Shopping, cookie-baking,
tree-trimming…among the many holiday traditions that abound in Pittsburgh
is a visit to Carnegie Museums, where music, gigantic Christmas trees,
special exhibits, shows and events make for festive fun. Come and re-experience
the traditions of your childhood, and create new ones for yourself and
your family. On these pages you’ll find special holiday events to enjoy,
in addition to the scores of activities offered daily at the museums. There
are more reasons than ever to plan a trip to Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh,
and the holiday season is an ideal time to visit. Here are some tips to
make your holiday visit even better:
During your holiday visit, take a break, relax and refuel with a stop at our museum cafés. Members at the Reciprocal level and above receive a 10 percent discount at the cafés (see page 51 for hours).
Special Holiday Offerings...
Riverview Café, Carnegie Science Center
From December 1 through 24, present your membership card to the cashier and receive a FREE holiday cookie for each member of your party.
Saturday nights are a great time to visit Carnegie Science Center. You avoid the holiday crowds, and the Riverview Café is open until 9:00pm for your dining pleasure.
Museum Café, Carnegie Museums, Oakland
When you have lunch in the Museum Café, present your membership card and each child in your party will receive a FREE dinosaur cookie. Offer valid December 1–24.
Santa at the Museum Café
December 6 and December 13, 11:00am–2:00pm
Santa will be waiting to greet children in the Museum of Art Café
back from 11:00am–2:00pm. Show your membership card and receive one FREE
photo with Santa (one free photo per member family; non-members, member
guests pay a fee).
Holiday Concerts
Hall of Architecture December 9–31
Enjoy daily concerts featuring talented area performers amid the splendor
of the Christmas trees and Neapolitan Presepio. A 15-minute docent tour
of the Presepio follows most concerts. The concerts, sponsored by Carnegie
Museums Performing Arts Department, are free with museum admission. Performers
are
subject to change. Scheduled to appear are the following artists:
DECEMBER
9 Pittsburgh Opera Center at Duquesne 12:00 – 12:30 pm
10 The Hot Matzohs (Klezmer Music) 12:00 – 12:30 pm
11 Winchester Thurston Upper School
Chorus & Orchestra 12:00 – 12:30 pm
12 Tuesday Musical Club Flute Choir 12:00 – 12:30 pm
13 Pittsburgh Chapter American Harp Society 2:30 – 3:15 pm
14 Patrick Polk Inspirational Choir 2:30 – 3:15 pm
16 Mt. Lebanon High School
Chamber Orchestra 12:00 – 12:30 pm
17 CAPA High School Concert Choir 12:00 – 12:30 pm
18 Colwyn Hill Quartet (String Quartet) 12:00 – 12:30 pm
19 Pruett & Lassman (4-Hand Piano) 12:00 – 12:30 pm
20 Ellwood City Area Civic Chorale 2:30 – 3:15 pm
21 CCAC North Campus Community Choir 2:30 – 3:15 pm
23 Jubilee Children’s Concert &
Handbell Choirs 12:00 – 12:30 pm
24 Shirley Friedman (Piano) 12:00 – 12:30 pm
26 Three Rivers Chorus (Barbershop Music) 12:00 – 12-30 pm
27 Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School 2:30 – 3:15 pm
28 Birdie Nichols’ Glorious Rebirth
Performing Troupe 2:30 – 3:15 pm
29 African Drum/Dance Ensemble &
Kuumba Workshop 12:00 – 12:30 pm
30 Maudite Brass Quintet 12:00 – 12:30 pm
31 Civic Light Opera Mini Stars 12:00 – 12:30 pm
f Museum of Art
Christmas Trees and Neapolitan Presepio
Hall of Architecture December 4–January 4
Five enormous Christmas Trees and the Neapolitan Presepio, one of the finest miniature Nativity scenes of its kind, are holiday must-sees. Decorated by the Museum of Art Women’s Committee, the trees this year bear the theme "Christmas Trees Through the Ages" and feature decorations from the Victorian, German, Early American and Scandinavian traditions, as well as a tree of the future!
The centerpiece of the Christmas Tree Display is the Museum of Art’s Neapolitan Presepio. More than 100 figures, created between 1700 and 1830 by Italian craftsmen, represent the Neapolitan concept of the Nativity in a panorama of village life at the time of Jesus’ birth. The exhibit and the surrounding trees transform the Hall of Architecture into a seasonal wonderland that astounds visitors of all ages. Docent-led tours 12:30–1:00pm weekdays, and 3:15–3:45pm weekends, following Holiday Concerts.
Christmas Tree Preview Party
Hall of Architecture December 3
Be among the first to see the Christmas Tree Display on December 3 when the Women’s Committee hosts a Preview Party, 6:00–8:00pm. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Tickets are $30 each, and reservations are necessary. Call 421-4071.
See Our New Paintings!
