12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, July 19, 2009
Dallas didn’t get it. Neither did Fort Worth. But Irving did.
For one year, the Carpenter Lobby at the Irving Arts Center will be the home for a 9-foot-tall model of the Ten Thousand Springs Pavilion. The model comes from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian received the intricate structure from Dr. Chan Laiwa and the China Red Sandalwood Museum in Beijing. Chan founded the museum to preserve and perpetuate the ancient Chinese art of red sandalwood carving.
On Sunday, the Irving Arts Center held a formal opening of the exhibit. Lorraine Taylor, chair of the Irving Arts board, welcomed guests and thanked board members and Richard Huff, executive director of the Arts Center, for their efforts in landing the exhibit. City Council member Rick Stopfer also said a few words and thanked fellow council members Sam Smith and Rose Cannaday for their support.
Stopfer then introduced Consul Cai Lian of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Houston. “It’s an honor to join you today,” Lian said. “It’s wonderful to see this gift to the Smithsonian by China will now have a broader audience.”
Paula Wallace, president of the Savannah College of Art and Design, also spoke. She was followed by Harold Closter, director of Smithsonian Affiliations. He thanked the Arts Center staff for partnering with the Smithsonian. “We are glad to bring to you one of the newest and most prized artifacts in our collection,” he said. He also pointed out two other works on loan from the Smithsonian – the sculptures from the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.
The program also included a lion dance, refreshments and children’s activities, such as lantern-making, calligraphy classes, yoga and Chinese brush painting demonstrations. The exhibit runs through June 2010.
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