

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History invite all visitors to enjoy free admission to the museums from 4 to 8 p.m. every Thursday in March. Normal parking fees apply. Parking is $6 per car after 5 p.m. Free Thursday Nights in March are made possible by a generous gift from the Jack Buncher Foundation. A cash bar will be available.

Admission to Carnegie Museum of Art’s Double Exposure program on March 5 will also be free.

On View at Carnegie Museum of Art:

Sketch to Structure: Sketch to Structureunfolds the architectural design process to show how buildings take shape. With sketches, plans, blueprints, renderings, and models from the Heinz Architectural Center collection, this exhibition reveals that architectural design, from initial concept to client presentation, isn’t straightforward. With objects from every stage of the design process by the likes of Lorcan O’Herlihy, Richard Neutra, Stephen Holl, Sketch to Structure presents the ingenious ways that architects and firms accumulate ideas and whittle them down, ultimately solving design challenges for their clients.

Antoine Catala: Distant Feel (part of the Hillman Photography Initiative): The first solo US museum exhibition of the New York–based French artist, Antoine Catala: Distant Feel presents a new body of work in sculpture, photography, and video that addresses the way that images provoke emotion, especially as they travel virtual and physical distances via the internet. Catala’s work takes an interest in the myriad ways we express feelings through the technology that increasingly mediates our daily lives. Catala is developing a new approach to the sentiment of empathy, conceived in collaboration with the New York advertising agency Droga5. This new form of empathy is embodied in a symbol and the catch phrase “distant feel,” both of which is employed in the exhibition and online.

Uncrated: The Hidden Lives of Artworks (opens March 9): Did you know that only 7% of the museum’s collection is on view at any time? Have you ever wondered what happens to artworks when they’re not in the galleries? Learn the stories behind some intriguing works from the collection and find out more about the people who buy, sell, move, hang, clean, and care for them. This small exhibition will offer fun facts about the collection and dig deep into nine objects with particularly intriguing stories to tell (A polyurethane bathtub that needs to be burped! An installation that comes with instructions for putting it together! A painting so heavy it has its own cart to move it! Melted wax heads!) Visitors will be able to play with some of the tools of the trade in a special hands-on section. Come back throughout the show to see what new discoveries the team is making.

Visiting Van Gogh: Still Life, Basket of Apples (opens March 14): When Van Gogh encountered the bold color and brushwork of the Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists, something changed, and he began to paint with a new vibrancy and freshness. Experience this story in four paintings withVisiting Van Gogh, which centers on Still Life, Basket of Apples (1887), visiting from the Saint Louis Art Museum. Providing a rare opportunity to experience four masterpieces up-close and in-depth, the exhibition also features Van Gogh’s Le Moulin de la Galette (1886–1887) and Wheat Fields after the Rain (1890). Rounding out the installation is Paul Signac’s Place des Lices, St. Tropez (1893). On view for a limited time, Visiting Van Gogh offers a chance to linger and examine closely a turning point in this towering figure’s career.

On View at Carnegie Museum of Natural History

The Scientific Art of Charles R. Knight: The paleontological paintings of artist Charles Robert Knight (1874–1953) include some of the most recognizable dinosaur images of the 20th Century. But Knight also produced images of modern animals and early humans that are equally as stunning. The Scientific Art of Charles R. Knightshowcases a selection of 10 artworks that span 200 million years, from the Mesozoic to the modern era. Complementing the exhibition are actual specimens from the scientific collection of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, showing the “real thing” that inspired Knight’s wondrous depictions of the natural world.

Finding the Words: Pittsburgh and the early Civil Rights Movement: Discover Pittsburgh’s unique contributions to the dialogue about race and anti-racism during the 1950s inFinding the Words, a new exhibit now open at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Curated by museum staff, Finding the Words: Pittsburgh and the early Civil Rights Movement uses archival material, artifacts, objects, and text to tell the story of local, city-wide efforts to define modern, 1950s era science behind race in light of rising racial tensions locally and nationally.

Time Machines: Watches from the H.J. Heinz Collection: Showcasing more than 20 of ketchup magnate H. J. Heinz’s most spectacular time pieces,Time Machines: Watches from the H.J. Heinz Collection, turns back the hands of time with such beauties as a gold mechanical “repeating watch” with figures that strike the hour, an example of clock-making technology that dates to the 17th century. Other rarities include a watch once owned by British naval hero Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson and a music box watch adorned with a feathered bird. Time Machines is a repeat presentation of the extremely popular exhibition that appeared in Wertz Gallery in the summer of 2008.

Carnegie Museum of Art and Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Located at 4400 Forbes Avenue in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art and Carnegie Museum of Natural History were founded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1895. Two of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, they are nationally and internationally recognized for their collections. For more information, call 412.622.3131 or visit www.carnegiemuseums.org.