The Nativity and The King and the Shepherd
December 23–26 and December 30–January 4
Celebrate the spirituality and joy of the holiday season by enjoying a free gallery talk 12:15–12:30pm on these impressive works by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. Moving, elegant, imaginative, and deeply personal are terms used to describe these two monumental canvases recently added to the Museum of Art collection. Sir Edward Burne-Jones was the last great painter of the pre-Raphaelite movement, a group of late 19th-century, Victorian painters who were inspired by the work of the early Italian Renaissance masters. Originally commissioned for the Church of St. John in Torquay, England, these mural-sized paintings are among Burne-Jones’ most ambitious masterpieces.
Holiday Family Workshop
December 6, 1:00–3:00pm; December 7, 1:00–3:00pm
Bring your children 4 and up and enjoy family creative time together while you make a puppet, pop-up, and print about your favorite Pittsburgh rivers, bridges, music, people and buildings. For inspiration, be sure to see the museum’s exhibition Pittsburgh Revealed: Photographs Since 1850. Register for the workshop by calling 622-3288.
Champagne Wine Tasting &Gallery Tour
December 5
Tour, 5:15pm, Museum of Art
Wine Tasting, 6:00pm, Museum Café
Enjoy a selection of eight champagnes and sparkling wines just in time for the holidays. Wine collectors Marshall Katz and Alex Speyer, and Greg Godels, co-owner of Gateway Wine and Spirits, will moderate the tasting, which begins at 6:00pm. Join us in advance for a private gallery talk on contemporary art or on the monumental paintings The Nativity and The King and The Shepherd by renowned Victorian painter Sir Edward Burne-Jones. Register by calling 622-3288.
Museum of Natural History
Thanksgiving Table Display
November 28 and 29, 11:00am – 4:00 pm
November 30, 1:30 – 4:00 pm
Gather ‘round the table and learn about typical foods eaten by early Americans when the U.S. was very young. Our bounteous spread features culinary delights from both the old and new worlds. Located near Polar World exhibit.
Thanksgiving Weekend Tours &
Discover Carts
November 28 through November 30
Tours:
11:30 Mummies, Tombs & Treasures—Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt (Nov. 28 and 29 only)
Noon Calling All Kids: Discover Dinosaurs (Nov. 28 and 29 only)
1:00 Hall of African Wildlife (Nov. 28 and 29 only)
2:00 Carnegie’s Dinosaurs
2:30 Calling All Kids: Who Lives in the Arctic? (Polar World)
3:00 Mummies, Tombs and Treasures (Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt)
3:30 Sioux Indians on the Plains (Natural History Gallery)
Discover Carts:
11:30 am–4:00 pm outside Polar World, Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems, Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt and Hall of Amphibians and Reptiles
December Holiday Tours &
Discover Carts
Friday, December 26 through Wednesday, December 31
Tours:
11:30 Mummies, Tombs and Treasures (Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt; except Dec. 28)
Noon Calling All Kids: Discover Dinosaurs (except Dec. 28)
1:00 Life on Ice (Polar World; except Dec. 28)
2:00 Carnegie’s Dinosaurs
3:00 Calling All Kids: Who Lives in the Arctic? (Polar World)
Discover Carts:
1:30–4:00 pm outside Polar World, Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems, and Bird Hall
Decorate Natural History Trees
Saturday, December 6, 10:00am–4:00pm
Sunday, December 7, 1:00–4:00pm
Bring the family and help the Museum of Natural History trim its trees. Materials will be provided to create special ornaments.
Carnegie Science Center
Free Chamber Music Concert for Families
Sunday, December 14, 1:30 & 2:30pm
Children will especially enjoy "Sound Sensations," a free concert by the world-renowned Brentano String Quartet, presented as part of the ensemble’s residency at the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society. The 30-minute concert (performed twice) introduces children to the delights of music as a narrator explains how sound waves work within the context of a live concert. Further examination of sound waves is possible in the Science Center’s exhibit SciQuest. For more information call 237-3400. The following evening, December 15, the Brentano String Quartet will perform in Carnegie Music Hall as part of the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society’s fall series. For information on that concert call 624-4129.
Miniature Railroad and Village
It’s open all year long now, but the holiday season remains the traditional time for many to visit this unique display of life in the 1920s. Look for your favorite miniatures, and find new ones such as the Pittsburgh Courier building that was added this year.
The Christmas Star
Planetarium
November 24–December 31,
shown hourly
Myth, magic or merely an
astronomical event?
Decide for yourself in this
show using our unique
interactive system. A Carnegie
Science Center
holiday tradition.
The Andy Warhol Museum
Film Series
Take a break from the holiday hustle and catch a film at The Andy Warhol Museum. The museum’s Film Department presents two series in November and December: The Paul Morrissey Retrospective on Fridays at 7:00pm and Sundays at 3:00pm, November 7–December 7; and Hollywood Icons on Fridays at 7:00pm and Saturdays at 3:00pm, December 12–27. For information call 237-8300.
Holly Woodlawn, November 22, 7:30pm
Warhol Superstar, drag cabret performer and star of the Warhol/Morrissey film Women in Revolt, Woodlawn recalls her sensational life and screens the film Trash.
Emily Wortis Leider, December 12, 7:00pm
The author of the acclaimed new biography of Mae West, Leider introduces
West’s film, She Done Him Wrong.