The exhibition, which runs through May 18, goes beyond the iconic image on the dollar bill to reveal the real George Washington as not only a general and president but as a young land surveyor, experimental farmer, and savvy entrepreneur.Washington’s views on religion and slavery, and the influence of his wife, Martha, are also explored in this exhibition which features life-size figures ofWashingtondeveloped through a cutting-edge forensic investigation, engaging videos, original artifacts, intricate three-dimensional architectural models, and interactive displays. A dedicated web site (DiscoverGeorgeWashington.org) and extensive educational programming are designed to enhance the exhibition and visitor experience.

“Although over a million people come to walk inWashington’s footsteps atMount Vernoneach year, we know that not everyone will have a chance to visit his home,” said Jim Rees, executive director ofMount Vernon. “We wanted to bring the fascinating story ofWashington’s life to people around the country by showing a wide variety of compelling personal belongings and some intriguing elements from our new Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center.”

The exhibition is presented in 11 sections, ranging fromWashington’s youth to his final days. In addition toWashington’s dentures, paintings, books, maps, and objects such as surveying equipment, Revolutionary War armaments, tools used by slaves, and presidential table settings are among the artifacts featured in the exhibition. Mrs.Washingtonis represented by original jewelry, pieces of her china, silver, and glassware, and reproductions of her gold wedding dress and purple satin slippers.

Three life-size models of George Washington were assembled from a two-year forensic study where computer scientists, art historians, 18th-century garment experts, and a forensic scientist used technology and research from primary sources to measure and analyze portraits, sculpture, and Washington’s dentures and clothing. The project employed proprietary age-progression and regression techniques to create three depictions ofWashingtonas a teenaged surveyor, commander-in-chief atop a white horse, and as the first president taking the oath of office. These lifelike wax figures, with real human hair that was implanted one strand at a time, are embedded in realistic settings – one even with animation – that re-create scenes in the woodsyOhioValleyterritory, wintryValley Forge, and on the balcony of Federal Hall.

The fascinating process of creating the figures is shown in a video by The History Channel, which also produced five other videos in the exhibition on religion, espionage, slavery,Washington’s dentures, and his state-of-the-art gristmill.

A full-size, functional replica ofWashington’s pew atPohickChurchand detailed models ofFortNecessityandWashington’s Mansion and estate, gristmill, and innovative 16-sided treading barn bring large structures to the exhibition in a scalable manner, while interactive touch screens encourage interactivity.

Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernonwas organized by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association and funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. The exhibition was designed by MFM Design, Inc. and fabricated by Explus, Inc. The forensic figures of George Washington were created by StudioEIS.

(www.reaganlibrary.com)

The lantern festival will be among the first displays of its kind and size in the United States. A team of artisans from Zigong in the western province of Sichuan, the center of the lantern-making industry in China, will spend two months in residence at the Missouri Botanical Garden  to construct 26 lantern scenes from scratch. (www.mobot.org/lanternfestival)

Dinosaurs Unearthed (March 3-July features 14 animatronics, 2 full-size skeletons, 22 fossils and a dig pit for children. In settings with giant wall graphics depicting naturalistic landscapes, guests will have a chance to experience what it’s like to stand near the crushing 10-foot leg of a roaring Tyrannosaurus rex and witness the thrashing tail of a feathered Velociraptor.

Through a partnership with the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, the exhibit Anne Frank: A History for Today will be at the Putnam Museum from March 31-May 28 as part of over two months of programming throughout the Quad Cities area promoting the lessons learned from Anne Frank and the Holocaust.

The story of Anne Frank and her family is juxtaposed against world events before, during and after the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. The exhibit includes photographs of the Frank family and the other occupants of the Secret Annex and shows how people were persecuted by political decisions and by the actions of individuals. Implicit in the exhibit are the themes of scapegoating, bullying, anti-Semitism, racism, ethnic cleansing and genocide. (www.putnam.org)

“Behind the Scenes” tours open new areas of the historic Spencer Shops while providing a look at museum artifacts and restoration projects.

A stroll through the Back Shop starts the “Behind the Scenes” tour. Visitors can marvel at how such a massive structure, three stories high and the equivalent of two football fields in length, was built in the waning years of the 1800s.

