Community Calendar

Explore the mountain after hours with your own personal guides during our Grandfather by Night series! You’ll discover some of the park’s nighttime wonders, watch a stunning sunset (weather permitting) and experience the mountain as never before! The Naturalist Program version of Grandfather by Night includes an outdoor interpretive program about flora, fauna, folklore and other topics after sunset. This edition of the event series is accessible for those in a wheelchair or with limited mobility. Advance registration required.

A wide selection of native perennials, ferns, sedges, grasses, trees, and shrubs will be available. All proceeds benefit Daniel Boone Native Gardens and the NC Native Plant Society.
This is an outdoor event and will take place rain or shine in the parking lot outside the main entrance to Daniel Boone Native Gardens.
Quantities are limited, so come early for the best selection!
Check, cash, and credit card will be accepted.

ROAR into Father’s Day fun at our Dinos, Donuts & Dads event on June 20th from 9:00–10:00 AM at Catawba Science Center!

Enjoy early access to our DINOSAURS! Exhibit, dino-themed activities, a fossil hunt, raffle prizes, and more. Donuts, juice, and coffee will be provided, and your ticket includes access to all CSC exhibits beginning at 10:00 AM.

Bring your favorite dinosaur-loving dad and make unforgettable memories together. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

Artist Talk: April 25, 2-3 pm
Workshop: April 30, 6-8 pm

Through the Ether is a group of mixed media works deeply influenced by and connected to film editing. April collects and stores unrelated images from different modalities and mediums—3D modeling, photographs, paintings, advertisements. She removes the color, texture, and context from which they originate. These elements form a visual depository or footage bin, from which she uses the montage process to construct a new landscape independent of their source. This reconstruction process resembles building a scene in a film. However, it creates an emotional landscape unto itself, devoid of the requirements of narrative and story—nullifying the necessity of a beginning, a middle, and an end.

About April Simmons: April received her BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in film. She worked as an experimental non-narrative filmmaker and as a film editor for both nonfiction and fiction films. Her films have screened at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center (Views), Anthology Film Archives in New York, the Rotterdam Film Festival, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) in Chicago, among others. April taught film production, theory, and history at the university level for nearly two decades. She began working in digital photo collage and mixed media in 2022. Her work has been shown at The Galleries at Cabarrus Arts Council (“Liminal”) and at The Mint Museum (“Coined in the South”) in Uptown Charlotte.

Join Shannon Burbridge, an experienced movement instructor and educator with over 37 years of experience in the fitness and wellness field, to immerse yourself in a full day of yoga and grounding techniques to help you ground deeper into yourself and the nature around you. Along with a warmup flow, peaceful hike and longer, more in-depth, yoga practice, you will gain a basic understanding of foot reflexology, spinal connection, self-myofascial techniques and grounding rituals to connect yourself to the natural world around you. Tickets for this event go on sale online on Grandfather Mountain’s website April 20 at 10 a.m. Advance registration required.

Shop for original works by local Native American artists and hear more from the artists themselves at USC Lancaster's Native American Studies Center!

These mini pop-up art sales offer original works by Native American artists, perfect for gifts or your personal art collection!

The June market features artwork such as beadwork and jewelry by Alex Boatwright (Catawba Nation) and Catawba pottery by Nancy White (Catawba Nation).

Admission is free and open to the public!

Dive into adventure with our NEW IMMOTION VR Experience: Shark Dive, launching May 22nd at CSC!

Get up close with the incredible sharks of Tiger Beach in this thrilling, immersive underwater experience. No wetsuit required.

Enjoy a guided walking tour of Commonwealth, the new mixed-use development in Plaza Midwood

We’ll walk at a leisurely pace and stop along the way to learn more about what makes this area unique.

Hear from neighborhood residents and community planners as we discover this model redevelopment and all the things that make it a great example of sustainable urban development. We’ll highlight the dozens of design decisions that make it such an exciting example of what we need more of in Charlotte – from the street design, the mix of uses, to the parking and more!.

We’ll make a stop where you can treat yourself to an ice cream or smoothie. The tour will end in the heart of Plaza Midwood’s business district just in time for the annual Juneteenth Festival of the Carolinas opening ceremony

When: 10:00am – 12:00pm (2 hours) on Saturday, June 20th 2026.

Where: Meet at The Rowe at Commonwealth apartments. Parking validation in the deck (same address) will be available at check-in. Carpooling, biking, and walking are encouraged. Street parking will likely be very limited due to the Juneteenth Festival of the Carolinas. CATS bus routes #9, 17 and the CityLYNX Gold Line streetcar serve the area.

Cost: The standard ticket is $19 and supports Sustain Charlotte’s work. If this isn’t feasible for you — or if you’d like to donate more — we have a “Choose Your Price” option. Everyone is welcome!

How to prepare: Dress for the weather and your comfort. Remember a reusable water bottle, sunscreen, and sunglasses. All participants must sign a liability waiver.

We’ll provide light grab-and-go snacks and drinks at the start.

Unleash your inner artist and engineer in Brick Masters Studio: Build with LEGO® Bricks Like a Pro, an immersive exhibition by world-renowned artist Sean Kenney.

Produced by Imagine with science content developed by Science North, Brick Masters Studio features over 100 sculptures built with over 2 million LEGO® pieces, inviting guests to explore the intersection of art, science and engineering. Hands-on build challenges, real-world engineering concepts and insights into the artistic process show how imagination and innovation come together to create something extraordinary.

Join Amelia Old, author of "100 Things to Do in South Carolina Before You Die," for a conversation about the people and places that shape South Carolina. This program moves beyond a list of destinations, focusing on how places are experienced through the stories, history, and communities connected to them. Amelia will share how the book came together, what guided her selections across the state, and what she discovered along the way.

Hosted at the Native American Studies Center, the discussion will also highlight the importance of preserving cultural history and the role places like the Native American Studies Center play in deepening our understanding of the region.

Free and open to the public, the program will conclude with a Q&A and book signing.