Something for Every Season: Morse Museum’s 2014–2015 Schedule Includes New Leaded-Glass Window Exhibition, Free Friday Night Events, and More

Something for Every Season: Morse Museum’s
2014–2015 Schedule Includes New Leaded-Glass Window Exhibition,
Free Friday Night Events, and More

 The Arts window by J. & R. Lamb Studios. The 1894 window will make its public debut at the Morse in the upcoming exhibition Revival and Reform—Eclecticism in the 19th-Century Environment.

WINTER PARK, Fla.—New exhibitions at The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in 2014–2015 include a major new installation of late 19th- and early 20th-century windows; selections from a recent gift of American and European decorative art; and a display of 1905 wedding gifts to Charles Hosmer Morse’s daughter, Elizabeth Owens Morse.

From November through April, public programs include free admission, live music, gallery tours, and more from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays. The Museum’s extended Friday hours begin November 7 and conclude April 24.

The 2014–2015 program schedule also includes Tuesday and Thursday curator tours of the exhibition Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Laurelton Hall; the 36th annual Christmas in the Park display of Tiffany windows on Thursday, December 4; and open house events for Christmas Eve, the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, Easter weekend, and Independence Day.

Selections from the Morse Museum’s renowned collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany—including his chapel from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and objects and architectural elements from his Long Island country estate, Laurelton Hall—are always on view. The following are new and continuing exhibitions:

Revival and Reform—Eclecticism in the 19th-Century Environment
          Opens October 21

The centerpiece of this major new two-gallery installation of objects from the Morse Museum’s collection will be The Arts window by J. & R. Lamb Studios, a prominent American glasshouse of the late 19th century. This 1894 neoclassical window, more than eight feet in diameter and a showpiece for Lamb, has undergone extensive conservation in preparation for its debut in the Museum’s galleries. It will be exhibited with almost 20 additional leaded-glass windows and selections of art glass, pottery, and furniture of the period to illustrate the rich diversity of styles—some avant-garde, others embracing the past—that made up the eclectic aesthetic environment of the late 19th century in both Europe and America. The windows include examples not only by Lamb Studios and Tiffany Studios, but also by Edward Burne-Jones, Heaton, Butler & Bayne, Donald MacDonald, John LaFarge, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Selections from the Harry C. Sigman Collection of European and American Decorative Art

Opens February 10

In this exhibit, the Morse presents a selection from Harry C. Sigman’s 2014 gift of 86 objects to the Morse. A Los Angeles attorney, Sigman began collecting European and American decorative art in 1969, and his gift dovetails with the late 19th- and early 20th- century styles represented in the Morse collection. The donation includes art glass, pottery, metalwork, and furniture. Though dominated by Jeannette and Hugh McKean’s massive gift, the Morse collection has always been supported and enhanced by generous individuals such as Harry Sigman whose contributions have helped it to grow in important ways. The Morse is pleased to share some pieces from this recent gift, which can be appreciated object by beautiful object as well as in the context of the Museum’s entire collection.

The Bride Elect—Gifts from the 1905 Wedding of Elizabeth Owens Morse

Opens February 10

In 1905 Elizabeth Owens Morse, the daughter of Charles Hosmer Morse and Martha Owens Morse, married Richard Genius. The gift registry of this socially prominent Chicago bride—entitled “The Bride Elect”—survives in the Morse Museum’s archive, showing more than 250 gifts that together provide a snapshot of the era, a glimpse into 1905 gift-giving traditions, and some insight into popular retail decisions made by wealthy consumers in the Chicago area. In this new exhibit, the Morse presents a representative group of the lovely gifts that survive from the Morse-Genius wedding, including Tiffany art glass, Rookwood pottery, and Gorham silver.

Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Laurelton Hall

Curator tours,Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Cell phone audio tour now available

This exhibition features the restored Daffodil Terrace and more than 200 objects from important rooms at Tiffany’s grand country estate on Long Island. The installation presents two dozen leaded-glass windows, as well as lamps, art glass, and furnishings in galleries that suggest their context in Tiffany’s original design for the mansion.

The following are free public events scheduled for the upcoming year, organized by season. All events are at the Museum unless otherwise noted:

             Holidays at the Morse

Holiday Friday Nights: Free admission from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Live music from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on five consecutive holiday Friday nights, November 28 through December 26. Programming will also include family tours, curator tours, and an art demonstration on selected dates.

Christmas in the Park: 6:15 p.m.–8 p.m. Thursday, December 4, Central Park, downtown Winter Park. The 36th annual exhibition of century-old Tiffany windows and a free outdoor concert of holiday favorites by the Bach Festival Society Choir, Youth Choir, and Brass Ensemble.

Christmas Eve Open House: Free admission from 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m. Wednesday, December 24. Live music from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Spring at the Morse

Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival Open House and Children’s Workshop: Free admission to the galleries March 20–22. Hours are9:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Friday; 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m.–4 p.m. Sunday. Free Morse Children’s Workshop in Central Park Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Spring Friday Nights: Free admission from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Live music from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on five consecutive spring Friday nights, March 27 through April 24. Programming will also include family tours, curator tours, and an art demonstration on selected dates.

Easter Weekend Open House: Free admission April 3–5. Hours are9:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Friday; 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m.–4 p.m. Sunday. Live music on Good Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Summer at the Morse

Summer Family Tours and Films: June–August.These free family programs include gallery tours on select Tuesdays with a take-home art project for children and a film, art activity, and gallery tour on select Fridays.Reservations required.

Independence Day Open House: Free admissionfrom9:30 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturday, July 4. The Museumprovides this open house in conjunction with the City of Winter Park’s Olde Fashioned 4^th of July celebration in Central Park.

The Morse Museum, located at 445 N. Park Avenue in Winter Park, Florida, is open 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday and 1 p.m.–4 p.m., Sunday with additional Friday hours of 4 p.m.–8 p.m. November through April. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $1 for students, and free for children under 12. For more information about the Morse, please visit www.morsemuseum.org or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/morsemuseum.

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