MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — During the month of September, Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville will host a watercolor workshop for adults, Fossil Day for families, a lecture on historic Wheeling, and usher in the Fall season by creating a scratch-art leaf. All activities are free and open to the public.
The Complex is also home to two temporary exhibits featuring local artists. Tabetha Morgan, art teacher at Moundsville Middle School, is the Featured Artist for September. After entering her student’s work for many years in the annual Marshall County Student Art Show, she is now exhibiting her own artwork in the museum’s downstairs entry hall. In addition, the annual NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Art Exhibit continues to be on display in the museum’s Activity Room during regular museum hours.
The NAMI exhibit will serve as a backdrop for a butterfly watercolor painting workshop for adults (18 years and older) on Friday, Sept. 8 from 1to 3 p.m. Artist Cheryl Childers will teach the art of using watercolors to complete a painting of a butterfly. Childers’ work is part of the NAMI exhibit and will be shown on its own in the Featured Artist Exhibit in October. The workshop is offered free of charge, but pre-registration is required to ensure adequate supplies. To register, please call (304) 843-4128 or e-mail andrea.k.keller@wv.gov by Wednesday, Sept. 6.
The museum’s bi-annual Fossil Day also takes place in September. This family-oriented program returns on Saturday, Sept. 16, from noon to 4 p.m. The public is invited to bring fossils for expert identification by Dr. Ronald McDowell, senior research geologist at the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey (WVGES) in Morgantown. Dr. McDowell will identify fossils from noon to 3 p.m. At 3 p.m., Ray Garton, curator of Prehistoric Planet, will present a program titled “The Elm Grove Monster, Edaphosaurus and other Prehistoric Creatures from the Ohio Valley.” The exhibit of fossil and casts which will serve as the backdrop for Fossil Day has been generously loaned by the Prehistoric Planet company. In addition, Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH), which is world renowned for its fossil collections, returns with its “mini museum” of fossils and fossil replicas. Other activities include a scavenger hunt, making fossil casts to take home, excavating a recreated fossil bed and viewing tiny fossils through a microscope in the shadow of an enormous cast of a stegodon skeleton.
At the end of the month, award-winning West Virginia storyteller and author Richard Knoblich will kick off the Fall Lecture Series with his “Historic Wheeling” program. The date and time for this event are still pending. Follow Grave Creek’s social media pages listed below for updates. Adapted from his motorcoach tours for Oglebay Resort, this presentation is loaded with photos highlighting floods, bridges, railroads and the architectural grandeur of historic Wheeling.
Visitors can also welcome the Fall season by making a scratch-art leaf at the museum’s Discovery Table. Pre-cut leaf shapes can be personalized by scratching designs into a specially coated surface to create a decorative ornament. This craft is available during regular museum hours.
Operated by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex features one of the largest conical burial mounds built by the Adena people between 250 – 150 B.C. and ranks as one of the largest earthen mortuary mounds anywhere in the world. Exhibits and displays in the Delf Norona Museum interpret what is known about the lives of these prehistoric people and the construction of the mound. The complex also houses the West Virginia Archaeological Research and Collections Management Facility.
Admission to Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex is free. The Delf Norona Museum, located at 801 Jefferson Avenue, is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed Sunday and Monday. Access to the Mound and other outdoor areas closes at 4:30 p.m.
For more information about activities and programs at Grave Creek Mound, contact Andrea Keller, cultural program coordinator, at (304) 843-4128 or andrea.k.keller@wv.gov or visit www.facebook.com/gravecreekmound and www.instagram.com/gravecreekmound.