Visitors will also get an up-close look at the DC-3 Potomac Pacemaker, undergoing cosmetic restoration in the Back Shop. The WWII era airplane was used for passenger travel by Piedmont Airlines and still bears the company’s logo. The Potomac Pacemaker is an important piece of the history of the Winston-Salem-based airline, which became a part of US Air in 1989.

While the aircraft is usually seen through the windows of the Back Shop during the on-site train ride or from a distance on the Back Shop visitor access platform, “Behind the Scenes” visitors will be able to stand beside the aircraft and peek inside the windows. (nctrans.org)

The latest count of diamonds found at the park is 29,934 — just 66 short of 30,000. The park plans to commemorate the find.

Last year, 106,524 people visited Crater of Diamonds State Park. It was a record year for diamond finds, with more than 500 dug up by visitors. Thirty of those diamonds were over one carat in weight.

The search area at the park is a 37½-acre plowed field on the eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world (in surface area). Crater of Diamonds State Park is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public.

Crater of Diamonds State Park is located two miles southeast of downtown Murfreesboro. For more information contact Justin Dorsey, park superintendent, Crater of Diamonds State Park, at 870-285-3113, or email him at justin.dorsey@arkansas.gov.

“Driving America is more than an exhibition with cars on display,” said Patricia Mooradian, president of The Henry Ford. “It is really an interactive, state-of-the-art story of us—us as drivers, consumers and enthusiasts, as well as how this innovation has changed almost every aspect of our lives and heavily influenced the decisions we make. It is an exhibition that resonates with us all and will challenge us to think differently about what we drive.”

One of the largest automotive-centric exhibitions of its kind, Driving America is a sweeping 80,000 square feet and includes 130 vehicles and more than 60 cases of artifacts. Sprinkled throughout the experience are 18 interactive 42-inch touchscreens offering thousands of additional details, images, videos and oral histories, and giving the visitor greater access, beyond the museum floor, to the collections of The Henry Ford. Guests can create their own custom collection and set it up so that it can be accessed through their mobile device or home computer for viewing later.

For those who are all about the cars themselves, Driving America offers up a stellar and unprecedented collection of some of the most important and significant vehicles of our time, including an 1896 Duryea, the last remaining example of America’s first production car; the 1865 Roper, the oldest surviving American car; and the 1931 Bugatti Royale, the third of only six ever built in the world. Century-old electric cars, current hybrids, muscle cars, racers and modern-day SUVs fill the exhibition’s 20 focal areas that cover everything from hot rods and road trips to road food and racing.

“What makes this exhibition different from most is that it looks at cars through the eyes of the people who use them, or in some cases, don’t use them,” said Bob Casey, senior curator of transportation for The Henry Ford. “Visitors will be asked to think about what attracted them to automobiles in the first place. How have their definitions of style or luxury changed over time? How have their attitudes towards safety, or recreation, or environmental costs changed? Driving America uses The Henry Ford’s unparalleled collection to inspire visitors to think about these and other questions surrounding their relationships with the car.”

Driving America also includes a brand-new theater experience, complete with a new signature film that examines how the automobile has truly transformed our world and highlights the choices that lie ahead. In addition, an old favorite, the 1946 Lamy’s Diner, for the first time offers “diner-style” food options for hungry visitors.

(www.thehenryford.org/drivingamerica)

Starting in February, The Blue Man Group show at Universal Orlando’s CityWalk takes its mix of high-energy music, comedy and audience participation to another level. Featuring a new show environment, new music, new technology and new experiences, the show will allow audiences to join the Blue Men as they explore the world’s obsession with cutting-edge technology. New show elements include the curious Blue Men interacting with enormous “GiPads,” a funny and insightful look at contemporary communication vehicles.

Also at Universal CityWalk, Hollywood Drive-In Golf, a 36-hole miniature golf experience inspired by the classic drive-in movie era, opens in February.

Universal Orlando is transforming The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man into what will feel like an all-new adventure. By March the Islands of Adventure attraction will feature all-new, 4K digital high-definition animation, new 3-D glasses and upgrades to the set, audio and lighting systems. The re-animation of the ride film will include an entirely new level of detail for guests to discover, including a cameo by legendary comic book icon and Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee.

