The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, home to the world's most comprehensive collection of works by American artist and designer Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933).
The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art will open its 2024–25 season on Tuesday, October 15, with a celebration marking the 25th anniversary of the Tiffany Chapel’s installation at the Museum.
The Museum’s 2024–25 schedule also includes the temporary return of the View Oyster Bay window, on view October 15; the 46th annual Christmas in the Park, an outdoor exhibition of Tiffany windows on December 5; and celebratory events for Thanksgiving Weekend, Christmas Eve, Winter Park’s Arts Weekend, the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, Easter Weekend, and Independence Day.
From November through April, the Museum offers free admission every Friday night from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visitors may explore the Museum’s collection while listening to live music on selected evenings.
2024–25 EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS
Tiffany Chapel: 25 Years at the Morse
On view October 15, 2024
The Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company (1892–1902) exhibited a magnificent chapel interior as the centerpiece of its display for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Since 1999, the chapel has been on view at the Morse.
In celebration of the chapel’s 25th anniversary at the Museum, the Morse is pleased to exhibit Fathers of the Church, a glass mosaic on long-term loan from The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass in Queens, New York. This monumental mosaic was made for the 1893 world’s fair by the women’s glass cutting department at Tiffany’s firm. For the first time in over a century, it is reunited with the chapel and other surviving elements of Tiffany’s 1893 world’s fair display. Also on view is After the Fair, a companion exhibition that charts the chapel’s incredible journey from Chicago to Winter Park.
View of Oyster Bay
On view October 15, 2024
View of Oyster Bay is a beloved example of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s artistry in leaded glass. Originally commissioned for the Manhattan home of silk magnate William C. Skinner (1855–1922), the window offers a view remarkably similar to the north shore of Long Island where Tiffany built his country estate, Laurelton Hall. In 1978, Morse Museum founders Jeannette Genius (1909–89) and Hugh F. McKean (1908–95) loaned View of Oyster Bay to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (The Met).
For decades, The Met’s visitors have enjoyed the window in the American Wing’s Engelhard Court. Through summer 2025, while The Met reinstalls the Court, Morse visitors will have an opportunity to see the window on view in Revival & Reform: Eclecticism in the Nineteenth-Century Environment.
2024–25 EVENTS
The following are free public events organized by season for the upcoming year. All events are at the Museum unless otherwise noted:
2024 HOLIDAYS AT THE MORSE
Thanksgiving Weekend Celebration: Free admission Friday, November 29, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, November 30, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, December 1, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Free admission throughout the weekend. Live music from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday. Museum Store Sunday sale.
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 Friday nights, November 29 through December 27.
Christmas in the Park: The Morse Museum and the City of Winter Park present the 46th annual exhibition of century-old Tiffany windows and a free outdoor concert of holiday favorites by the Bach Festival Society Choir and Brass Ensemble. 6:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, December 5, Central Park, downtown Winter Park.
Christmas Eve Celebration: Free admission Thursday, December 24, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Live music from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
2025 ARTS WEEKEND IN WINTER PARK
Winter Park Arts Weekend Celebration:
Free admission Friday, February 21, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, February 22, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, February 23, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Live music from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
2025 SPRING EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS
Arts and Letters
On view March 4, 2025
Before the advent of emails, text messages, and other forms of digital correspondence, the letter was the primary form of written communication. This exhibition explores the art of letter writing, and the ways in which Americans of the 19th and 20th centuries used the written word for both communication and creative expression. Arts and Letters brings together a diverse group of objects and archival materials, including paintings like William Paxton’s The Letter, writing instruments, and letters.
World’s Fairs Vignette
On view March 4, 2025
World’s fairs were an international tradition intended to celebrate the industrial and cultural achievements of various nations. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, visitors to these exhibitions were treated to magnificent presentations of art, science, manufacturing, and more. This vignette takes the form of a turn-of-the-century world’s fair display, including glass, art pottery, and furniture, as well as world’s fair ephemera from the Morse’s collection.
2025 SPRING AT THE MORSE
Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival Celebration: Free admission Friday, March 21, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 22, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, March 23, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Live music from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday.
Spring Friday Nights: Free admission from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Live music from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for eight consecutive Friday nights, March 7 through April 25.
Easter Weekend Celebration: Free admission Friday, April 18, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 19, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, April 20, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Live music from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday.
2025 SUMMER AT THE MORSE
Summer Family Tours and Films: June–July. Free family programs include gallery tours on selected Tuesdays with a take-home art project and a film, art activity, and gallery tour on selected Fridays. Reservations required.
Independence Day Celebration: Free admission Friday, July 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Museum provides the celebration in conjunction with the City of Winter Park’s 4th of July Celebration in Central Park. The tradition dates to July 4, 1995, when the Morse opened its current location on Park Avenue.
The Morse Museum is open 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. From November through April, the galleries are open until 8 p.m. on Fridays. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $1 for students, free for children under 12, and from November through April, free for all visitors after 4 p.m. on Fridays.
For more information about the Morse, please visit www.morsemuseum.org.
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