"Volterra Vista" by Leslie Ehrin.

Celebrate the grand opening of the Morris Arboretum’s Garden Railway–American Roadside Attractions, on Saturday, May 29, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The miniature buildings, like the historic tea pot gas station of Zillah, WA (above), are carefully created out of natural materials. The Garden Railway will be on display until September 6.

Consult with Morris Arboretum horticultural experts at the annual Plant Sale May 8 and 9, featuring rare and unusual plants. The 2010 Plant Sale will take place at the new Horticulture Center at Bloomfield Farm (across from the main entrance of the Morris Arboretum).

Above: One of the many varieties of azaleas available at the Plant Sale. See Special Events.

Now through May, the Penn Museum will present The Goodlands: Young Photographers Inspiring Hope in North Philadelphia, a selection of more than 40 color photographs of people and places in the community, including the one above, taken between 2000 and 2009 by neighborhood children aged 5 to 13. The photography exhibition, on view in the Museum’s Kress gallery, challenges stereotypes and negative biases by highlighting hopeful images in the local community.

In Citizen’s Garb: Southern Plains Native Americans, 1889–1891, a photographic exhibition on view at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology now through June 20, explores the ways dress—and life—changed for the Kiowa, Comanche, and other Native American nations of the Southern Plains during the last tumultuous decades of the 1800s. Plains Indian clothing from the period, selected from the Museum’s own collection, complements the photographs.

Above: Chief Quanah Parker, citizen’s garb, modern gelatin silver print from original glass plate negative, ca 1888-1891; courtesy Joe Swalwell.

Righteous Dopefiend: An Anthropological Installation on Homelessness, Addiction and Poverty in Urban America, December 5 through May 2010 at the Penn Museum. © Jeff Schonberg 2009

Lenape Meesing Candle holder made of metal and paint. Each year, the Lenape of Pennsylvania honor Meesing, the protector of the woodlands, with a fall Meesing ceremony. At the ceremony, a member of the Medicine Society, a group of men responsible for organizing and performing the Meesing ceremony, represents Meesing as a dancer. The Meesing dancer prepares for his task during the year preceding the ceremony by meditating on Meesing and making objects with Meesing’s image, which are given to the Medicine Society.  

A Lenape fan made of beads, deerskin and feathers rests in the hands of Shelley DePaul, director of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania and co-curator of Penn Museum’s new exhibition, Fulfilling a Prophecy: the Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania.

Photos: Lauren Hansen-Flaschen.

Gold bull amulet (Height: 1.5 cm; Width: 1.5 cm) originally part of a necklace of gold. The bearded bull, considered divine in early Mesopotamia, is made of a thin sheet of gold wrapped over a bitumen core. Found loose in the soil at the Royal Cemetery, ca 2550 BCE.

April 27-May 1.

Omaha Theatre Company performs The Little Engine That Could at the Zellerbach Theatre, Annenberg Center, throughout the festival, for ages 4 and up.

Begining May 20 at the Annenberg Center, dancers/illusionists Momix perform Botanica, director Moses Pendleton’s newest full-length creation inspired by the wonders and magic of nature.

Sinatra Sings Sinatra: St. Ignatius Nursing Home Charity Fundraiser; 8 p.m.; May 4.