12:00 to 4:30pm Mondays through Saturdays.
Sunday, December 4, 1:00 - 5:00pm during Glad Tidings: A Celebration of Christmas
Closed other Sundays and December 12 - 14, and 24.
Admission: Donations Welcome
See how Christians around the world have adapted the Nativity scene to represent their own national, regional and local cultures, in our third annual exhibition featuring crèches from around the world. The three-dimensional Nativity scenes, made from local materials with regionally distinctive clothing, animals and structures, complement the museum’s collection of Nativity art dating from medieval times through the early 20th century. The Glencairn collection includes crèches made in countries traditionally associated with production of Nativity sets, such as Germany, Italy, Poland and Latin America. It also includes some made in countries typically not associated with crèches, such as Laos, Nepal, Egypt and Ethiopia. Artistic settings for the Nativity figures have been created by Bryn Athyn artisan Kathleen Glenn Pitcairn.
In 2009 Glencairn Museum began an ongoing initiative to collect three-dimensional Nativity scenes made by artisans from around the world for its annual exhibition, “Follow the Star: World Nativities” (see slideshow below). We have also developed a special online resource, “Do You See What I See? Imagery in Nativity Scenes,” to provide visitors to the exhibition and others interested in Nativities with additional cultural, historical, and art historical information.