Special to Iredell Free News
The Hiddenite Arts & Heritage Center will host its annual Christmas at the Lucas Mansion Holiday Open House on Thursday, December 5. The event is located at 316 Hiddenite Church Road and will be from 6 to 8 p.m.
The historic Victorian/Edwardian era home will be filled with lights, sights, and sounds, of the season set in this year’s theme, “Let it Snow: A Frozen Christmas.”
Visitors will enter into the foyer where the decorations and their imagination will carry them into a frozen world as they will experience special guided tours of the decorations in the Center’s museum.
A Frozen Christmas continues with the second floor Lucas Mansion Gallery exhibit. The exhibit will feature “Illuminations” — paintings and mixed media work by Catawba County artist Carolyn Hawes. Hawes’ work is visual imagery of the scriptures with lettering of the verses, as in the illuminating of the scriptures by monks in 800 AD with elaborate calligraphy, pictorial images, and Celtic Knots.
The Center’s third floor will be transformed into a frozen kingdom fit for any prince and princess. Frosty, shimmering decorations, colorful lights and trees will compliment the Center’s permanent exhibit of antique dolls and toys, delighting the young and the young at heart.
Guests will enjoy new holiday additions to the Lucas Mansion gift shop, featuring handcrafted, unique, and one-of-a-kind artistic gifts. Gift shop sales will benefit local artists, crafters.
Live music for the evening will be provided by the Appalachian State University Saxophone Quartet, which features: Nicolo Iorio, soprano and alto saxophone, Marty Glover, alto saxophone, Kelsey Parsons, tenor saxophone, and Grant McPolin, baritone saxophone.
Guests will experience special guided tours of the decorations in the Center’s museum, heavy hors d’ oeuvres, live music from the Appalachian State University Saxophone Quartet, holiday shopping, festivities, and fellowship.
This project was supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources.
Current dues paying members of the Center’s “Friends” program are admitted free of charge with their 2020 renewal of their Friends membership.
The public is invited to attend this holiday open house with payment of a $25 one-year Friends individual membership.
As a special thanks, each new and renewal membership will be entered into a drawing to receive a Gift Certificate for Admission for Two for A Center Performance. The winning entry will be drawn on January 10, 2020.
Guests are welcome to pay at the door on the evening of the Open House or may pay by credit card over the phone by calling (828) 632-6966.
Benefits of a Friends of the Center membership include discounts on classes, gift shop discounts, and free museum tours throughout the year.
Following the Friends Open House, the Center’s “Let it Snow: A Frozen Christmas” decorations and exhibits will be open to the public beginning Friday, December 6. The Lucas Mansion’s regular hours of operation are Monday – Friday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
About Hiddenite Arts & Heritage Center
Hiddenite Arts & Heritage Center events, exhibits, and programs are made possible in part through the generous funding of Alexander County government, the Town of Taylorsville, the Eileen and R. Y. Sharpe Family Foundation, The Winston Salem Foundation, and the Friends of the Center membership program. The Hiddenite Arts & Heritage Center’s Lucas Mansion and Educational Complex are wheelchair accessible.