Art picks

On Saturday, Artspace hosts a Family Fun Day reception for its 2008 Artspace Summer Arts Program for rising third- through 10th-graders from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Participating children get a chance to show off their special creations in a variety of media to family and friends in the upstairs Gallery II and enjoy light refreshments. The public is welcome to attend this free event. 201 E. Davie St., Raleigh. 821-2787, www.artspacenc.org

Saturday night, in Chapel Hill, Tyndall Galleries opens a new show of oil paintings, "Crossing Thresholds," by Gayle Stott Lowry. These paintings concern interior views of historic houses in downtown Raleigh that are for sale, awaiting restoration. In recent years, Lowry's bodies of work have alternated between landscape and home interiors, both subjects offering rich takes on her recurrent themes of nostalgia and irretrievable loss. Notably, one of her recent Scottish landscapes was acquired by the N.C. Museum of Art, making her the second of two gallery artists (Beverly McIver's triptych, "Reminiscing," joined the NCMA collection in 2006) represented by Tyndall to achieve that distinction. Meet the artist at the opening reception from 7 to 9 p.m. 201 S. Estes Drive, Chapel Hill. 942-2290, www.tyndallgalleries.com

Also in Chapel Hill, on Sunday, the Horace Williams House opens a show of Joyce Watkins King's recent works. King, who is represented by Lee Hansley Gallery, will present vividly colored abstract paper collages through Sept. 14. Sunday's reception is from 2 to 4 p.m. 610 E. Rosemary St., Chapel Hill. 942-7818

NCSU alumni Greg Lindquist presents "Remembrance of Things Present," on view at the Brooks Hall Gallery on the campus of N.C. State University. Lindquist's accomplished paintings, unfolding in horizontal formats, explore development in the Williamsburg and Red Hook districts of Brooklyn, finding a stark beauty of sorts in construction barriers and cranes reaching into empty slate-colored skies. These rigorously composed, formal oils, painted on linen and stainless steel, operate with a limited silvery palette, enhancing the palpability of their bleak environments. NCSU College of Art and Design, NCSU campus. www.design.ncsu.edu/directions

On Thursday, Nasher Museum of Art curator Sarah Schroth, co-organizer with Roni Baer of the "El Greco to Velazquez" blockbuster, brings unique insights gained from more than 20 years of scholarship, illuminating aspects of late 16th and early 17th century Spain with her lecture, "Patronage and Style at the Court of Philip III," at 7:30 p.m. Because of limited space, reservations are required; call 681-2272. Valet parking is available. 2001 Campus Drive, Durham. www.nasher.duke.edu/elgreco