TEXARKANA, Ark. - The closure of Texarkana Museums System properties to the public will not stop Saturday's planned community scrapbook workshop.
Scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, the workshop will be offered as a livestream webinar, part of a TMS plan to offer some of its programmings online as digital content in light of the coronavirus crisis. The TMS aims to help the local community remain connected, according to a press release about the workshop.
"We are really excited to be able to continue with the workshop using web resources," said TMS Curator Jamie Simmons in a statement about the event. "Once everything is back to normal and we can open to the public once again, we may reschedule the in-person workshop, but, for now, this livestream might provide an entertaining alternative as well as inspire some creativity."
The TMS will announce how attendees can view the livestream later this week on the P.J. Ahern Home's page on Facebook. Staff will broadcast the livestream from the P.J. Ahern Home. There's no charge to watch the webinar.
The workshop online will be available to anyone who wants to watch and use scrapbook materials they already have. For $3, the TMS will also provide a materials kit, which includes paper, embellishments, glue stick and other materials related to a local history topic. Each kit will be different. Sign up for a kit at TexarkanaMuseums.org/events.
If interested in purchasing a kit, attendees can then call the TMS at 903-793-4831 to schedule a pick up. TMS staff will deliver the kit to people in their car outside the Museum of Regional History, which is located at 219 State Line Ave.
For the ongoing scrapbook project, local community members can create 12 inch by 12 inch pages that explore some historical issue related to the Ark-La-Tex. When TMS properties reopen, the entire scrapbook will be viewable at the P.J. Ahern Home or at the Wilbur Smith Research Library. A Division of Arkansas Heritage grant helped fund this program.
Upcoming events at the P.J. Ahern Home, a Classical Revival mansion dating to 1905, include "Arkansas Folk Remedies" on May 23 and "Then and Now: A Tour of Vintage Gadgets" on June 27. The P.J. Ahern Home is located at 403 Laurel St.
Simmons said the exact events to be held as livestream webinars in the future isn't determined yet, but it's like some events at Discovery Place Interactive Museum will be held this way. Such events will be announced on Facebook.
(More info: Call 903-793-4831, visit TexarkanaMuseums.org, find the TMS on Facebook, or email [email protected].)