Event date:                Sunday January 18, 2004

Event place:              Redlands, CA

Museum open free on Sunday, January 18

The San Bernardino County Museum will be open at no charge on Sunday, January 18, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as part of the museum's "Third Sunday" series. Free admission is possible because of a contribution by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

In addition to free admission, visitors can hear Kathleen Springer, senior curator of geology, discuss Ice Age fossils at 2:00 p.m.  Ms. Springer will invite the visitors to contemplate life during the Ices Ages in Southern California, a time that did not necessarily include vast ice sheets, but a wetter, more temperate climate and an abundance of animals, most of which are extinct today.  "We literally have fossils beneath our feet, if you know where to look, because of those extraordinary times", explains Ms. Springer.  The discovery and preservation of fossil specimens will also be highlighted.  Family activities are planned between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The museum's Garden Café will be open for lunch and snacks between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Visitors will enjoy the museum's permanent galleries and see several special exhibits. A new exhibit of Guatemalan textiles, "Beauty for the Hand and Eye," will be open in the Hall of History. Also in the Hall of History is "If You Lived in California," an exhibit of children's books about California history; this exhibit closes January 19. Paintings by Boris Deutsch, co-founder of the California cubist movement, are showing in the Fisk Gallery. In the Schuiling Gallery, see images from the history division archives in "Outdoor Adventures in San Bernardino County."