As part of the annual First Friday events, the Crisp Museum held a take-and-make event for visitors on Sept. 4.

First Friday is a local event held in the Cape Girardeau community by the Southeast Arts Council. They partner with local businesses and art galleries to help members of the community engage with the arts.

Museum Curator of Education, Ellen Flentge, helped visitors make their arrowhead necklace using beads and strings. Visitors selected an arrowhead and then tied their choice of colored string to a piece of twine. Participants could add beads and decide how to tie the necklace.

The event was open to the community, including university students.

Freshman Tyrell Gilwater attended the event to learn about River Campus and to make something unique.

“This one just spoke to me,” Gilwater said. “It was cool to see it all come together.”

Museum manager James Phillips said for some people, projects such as making arrowhead necklaces can be a small look into the Native American lifestyle.

“It's a way to kind of open the door and gets somebody interested in something new without them necessarily realizing it,” Phillips said.

For the September event, the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri held a virtual First Friday.

Other regular First Friday partners such as Riverside Pottery were also open. Phillips said it is important to keep holding First Friday events even if other partners aren’t.

“We try to keep that tradition consistent so people can depend on us being here,” Phillips said.

Visitors also had a chance to see the Robert Harding “Art From the Heart” exhibit which opened on Sept. 4 and will be open until Nov. 8.

Flentge said the museum holds events regularly including art exhibits and events similar to the arrowhead necklace making.

“We are always doing fun activities that change up each month,” Flentge said. “There is always new stuff going as far as activities in Crisp Museum.”

Crisp Museum is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends 1 to 4 p.m. For more information about future events, contact the museum at museum@semo.edu.