On Thursday, March 4th, California First Lady Maria Shriver and The Women’s Conference are partnering with The California Museum to celebrate National Women’s History Month with an extraordinary all-day free event – Day at The Museum. The California Museum will be open for a free day of education, inspiration and empowerment. Plus, we'll have a number of special guests including astronaut Sally Ride, environmental activist Erin Brockovich, and Iron Chef Cat Cora. It's going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. (This is a great opportunity for all those who have been unable to make it to The Women's Conference in Long Beach. Tickets sell out fast, the trip is a bit of a committment from

Suspended from a wall, a Chinese dragon's red eyes peer into mine. Its multicolored head sways playfully, side to side, up and down, mechanical tongue wagging while dancing with glimmering sequins. To the left of the 5-foot dragon head, a small circular Chinese Moon Gate welcomes me into a new exhibit I've been invited to tour several days before opening. I vaguely remember viewing similar scenery my first time outside of California. My mind wanders back to 1990, age 5, learning the lion dance in the streets of southern China. I complain to Mother how I'm the only Chinese American Jew in all of China. I miss my Californian friends of many different races. I walk past a rope, a ladder an

Halloween came to Sacramento early Wednesday morning as a group of six local science fiction lovers marched downtown dressed in Klingon, Death Star Trooper and Sith Lord costumes. Dozens of children and sci-fi fans flocked to take photographs and speak with the costumed characters. Others gawked, laughed and one child even cried as they meandered from the California Museum down K Street and past the Capitol to Cesar Chavez Plaza. The march was organized to promote The California Museum's new sci-fi exhibit "Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television," which will run from Oct. 3 to Jan. 10. It will feature more than 50 props and costumes from some of Hollywood's mo

Due to the immense popularity of The California Museum's With Malice Toward None: Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibit, visiting hours will be extended to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from the original 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The extended hours apply to the last 10 days of the exhibit, from Aug. 13 to Aug. 23. When museum staff observed the high turnout, they wanted to give potential visitors more opportunity, so the extended hours and the extra day of Aug. 23 were added. "No one's complained about lines or overcrowding—we just noticed that crowds were gathering at 9:30 a.m. to get in, and people have stayed in the museum right up until we close the door at 5 p.m," said California Museum Communication Man

What did the nation's 16th beloved president have in his pockets the night he was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in April 1865? Starting Wednesday, a visit to the California Museum will provide the public with a rare opportunity to see such artifacts with a naked eye. After its premiere in Washington, DC beginning February 12, the Library of Congress art exhibit With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition was scheduled to show in five locations on its national tour, with the California Museum being the only stop on the West Coast. The exhibition marks the bicentennial birth of the 16th president, its focus expanding beyond Lincoln’s presidency, capturing the year

An exhibition of 37 California state duck stamps opens Monday at the California Museum in downtown Sacramento. California has used original artwork for its duck stamp program since 1971—beginning with the artwork of Paul Johnson—when it developed the first state duck program in the nation, said deputy museum director Amanda Meeker. Hunters are required to buy the stamps and put them on their licenses, and the resulting funds are used for conservation of wetlands and geese and duck habitats, explained Meeker. She said that the program has raised $22 million since its inception. Between 1971 and 1977, and 1995 to 2008, the Department of Fish and Game commissioned artwork for the stamps, a

Live snakes, bats and a desert tortoise named Shelly - these animals will slither, fly and crawl their way around the California Museum on Saturday, April 25. Inspired by Earth Month and Earth Day, Family Fun Day will have the theme "California's Critters and Crawlers." From 10 a.m.-3 p.m., families and individuals will be able to enter the museum for free and view any of the regular exhibits as well as build crafts, learn about animals and view some endangered and threatened species. The goal is "to learn more about California's natural diversity," said Ashley Robinson, the museum's communications manager. Emceeing the event will be Francie Dillon, a children's entertainer who will be