Museum

The Fuller Craft Museum has reduced its hours to accommodate a renovation project set to run through the summer. The work, funded with a $780,000 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, involves upgrading restrooms, installing energy-efficient windows, upgrading HVAC systems, increasing handicap access, and improving the use of spaceproject. - Steve Hatch

The May 21 letter about the Boston Museum is both right and wrong (" Boston already tells its story, it just needs to be better organized "). It is right that our city is blessed with numerous historic buildings (the so-called genuine articles) and vigorous institutions dedicated to honoring Boston's illustrious past and educating visitors and residents. But it is wrong to suggest that we tell a comprehensive story. Much of our region's role in the American past has been ignored.

The Wenham Museum is accepting donations of small furniture, books, jewelry, china, silver, clean clothing, furs, working bicycles, accessories, and other home goods for its Spring Attic Treasure's Sale, scheduled for April 28-29. Donations may be brought to the museum, 132 Main St., or call 978-468-2377 to arrange to have goods picked up. The sale's proceeds will benefit the museum's educational programs and mission. - David Rattigan

Beer was hip in New York long before hipsters were into craft brews, according to a new exhibit at the New-York Historical Society that traces the history of beer all the way back to drunken Colonial times. And it's not your typical staid museum display: There's even a bar at the end of it. "Beer Here," which opens Friday in New York City and runs through Sept. 2, aims to show that beer is steeped in the state's alcoholic history. From a manifest with beer orders for George Washington's troops to the diary of a 14-year-old hop picker, the exhibit capitalizes on the growing...

A night at the museum? Well, maybe an evening. There was live music from Jay Leonard as well as cocktails and an Italian-style buffet during the Science Social at the Museum of Science on Jan. 19, an after-hours party within the exhibit "A Day in Pompeii. " To see all the pictures, visit boston.com/spotted . All photos shot by Erik Jacobs for Boston.com.

The Hull Lifesaving Museum is holding special school vacation week activities from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 21 to 23. The sessions will start with reading a classic children's sea story, followed by a related crafts project. All materials and a morning snack are included. Children may attend a single day or all three, and sessions are limited to eight children. The cost is $12 a day for museum members and $15 a day for nonmembers. For more information and registration, contact the museum at 781-925-5433.

The Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton has hired a new director, and he's likely to give the small, regional museum a new prominence. Jonathan Leo Fairbanks, the longtime director of the Department of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts until his exit in 1999, has replaced Wyona Lynch-McWhite, who resigned last year. Along with his work as a curator, Fairbanks is also an artist whose works are in many institutions, including the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Boston Public Library, the MFA, and elsewhere.

Revolving Museum 22 Shattuck St., Lowell 978-937-2787 www.revolvingmuseum.org Tuesday-Sunday 11 a.m.-4 p.m., with many evening events ( visit the website). Free. Current exhibit through Sept. 30: "Pulling Strings: Traditional and Contemporary Puppetry. "

The Franklin Historical Museum is seeking military uniforms from local veterans to display as part of an exhibition next month. Museum officials are looking for uniforms from all branches of the armed services, and donors should also submit photographs of themselves in their uniforms to be placed next to the mannequins displaying their uniforms. Individuals or families interested in contributing should contact Deborah Pellegri, the town clerk and chairwoman of the town's Historical Commission, at 508-520-4900.

The Children's Museum in Easton is looking to take its "Science Road Show" to schools throughout the area. The program, which visited schools in Easton, Sharon, Stoughton, and Taunton last school year, is geared to students in kindergarten through Grade 3, and offers hands-on activities that teach principles of science. The program received support from the cultural councils in the host communities. For more information about the museum's outreach programs for schools, e-mail Jane Rotondi at jane@childrensmuseumineaston.org or call 508-230-3789.

