009 |

TrainFest 2009 will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 2 & 3 at the Customs House Museum and the L & N passenger depot on the corner of Commerce and 10th Streets.

This is the fifth year of the festival that celebrates the history and traditions of railroading in Montgomery County.  Saturday admission is $5.00 for adults, $2 for students 6-18 and college students with ID. Children 5 and under, as well as members of the museum and the Montgomery County Historical Society, will be admitted free. Admission tickets can be purchased at either location that Saturday.  «Read the rest of this article»

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Customs House offers “Cultural Calendar 2009″

December 6, 2008 |

The “Cultural Calendar 2009″ is now available at the Seasons Gift Shop in the Customs House Museum for only $5 each.  They feature photographs of 14 Clarksville artists work, and a host of wonderful Clarksville events listed for each month, with witty sayings, and clever quotes from famous folks.  They are in color and on a lovely coated heavy stock.

The proceeds go to the Arts and Heritage Development Council in Clarksville.  These calendars are very popular, and make lovely Christmas gifts that last the entire year.

This coming Monday, the Seasons Gift Shop (in Museum) has a 20% off sale on any one item.  The sale runs from 11 AM to 2 PM.

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Friends of Photography presents “Spirit of Light” at Custom House Museum

By Debbie Boen | November 18, 2008 |

Natural or unnatural beauty paralyzed and captured in time from behind a camera lens. The current exhibit of photography at the Customs House Museum is a photographic response to the challenge to interpret subject matter metaphorically and or literally in answer to the question: “What does the spirit of light mean to you as a photographer?”

Evening Light by Heidi Hopkins

The Friends of Photography’s current show, Spirit of Light, will be exhibited through February 15.  «Read the rest of this article»

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