Savor the holiday season and the Colorado Plateau at the Museum of Northern Arizona’s annual Community Holiday Party from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, December 4. Come to mingle and marvel at this free, nondenominational event for all. The Joyful Ringers, Federated Community Church’s hand bell choir, perform from 10 to 11 a.m.
and the Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy (FALA) performs selected songs from Nightmare Before Christmas from 11 a.m. to noon.
Holiday celebrants will make regionally-inspired ornaments to trim the MNA tree and to take home, including split twig figurines, woolly sheep, and strung-bead creations. Baked goods, coffee, cider, and cocoa donated by Late for the Train will add to the fun.
Author/chefs Jen Castle and Blake Spalding will sign copies of their new book, With a Measure of Grace, the Story and Recipes of a Small Town Restaurant, which was co-written with Spalding’s sister, Lavinia Spalding and photographed by Eric Swanson. Sixty-eight favorite recipes highlight their blend of Western Range, Pueblo Indian, and Southwestern cooking. From Flagstaff and formerly backcountry and Grand Canyon river chefs, Castle and Spalding now run the enormously popular Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder, Utah in the heart of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Their restaurant has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine; The New York Times; Travel + Leisure; National Geographic Traveler; Sunset Magazine; and the Zagat Survey of restaurants.
The Museum’s free admission on this morning includes entrance to all of the exhibit galleries. SeeArizona: A View from the Mountains, an exhibit by Flagstaff photographer Michael Collier and author Rose Houk. It showcases 76 photographs of ten Arizona mountain ranges from their recently published book by Arizona Highways. Also experience Caras y Máscaras: Faces and Masks, an exhibit of Zarco Guererro’s masks, altars, murals, giant puppets, and boulder-like Olmec heads inspired by the beauty and humor of cultures around the world.
Visit the Museum of Northern Arizona to learn about the beauty and diversity of the Colorado Plateau. The region’s artistic traditions, Native cultures, and natural sciences are revealed through changing exhibits, informative programs, festivals, and custom outdoor adventures.
The Museum is located three miles north of historic downtown Flagstaff on Highway 180. For information call 774-5213 or go to www.musnaz.org.