Glencairn Museum Celebrates Holiday Season With Exhibits

BRYN ATHYN, PA — Glencairn Museum invites visitors of all ages to celebrate the holiday season with festive experiences, including the annual World Nativities exhibition, guided tours, a concert, and hands-on experiences.

The celebration runs through Jan. 25.

Visitors can explore dozens of nativity scenes from around the world, discover diverse holiday traditions, take part in the Nativity Seek and Find activity designed for children, and create their own Nativity craft.

Additional programs include Christmas in the Castle tours, highlighting the historic Pitcairn family home, a holiday concert, Christmas Workshop, and a series of Christmas Homeschool Mornings.

“This Christmas, visitors can enjoy guided tours, concerts, workshops, our World Nativities exhibition, a fun Nativity Seek and Find for children, a homemade Nativity craft, and discover some of the holiday traditions of the Pitcairn family when Glencairn was their home,” said Amy Glenn, the museum's director of programming. "Through these experiences, we hope visitors will reflect on how art, objects, and traditions in their own lives help them feel connected — whether to Christmas or other meaningful celebrations.”

WORLD NATIVITIES HIGHLIGHTS

One highlight of this year’s exhibition is The Bryn Athyn Nativity, created in 2015 to honor Raymond Pitcairn’s architectural legacy at Bryn Athyn Cathedral and Glencairn, as well as his love for the Nativity and Christmas.

Crafted in Bucks County by Michael Joseph Stumpf and A.J. DiAntonio of Navidad Nativities, the setting combines wood, stone, and natural materials. Renaissance-style figures from Italy’s Val Gardena valley, made by Original Heide, complete the scene. The design reflects elements of both buildings, including Glencairn’s Upper Hall and a lavender glow around the Holy Family that echoes sunlight streaming through the Cathedral’s stained glass.

Another standout piece is an African teak Nativity crafted in circa 1970 by Thomas Mrewa, an artist and woodcarver who lived near the Nyadire Mission in Zimbabwe. Mrewa was known to walk from house to house selling his carvings, which he made from a tropical hardwood he called “blood wood” (African teak), named for the red sap that stained his hands.

This set, commissioned by Dr. JonnaLynn K. Mandelbaum, an alumna of Lebanon Valley College, while serving as a nurse in Zimbabwe in the 1970s, is on loan from the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, Lebanon Valley College, Annville.

Click here for a complete schedule of holiday programs. Tickets for tours and programs are available online.

ABOUT GLENCAIRN MUSEUM

Glencairn Museum, Glencairn Museum, a National Historic Landmark in the Bryn Athyn Historic District, houses a collection of religious art and artifacts from around the world.

Built between 1928 and 1939 by Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn in the Romanesque style, Glencairn was gifted to the Academy of the New Church in 1980. Today, the Museum offers guided tours, workshops, concerts, seasonal programs, and its annual World Nativities exhibition.

For more information about the Museum, visit www.GlencairnMuseum.org, call 267-502-2600, or email info@GlencairnMuseum.org.

(Courtesy of Glencairn Museum)