Charlotte Observer / Associated Press
N.C. Capitol Marks Birthdays Of Washington, Sculptor
The State Capitol is celebrating the birthdays of George Washington and the Italian artist, Romano Vio, who recreated a statue of the country's first president that now stands in the Capitol rotunda. An exhibit and other events honor Vio and Washington, who both had February birthdays. The Capitol will co-host a ceremony marking Vio's centennial (100th birthday) with Palazzo Ferro-Fini, the seat of the Veneto Regional Council in Italy, via a Skype connection online. Read more here.

Beach Carolina Magazine
Secretary Kluttz Announces Director of Public Information and Marketing Cary Cox
Secretary Susan W. Kluttz has announced Cary Cox as Director of Public Information and Marketing for the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, effective Feb. 25. An award-winning public relations and marketing professional with more than 25 years of broad-based experience, Cox comes from her successful Cox Marketing Group in Charlotte, whose services included strategic marketing, advertising, public relations, event planning and new media development. She will be the Department’s top communicator on Cultural Resources’ interests, programs and initiatives, and will lead the planning and implementation of marketing strategies to promote the creative economy in North Carolina. Read more and see a photo here, here and here.

Go! Magazine (AAA publication for North and South Carolina)
Carolina Beaches Beckon; Savor the Charm of Historic Southport
With some 500 miles of coastline and beaches that are among the most beautiful and eclectic in the country, the Carolinas offer a range of activities from family-friendly fun and breathtaking scenic beauty to interesting museums and adrenaline-pumping watersports. The Beaufort section of the coastal preview includes information on the Queen Anne’s Revenge and the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort; the Wilmington section mentions the Battleship USS North Carolina Memorial. The N.C. Maritime Museum branch in Southport is mentioned in the article on the historic Southport community.

Beach Carolina Magazine
North Carolina’s Women in History
Scores of North Carolina women have made history, and many of their stories are displayed across the state on N.C. Highway Historical markers. Their contributions to the state and nation are also the subject of special programs in March at historic sites and history museums including Tryon Palace in New Bern and the Museum of the Cape Fear in Fayetteville. The names include Anna Julia Cooper, Harriet Jacobs, Sallie S. Cotton, Ann Durant, Lillian Exum Clement, Connie Guion, First Lady Dolley Madison, Harriet Morehead Berry, Hannah Iredell and Penelope Barker. Read more about their significance here.

WRAL-TV
Tar Heel Traveler: Edenton house is NC's oldest
Experts recently identified the oldest house in North Carolina. It's in Edenton, and its age came to light by accident. In this “Tar Heel Traveler” segment Scott Mason shows the Chowan County structure that the Historic Preservation Office recently determined was the state’s oldest house; he discusses how that official determination was made based on detailed studies by preservationists and historians. View the video here.

Blue Ridge Now
Bartlett chosen as coordinator for Blue Ridge Music Trails Project
Two professionals with experience in music, arts education, marketing and fundraising have been chosen to lead the development of the Blue Ridge Music Trails project, a joint initiative of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and the N.C. Arts Council. Dale Bartlett from the Flat Rock Playhouse will be the music trails coordinator. Musician Laura Boosinger will be a consultant and a liaison with the Western North Carolina music community. In 2010 the N.C. Arts Council received funding to update the Blue Ridge Music Trails Guidebook (from 2003) and produce a regional map to the music venues. Read more and see a photo here.

Live Science
Have Bones of Cleopatra's Murdered Sister Been Found?
A Viennese archaeologist lecturing at the N.C. Museum of History on March 1 claims to have identified the bones of Cleopatra's murdered sister or half-sister, but not everyone is convinced. That's because the evidence linking the bones (discovered in an ancient Greek city) to Cleopatra's sibling, Arsinoe IV, is largely circumstantial. A DNA test was attempted, said Hilke Thur, an archaeologist at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, but the 2,000-year-old bones had been handled too many times to get uncontaminated results. Read more and see photos here.

Watauga Democrat
Director of Libraries Heading to Raleigh
Molly Westmoreland, the Director of Libraries for the Appalachian Regional Library has accepted a position with the State Library of North Carolina as the Consultant for Public Library Management. Her new duties in the Library Development section will include serving as a liaison on management issues to public library directors, library trustees and “Friends” organizations, and serving as the Director of the Center for the Book. Read more and see a photo here.

Independent Weekly 
When symphonies add images and themes to their concerts, does it enhance or detract from their music?  
This week, fresh off presenting “The Planets” beneath high-definition projections of NASA footage and computer simulations, the North Carolina Symphony presents “Explorations: Freedom,” a program that includes a photochoreographic performance created by James Westwater and a live reading to Aaron Copland's moving piece "Lincoln Portrait." These concerts commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with an all-American lineup of composers. But "The Eternal Struggle" is the real draw: as projectors shine large-format Civil War and Civil Rights photographs on a 440-square-foot, three-panel panoramic screen, David Hartman narrates Copland's introductions and Lincoln's legendary words atop the music, just as Copland scored it. These hybrid programs aren't the only intersections of classical music and cutting-edge multimedia. Read more here and see a photo of the Symphony with Westwater’s display.

PiedmontParent.com
The Daily Post: Give your child an art education with the help of innovation
Winston-Salem has adopted the reputation for being the “City of the Arts and Innovation” over the years. So it’s only fitting that the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem is combining arts and innovation to help educate art lovers of all ages. SECCA has placed wireless tablets in its galleries with illustrations and other interactive tools to help visitors understand the artwork beyond what they see on the canvas. Read the blog post and see a photo here.

Wilmington Star News
Erosion at Brunswick Town uncovers wharves of history
The lower tides today at Brunswick Town State Historic Site reveal the effects of erosion, threatening the historically significant structures of a once-thriving port on the Cape Fear River. Jim McKee, historic interpreter, used a personal connection with the Army Corps of Engineers that ended up with U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen studying the site for possible engineering improvements. "We had a submerged wharf that was slowly being exposed by erosion, and since 2010 we've found three more," McKee said. A professor at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., brought his senior students to examine the site and make recommendations; they were excited about the chance to combine naval history, colonial history and engineering. Read more and see a photo here.

CarolinaParent.com
The Daily Post/Weekend: Healthy Families Expo, Living History, Nature Fun
Study the night sky and learn about the lives of slaves at a “Black History Month” program at Historic Stagville, North Carolina's largest pre-Civil War plantation. Take an “outdoor living history tour” at Bennett Place to gain insight into what people were thinking about the Emancipation Proclamation. The N.C. Symphony is also offering special concerts commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation's 150th anniversary. The State Capitol is celebrating the February birthdays of George Washington and Romano Vio, the artist who created the Washington statue that now sits in the Capitol Rotunda. Read more here.