ART

August 07, 2008 Last Updated: August 07, 2008 01:36 PM Weekend Entertainment

Associated Artists of Butler County group at the Art Center, 344 S. Main St., is exhibiting "Art: The Messenger" by Carlo Thertus through Aug. 22. Also on display are "Farm Markets" by Barbara Hutcheson and work by Charles Mintz. The Art Center is open noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, noon to 9 p.m. Fridays and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free. Call 724-283-6922 or visit www.theartcenterbutlerpa.net.

Maridon Museum, 322 N. McKean St., features a display of 19 Japanese samurai dolls through 2008, plus its permanent exhibits of hundreds of pieces of ancient and contemporary Asian art as well as Meissen porcelain. Regular museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays; closed Mondays and holidays. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and students, and free for children younger than age 8; children must be accompanied by an adult. Tours are led by trained docents and are available with advance notice. The museum also has a gift shop specializing in gifts and decorative art objects relating to China and Japan. Call 724-282-0123.

Frick Art and Historical Center, 7227 Reynolds St. in the Point Breeze section of Pittsburgh, is presenting "A Panorama of Pittsburgh: Nineteenth-Century Printed Views" through Oct. 5. The exhibit provides an in-depth consideration of the history of printed views of Pittsburgh and printmaking in the city. The Frick Art Museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays; closed Mondays and holidays. Admission is free; docent-led tours are $5 each. Call 412-371-0600.North Hills Art Center, 3432 Babcock Blvd. in Ross Township, is hosting "Celebrate Pittsburgh," a multimedia, juried art exhibit, through Aug. 28. All pieces displayed in some way reflect the spirit of Pittsburgh. An opening reception is planned for 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. Admission and parking are free. Regular gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays; closed Sundays. Call 412-364-3622 or visit the Web site, www.northhillsartcenter.com.Silver Eye Center for Photography, 1015 E. Carson St., presents "250 Years of Plants: Photographs by Regional Photographers" through Sept. 13. The show represents new botanical images from 16 Western Pennsylvania area photographers, as well as a few glimpses into historically significant gardens from the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Summer gallery hours are noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, or by appointment. Admission is free. Call 412-431-1810.Society for Contemporary Crafts, 2100 Smallman St., presents "5 Contemporary Masters," who were shown in the SCC store in Verona in the 1970s, through Sept. 13. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and by appointment Mondays. Call 412-261-7003.Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Ave., hosts "Abstract Art before 1950: Watercolors, Drawings, Prints, and Photographs" on view in the Scaife Works on Paper gallery through Oct. 18. The exhibition includes many of the avant-garde movements: cubism, futurism, dada, Russian suprematism, constructivism and early abstract expressionism. Continuing is "Life on Mars, the 2008 Carnegie International," through Jan. 11. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, plus for the summer, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays as well. Closed major holidays. Admission, which includes the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, is $15 for adults, $12 for senior citizens, and $11 for students and children age 3 and older. Call 412-622-3131 or visit the Web site, www.cmoa.org.