Diane Arthur, daughter of Glenn and Carol Arthur, cuts the Arthur Planetarium as she is joined by Margaret Earley-Thiele, Dan Gurley, Sen. Ralph Hise, Dr. John Boyd, Dudley Greene and Blair Belt.
The Mayland Earth to Sky Park celebrated the grand opening of the Glenn and Carol Arthur Planetarium on June 24 and 25 with a ribbon-cutting, BBQ and 20-minute preview shows inside the planetarium.
With crowds of 100 people each day, including the Arthur Family, North Carolina Senator Ralph Hise, North Carolina Representative Dudley Greene, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Gurley and many other supporters, the ribbon was first cut marking the official opening of the cutting-edge facility.
“What a wonderful day for the celebration of environmental education in our region,” said Margaret Earley-Thiele, executive director of the Mayland Community College Foundation.
Mayland President Dr. John Boyd thanked the Arthur family and all others who helped.
“They understood the overall vision for the Earth to Sky Park and the need for something like this in our community,” Boyd said. “We are so excited to open the Arthur Planetarium and invite people to learn about the wonders of the universe and experience an immersive show inside the dome.
A Good of the Hive mural by internationally known artist Matt Willey is painted on the exterior of the Arthur Planetarium. He was at the opening celebration to discuss his mural.
Willey talked about his mission to paint 50,000 honeybees worldwide. He painted his 10,000th bee on the Arthur Planetarium.
“This mural is a turning point for me because I am expanding the hive to include nighttime pollinators in addition to the daytime bees,” he said. “The whole project is about stressing the importance of exploring your curiosity and the Arthur Planetarium invites people to do just that.”
The Arthur Planetarium joins the Bare Dark Sky Observatory at the Earth to Sky Park, which is a designated dark sky park by the International Dark Sky Association.
The Park was the 22nd site in the world to receive the certification back in 2015 and now is one of two IDA parks in the world to operate both an observatory and planetarium. The other site is in South Korea.
The Arthur Planetarium seats 60 people and is open Tuesday through Sunday. A selection of shows will be offered with offerings rotated throughout the week.
Visitors may experience the depths of the ocean one day and deep space the next day. For ticket information, visit mayland.edu/planetarium.