Got this from the Allentown Art Museum ... hope you can get out and check it out.

Allentown Art Museum to offer FREE General and Special Admission THIS Sunday, Aug. 15
Offer is in celebration of partnership with Indian American Association of the Lehigh Valley (IAALV), which will hold an India Day Parade and cultural program that day in downtown Allentown and in the Arts Park

Allentown — The Allentown Art Museum will offer FREE GENERAL and SPECIAL ADMISSION on Sunday, Aug. 15 in celebration of the partnership between the museum and the Indian American Association of the Lehigh Valley. The museum will be open on Sunday from Noon to 5 p.m.

Join the Indian American Association of the Lehigh Valley (IAALV) for an India Day Parade, which celebrates India's Independence Day. The flag raising will begin at 11 a.m. at Allentown City Hall, followed by the parade at 11:30 a.m. and topped off with the cultural program at 1 p.m. in the Allentown Arts Park. Free admission and parking. For more information – visit http://www.indiaparade.org/pages/. Attendees can enjoy dancing, food, music and more!

Also, as part of the day's celebration, be sure to stop in to the Allentown Art Museum for FREE GENERAL AND SPECIAL ADMISSION this day only and visit our special exhibition, "Myths, Religion & Ritual: Indian Art from the Koblenzer Collection." Jacquie Atkins, chief curator, will present a gallery talk at 3:30 p.m.

“Myths, Religion & Ritual: Indian Art from the Koblenzer Collection” includes major three-dimensional works from the sixth to early 20th centuries. The collection, which was a recent gift to the Allentown Art Museum from Drs. Peter and Caroline Koblenzer of Philadelphia, is on view until September 5, 2010.

The sculptures, which include over two dozen major works in wood, bronze and stone, will appreciably augment the museum’s present Indian collection, expanding both its stylistic and artistic range and its interpretive value. Part of the works that comprise the Koblenzer collection have been presented to the museum as lifetime gifts and the remaining pieces are promised estate gifts.

The Koblenzer collection, in conjunction with the pieces already in the museum’s collection, offer an exceptional opportunity to better present the art heritage of South Asia to visitors. The works represent iconic sacred representations of the major religions of the region—Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism—that would be housed in temples and other places of worship as well as works created for use in festivals and public processions. Also included in the Koblenzer collection is a small but important selection of Indian tribal sculpture from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

These works, among the promised gifts of the Koblenzers, represent folk images and beliefs, a little recognized but important genre that is not presently represented within the museum’s holdings. These tribal pieces are radically different from the more classical sculptures typically associated with the region and represent a more magical look at religion and religious beliefs.

PICTURED ABOVE: Maker unknown, South India, Andhra Pradesh. “Bhairava,” about 18th-19th century, polychrome wood. Gift of Peter J. and Caroline S. Koblenzer, 2009.