Universal’s Superstar Parade, an all-new daily parade that features larger-than-life floats, state-of-the-art technology and hundreds of energetic street performers, will debut this spring at Universal Studios Florida. Guests will sing and dance along with characters like the minions from Despicable Me, E.B. from the hit comedy Hop, Nickelodeon’s Dora & Diego and SpongeBob SquarePants during the interactive experience. Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy performances and character meet and greets prior to the parade at select locations throughout the day.

Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories opens this spring at Universal Studios Florida. Narrated by actor Morgan Freeman, the new nighttime show will celebrate the most powerful and emotional moments from Universal Pictures’ most iconic films – all on waterfall screens within the Universal Studios lagoon and surrounded by colorful fountains and pyrotechnics.

Universal Studios Florida’s newest attraction, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, will take guests on a 3-D adventure with characters from the hit film – Gru, Margo, Edith, Agnes – and the mischievous minions. The experience begins when guests enter Gru’s home, where they learn that they’re being recruited to become minions and undergo “minion training.” Things don’t go as planned, and guests find themselves on a wildly hysterical journey with Gru and his daughters. Once guests make it through training, they join an interactive, minion-inspired dance party where they can show off their best moves. The characters in the attraction will be voiced by the film’s original cast: Steve Carell (Gru), Miranda Cosgrove (Margo), Dana Gaier (Edith) and Elsie Fisher (Agnes).

The Dollywood Company will serve as the operating partner. Phase one of the project is a yet unnamed, approximately $50-million water and snow park, the first of its kind in the United States. A late 2012 or early 2013 groundbreaking date is expected, with the park opening slated for summer of 2014.

The water and snow park will anchor the project, which offers room for future expansion.  The park will provide a mix of high-energy water activities for the summer season and snow activities for winter play. First-year attendance is projected at 500,000. Dollywood expects to employ 450 full- and part-time employees.

While the museum’s permanent exhibits focus on the factual history of the Titanic, the new movie-related exhibit featuring costumes, props and behind-the-scenes videos and photos, provides the museum an opportunity to explore the role of the disaster in today’s popular culture.

“We feel the movie has earned its own place in film history and will stand forever as a tribute to RMS Titanic, her builders, passengers and crew,” said John Joslyn, owner of the Titanic Museum Attraction and leader of the first private-expedition dive to explore Titanic’s resting place. “The film’s successful history as the first billion-dollar blockbuster, one of the top Academy Award®-winning films of all time, and its highly anticipated release in 3D format illustrate how the stories of Titanic are just as compelling today as a century ago.”

The movie will be return to movie theaters in 3-D format on April 6, 2012, in time to help commemorate the centennial of the great ship’s voyage. Popular items from the movie on display at the Titanic Museum Attraction will include a $250,000 replica of the heart-shaped diamond and sapphire necklace pursued by characters from the film. The famous full-length pink coat worn by actress Kate Winslet during the film’s climactic sinking scenes is also among the many famous costumes on display.

“We are excited to add this new dimension to our 100 year review of Titanic’s legacy in our culture,” said Joslyn. “Thanks to exclusive rights from private collectors, Titanic Museum Attraction is able to provide an unprecedented multi-dimensional exhibit associated with the film just as the film itself is returning to screens in a multi-dimensional format of its own.”

The exhibit is part of the Titanic Museum Attraction’s year-long commemoration of the centennial of the fateful maiden voyage in April 1912.

As the world remembers the most famous night in maritime history, Titanic Museum Attraction will continue to open the door to the past in it’s one-of-a-kind way by allowing “passengers” to experience what it was like to walk the hallways, parlors, cabin and Grand Staircase of the Titanic while surrounded by more than 400 artifacts directly from the ship and its passengers. Visitors gain first-hand experience through interactive exhibits such as touching an actual iceberg, attempting to stand on sloping decks, and placing their hands into 28-degree water.

The museum itself is housed inside a half-scale replica of three decks of the ship. Each and every day, Titanic Museum Attraction provides a gateway to 1912, where first class maids and a variety of officers and crew members bring the stories of the ship and its passengers to life in vivid detail. (www.titanicattraction.com)

Five major anchors—Regal Cinemas Opry Mills Stadium 20 & IMAX, Dave & Buster’s, VF Outlet, Bass Pro Shops and Sun & Ski Sport—opened  in time for the 2011 holiday season.

Opry Mills is located seven miles from downtown Nashville, between Interstates 40 and 65, and is within walking distance of the Grand Ole Opry and the 2,800-room Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. (www.oprymills.com)