By By Nell Luter Floyd/Special to The Star
Aug. 29, 2001
JACKSON Students from North Hills Christian School and Northwest Junior High in Meridian will be among the visitors to The Majesty of Spain exhibition before the curtain falls on the show here next week.
North Hills Christian and Northwest students will visit the exhibit on Friday. Students will be somewhat familiar with the some of the 600 objects on display because they have studied the printed supplements made available to Mississippi schools. Teachers will be familiar thanks to a special guide provided free for them.
The Mississippi Commission for International Cultural Exchange mailed reminders to teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade throughout Mississippi when they returned to school from summer vacation, said Jack L. Kyle, executive director of the commission.
The exhibit features 14 galleries with treasures from the Prado Museum of Art in Madrid and seven royal residences.
Page Goodrich, who books school groups at the exhibit, said at least 100 calls have come in from teachers wanting to book groups since classes resumed two weeks ago.
Mississippi College students visited the exhibit on Tuesday as part of opening week activities. Millsaps College students will do the same on Friday.
Vans will shuttle students to the exhibit. Faculty and spouses will be eligible for group rates later that day.
About 108,000 students have viewed the exhibit since it opened last March, Kyle said, including students from Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas as well as Mississippi.
About 17,000 students have viewed the exhibit with their parents; 82,000 students have viewed the exhibit with a group and 9,000 college and university students have viewed the exhibit.
Since the exhibit opened, one million teacher guides and 40,000 teacher supplements have been distributed, Kyle said.
So far, the exhibit has reached 297,000 in total ticket sales, Kyle said. It needs to sell 326,000 tickets to break even, he said.
Exhibit hours are 9 a.m.-10 p.m. daily, with the last tour at 8 p.m. daily. The exhibition will be open all day on Labor Day. Tickets are $15 for adults; $14 for seniors 60 and older; $10 for college/university students with I.D. and $5 for children/youth (infants-age 18). Tickets may be obtained by phoning Ticketmaster at 1-877-709-2639.