The Women's Museum Announces First Texas Girls' State Fair; New Event to Premiere in Dallas during the State Fair of Texas to Honor, Recognize and Show Achievements and Interests of Texas Adolescent Girls.

DALLAS -- The Women's Museum: An Institute for the Future, today announced that it will premiere the Texas Girls' State Fair, the first and only event of its kind ever held in the state, at this year's State Fair of Texas. Honoring, recognizing, and highlighting the achievements and interests of adolescent Texas girls, the new event will include academic, sports, and musical exhibitions and a variety of entertainment and educational opportunities for museum visitors. It runs Sept. 29 through Oct. 22, concurrent with the State Fair of Texas.

Created, founded, and established by The Women's Museum, the Texas Girls' State Fair is designed to show what girls are doing, thinking about, and achieving in today's society. As such, during the new event, the museum's 70,000 square-foot building will host a lively collection of performances, competitions, and educational opportunities--celebrating art, music, sports, math, science, fashion, and more--all staged in and around the museum's permanent Smithsonian collections.

The Texas Girls' State Fair will include award-winning displays of science and math fair projects; robotics demonstrations; poetry and short story readings; musical performances; performances by sports, cheerleading, and drill teams; teen fashion shows; design presentations; and more. Competitions and performances for and by Texas girls will occur daily, and a schedule of these will be available to the public at www.thewomensmuseum.org. In addition, the museum will include the following ongoing exhibits and learning experiences for children and adults:

--Reading Corner with Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education and media company, will make its debut at the State Fair on Sept. 29-Oct. 22. Museum visitors can stop by the Scholastic area at the entrance of The Women's Museum to meet beloved children's characters including Clifford The Big Red Dog(R) and Maya & Miguel(TM), and to browse collections of adult and children's books. In addition, every day at noon, children can listen to their favorite Scholastic books read by local celebrities.

--Professor Smart Fun with Physics Show, sponsored by Lockheed Martin, will run Sept. 29 through Oct. 13 (Shows at 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.). The Fun with Physics Show will teach children about particle theory, laws of inertia, states of matter, and other concepts. Using a unique blend of comedy and science, Professor Smart will demonstrate these scientific theories by shrinking his head, creating rockets, and causing a teacher's hair to stand on end, among other scientific feats.

--State Farm(R) Studios will be available via the Ronja Kozmetsky Institute for the Future, the on-site computer lab located on the museum's first floor. It will feature Common Cents(TM) and Finance Lessons(TM), two educational exhibits demonstrate the importance of developing strong money management skills. Common Cents, located on statefarm.com under Kid Stuff, is about introducing good money habits in a fun, memorable way to kids from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Visitors can use it to help teach the fundamentals of good money habits using fun and games. Finance Lessons is an online exhibit that chronicles women and their relationship with money throughout American history. It focuses on successful "women of today," with in-depth biographies of individual women to illustrate financial challenges and life strategies.

--Be a Model Texas Girl will run Monday and Tuesday evenings during the Texas State Fair (Times: 5:45 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.). Girls visiting the museum during these times can be stars in the new Modeling & Self Esteem Workshop. Visitors can choose either a 30 or 60 minute class with Sheena Bosworth of Page Parkes Corporation, who will provide expert instruction on runway techniques to build self-esteem and confidence in girls of all ages.

--Teen Dating Violence Prevention Skit will run Sept. 30 and Oct. 21. The Family Place Successful Treatment & Respect Together (START) program teaches youth in middle and high schools how to prevent teen dating violence and sexual assault. Through domestic violence education and leadership training, youth learn to maintain healthy relationships in every aspect of their lives. During the Texas Girls' State Fair, teens will perform a skit promoting the importance of dating violence prevention. The skit is designed to help young people identify appropriate social values and character traits within themselves and to help them think about their actions.

"We're thrilled to launch the first-ever Texas Girls' State Fair here at The Women's Museum because, in doing this, we are spotlighting the accomplishments of Texas girls - our leaders for tomorrow," said Wanda Brice, CEO of The Women's Museum. "The girls who join us for these activities, performances, lessons, and opportunities will have the chance to see themselves becoming as successful as any of the great women that line the halls of the museum."

A Smithsonian affiliate, The Women's Museum is the nation's only comprehensive women's history museum that chronicles the lives of American women through interactive exhibits. The Women's Museum is supported, in part, by the City of Dallas and the Texas Commission on the Arts. From Sept. 29 through Oct. 22--during the State Fair of Texas--admission to The Women's Museum and its exhibits will be free, and the museum will be open every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. For additional information, including hours, admission and location, go to www.thewomensmuseum.org.