The opening of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is now set for 2019, a date that seems within reach now that the organization has passed the $300 million mark in gifts from benefactors—the goal is $388 million—and will make the Academy Museum will be the world’s “premier institution dedicated to the art and science of movies.” Located on Wilshire and Fairfax in Los Angeles, the Museum, will be simultaneously immersive, experimental, educational, and entertaining. The venue’s two key structures include: the 1,000-seat state-of-the-art David Geffen Theater, which will host a range of performances, screenings, premieres, and events with the world’s leading filmmakers; and the six-story Saban Building, which will feature more than 50,000 square feet of exhibition galleries, a theatre, restaurant and a store. For the latest updates on the attraction, visit www.academymuseum.org.
Opening Oct. 29 is the Take a Stand Center at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, Illinois. Unlike any museum presentation in the United States, the facility tells the stories, comments, and answers to questions by 13 Holocaust survivors, in their own words, who appear as holograms in a 66-seat hologram theater, named the Abe & Ida Cooper Survivor Stories Experience. For the hologram project, each of the 13 survivors spent five days sitting in a chair in front of a camera. They had to wear the same clothes each day and answer 2,000 questions, often repeating their answers. They respond to questions that range from the profound to the mundane. While many Holocaust survivors have told their stories on video, this is a completely different experience, said museum CEO Susan Abrams, who led the project. “You develop empathy from human interaction,” she said. “And you learn best by actually doing something, and engaging.” Admission prices are: adult, $15.00; seniors (65+) $10.00; students (12-22), $8.00; children (5-11), $6.00; military personnel and up to three family members: 50% off. For more information, visit: www.ilholocaustmuseum.org.
The U.S. National Park Service has given its preliminary approval for the display of R-Evolution, a 16,000-pound, 45-foot tall steel statute of a nude woman as part of “Catharsis on the Mall” (Nov. 9-12, 2017) in Washington, D.C.—coinciding with Veterans Day, and through March 2018. The huge work of art will be the main attraction at the annual Catharsis, a festival in the nation’s capital that has been dubbed a “Burning Man” for Washington. Burning Man is an annual desert festival that takes place in late summer in the western United States at Black Rock City—a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert of northwest Nevada. R-Evolution will stand in a yoga mountain pose near the Washington Monument facing the White House, depicting a strong woman feeling confident in her body. 2017 marks the third year for “Catharsis on the Mall,” which has become a popular event for visitors to Washington, D.C. For more information on Catharsis and other events taking place on the National Mall, visit: https://www.nps.gov/nama/index.htm.(Editor’s note: Shortly after this item was posted, the U.S. National Park Service denied the request for a permit on the sculpture, citing height and other considerations.)
Scheduled to open in December in New York City is SPYSCAPE, a new museum dedicated to the craft and practice of espionage. The new attraction spans seven galleries on Eighth Avenue and features artifacts and media depicting hacking, deception and intelligence operations, as well as a spy training program. Patrons will be able to enter an interrogation booth to test their emotional intelligence (For instance: Can patrons spot a liar?), their mental acuity in code-making stations and reaction times in tunnels armed with security lasers. The museum’s profiling system, designed by the head of training for a British intelligence agency, will then tell trainees which spy role they’re most suited to, according to the museum’s website. The 60,000-square-foot museum has been developed with the help of spymasters and hackers, as well as Archimedia, a British-based private investment group that says espionage skills are transferrable to everyday life. SPYSCAPE is located at 928 Eighth Avenue and will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is $39 a person. For more information, visit:https://spyscape.com/.
Unscripted Hotels, a new lifestyle brand and hospitality concept from Dream Hotel Group, just opened its first location in downtown Durham, North Carolina following a $19.5 million dollar revitalization of the famous1960s property known as the Jack Tar Motor Lodge. The hotel has 74 guestrooms and five food and beverage venues, including a rooftop pool deck and lounge that will host events. The space maintains much of its original architecture and design. Dream Hotel Group CEO Jay Stein said that, with Unscripted, the company wants to “create a hotel brand that encourages integration and cooperation within hyper-local cities in a way that’s meaningful to the people who live here.” For more information, visit www.unscriptedhotels.com.