A rockin' good time is planned next month when the Los Angeles County Museum of Art pulls the covers off artist Michael Heizer's latest creation — a 340-ton boulder positioned to appear as though it's floating in mid-air. The gigantic work titled "Levitated Mass" will be unveiled June 24 and is intended to remain forever. Its centerpiece is the two-story-tall chunk of granite that was hauled 105 miles from a Riverside rock quarry earlier this year. Since then, the rock has been carefully positioned above a 465-foot-long trench that museum visitors can stroll.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is preparing to unveil an $85 million dinosaur exhibit, already being hailed as one of the best in the country. The exhibit that opens June 2 includes the only Triceratops skin ever found and a T. rex with three fingers, a rare skeleton some paleontologists believe may be evidence the massive predator had a soft side with digits used for tickling, fondling and even falling in love. Museum paleontologist Robert Bakker says "The Prehistoric Safari" takes visitors on a journey through evolution, beginning 25 billion...

Salem is about to become a far more fashionable city thanks to a 90-year-old fashion icon who says she will bequeath a significant slice of her couture collection to the Peabody Essex Museum. Iris Apfel, the celebrated New York fashion doyenne best known for her saucer-sized glasses and chunky jewelry, will give the Peabody Essex more than 600 pieces of clothing and accessories by world-famous designers, a trove that she has amassed over more than five decades. The gift will substantially expand and modernize the museum's fashion and textiles...

Three opening receptions for upcoming exhibitions will be held Sunday from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the Art Complex Museum, 189 Alden St. An exhibition titled "Duxbury Artists" and curated by museum director Charles Weyerhaeuser in honor of the town's 375th anniversary will include work by Duxbury artists from the museum's own collection. Covering more than 300 years, the show includes oils on board and on canvas, prints, photographs, and sculpture. Some of the artists have been well-known town residents.

Saundra Baker was 25 when she met her husband to be, William Lane. He was 50. She was standing in line for last-minute "rush" tickets at Boston's Metropolitan Theater, and ready to give up. "I was just starting to go when a gentleman came up and offered me a spare ticket," said Mrs. Lane, 73, sitting at a table at the Museum of Fine Arts. " ‘My compliments,' he said when I asked him the price. ‘I wasn't straight off the turnip truck, so I knew that I would have to sit with him. " The opera, incredibly, was Verdi's "La forza del destino" - "the force of...

NEW YORK - They were promised a place to mourn their loved ones, display their photographs, and educate their children and the children of strangers about exactly what was lost on 9/11. But today, family members of those killed have no completion date for the museum that is to be built alongside the Sept. 11 memorial at ground zero, and many are upset. "The memorial is open, but that's only half the tribute to those who were killed," said Patricia Reilly, who lost her sister in the attacks.

"The Terminator" is back in his native Austria to inaugurate a museum devoted to him. Arnold Schwarzenegger's private jet landed at Graz airport Thursday. The museum is located in the renovated house of his birth in the village of Thal. It chronicles his rise from humble beginnings as a muscular young immigrant to the U.S. to Hollywood action hero to, most recently, California's governor. The museum has been open since July, but Friday's ceremonies will mark the formal inauguration.

WHO: Globe staff member Milva DiDomizio, husband Glenn, daughters Claire and Abby WHAT: Learning about Lowell WHERE: Boott Cotton Mills Museum We love Charles Dickens, so we went to Lowell National Historical Park to see "Dickens and Massachusetts: A Tale of Power and Transformation. " The exhibit is part of "Dickens in Lowell," a series of events celebrating the author's bicentenary. The small but fascinating display focuses on Dickens's 1842 visit to America.

Officials have fired the Swiss architect tapped to design an ambitious museum of modern art in Poland's capital, throwing the whole project off track. Warsaw development official Pawel Baranski said Friday that the city had canceled an agreement with Christian Kerez because he missed deadlines and failed to secure permits needed for features such as plumbing, electricity and ventilation. City Hall also is demanding almost 5.5 million zlotys ($1.6 million; (EURO)1.2 million)