 "Photo: Photos courtesy of the Clay Center")
 "Photo: Photos courtesy of the Clay Center")
In Charleston, W.Va., a 240,000-square-foot facility houses performing arts, visual arts and science in one building — the Clay Center.
“It’s a really neat place to come and spend the day,” said Patty Patrolo, president and CEO of the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau. “I like the planetarium. I just like the stars and the whole experience.”
The ElectricSky Theater is a 61-foot domed screen that showcases planetarium and specialty shows.
Special shows running through Nov. 7 include “Sea Monsters” and “Dinosaurs Alive.” An upcoming show called “Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs,” starts Nov. 7.
“Seeing everything on the big screen, it really submerges you in the topic,” said Katrina Harmon, Clay Center marketing and communications manager.
The Maier Foundation Performance Hall is the venue for all performing arts events and official home of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
Performances by Wayne Newton, a Hank Williams tribute band and the Broadway in Charleston series are scheduled for this year.
The Broadway in Charleston series consists of “Cirque Dreams Illumination,” a show featuring acrobats, contortionist and musicians; “Cabaret,” a show about a club singer’s passion in the heat of Nazism; and “The Wizard of Oz,” the classic 1939 film is brought to life on stage.
The Clay Center’s Avampato Discovery Museum is home to the visual arts. Its permanent exhibit contains more than 750 pieces of art – paintings, sketches, sculptures and other mediums.
One of the current, traveling exhibits is the “Lost Kingdoms of the Nile: Nubian Treasures from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.” This includes jewelry, sculptures, ceramic pottery, an Egyptian coffin and other items.
“We’re one of only two museums that will have this exhibition so you can’t just see it anywhere,” Harmon said. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and you can see it in your own backyard.”
This exhibit will be at the center until April 11.
Another exhibit featured is “Treasures of the Permanent Collection,” which will be available until Nov. 14. Colonial portraits, 17th century Chinese coins and 18th century Japanese woodcuts are a few of the items visitors can view.
The Clay Center’s Avampato Discovery Museum also houses science galleries for the center.
In the Gizmo Factory, guests can make music on the invisible strings of a Laser Harp, impress their bodies on a large pin-screen, build their own roller coaster or direct a motion picture.
The Exploration Station is also available, and it changes throughout the season. This exhibit compliments the Nubian experience in the visual arts section of the museum. Visitors can see themselves as part of a tomb painting, write their names in hieroglyphics and see a Nubian hut.
The Clay Center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $7 for galleries only or $13.50, which includes the galleries, film and planetarium.
For more information, visit www.theclaycenter.org.
Kristen Footo can be contacted at footo@marshall.edu.
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