A diverse and extensive roster of education offerings on the theme of life and culture in the Middle Ages will take place at The Cloisters museum and gardens in fall 2014. The Cloisters is a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to medieval art and architecture. The programs are intended for general visitors and families.
Many of The Cloisters’ public programs are free with Museum admission. These include weekend gallery talks; informal conversations with a Metropolitan Museum curator or conservator; and gallery workshops for families. (One family workshop per month is available in English and Spanish.) Highlights tours or garden tours, which are regularly scheduled throughout the year, will continue through the fall. A two-day family festival in December will feature costumed actors and storytellers in the galleries.
The popular series of holiday-themed subscription concerts of early music will take place on weekends in December (tickets, $45).
September–December 2014 Schedule of Programs
Gallery Talks
Offered on Saturdays and the first Sunday of each month, these talks take place at 2:00 p.m. and are free with Museum admission. Space in the galleries is limited.
September
6 Portraying Presence: Representing the Self and the Divine in Medieval Art
Katherine Boivin, guest lecturer
7 Medieval Dogs
Carol Schuler, lecturer
13 Fashion in the Middle Ages: Power, Privilege and Luxury
Jessamyn Conrad, lecturer
20 Medieval Entertainment
Mike Norris, guest lecturer
27 Medicine and Faith: Healing the Sick in the Middle Ages
Sigrid Goldiner, lecturer
October
4 Medieval Material Culture
Heather Horton, guest lecturer
5 Earth in Medieval Material Culture
Jeanne-Marie Musto, lecturer
11 Gender and Sanctity in Medieval Art
Holly Flora, guest lecturer
18 Devotional Practice in the Middle Ages
Jennifer Ball, guest lecturer
25 Recent Acquisitions at The Cloisters
Nancy Wu, museum educator, The Cloisters
November
1 Tusk and Tooth: Medieval Ivories
Emma Wegner, assistant museum educator, The Cloisters
2 Gesture and Expression in the Middle Ages
Leslie Bussis Tait, museum educator, The Cloisters
8 Bridging Heaven and Earth in Medieval Art
Ariel Fein, guest lecturer
15 Manuscripts and their Makers
Frederica Law-Turner, lecturer
22 The Cloistered Life
Jenny Shaffer, guest lecturer
29 The World of the Belles Heures
Elizabeth Williams, guest lecturer
December
7 The Twelfth-Century Renaissance
Lauren Mancia, lecturer
20 The Nativity Cycle in Medieval Art
Joseph Ackley, lecturer
Gallery Workshops for Families
Children ages 4 to 12 and their families visit the galleries to look at art and then take part in a hands-on activity. These hour-long programs begin at 1:00 p.m. and are free with Museum admission.
September
6 Fun and Games (Zoe Tippl)
7 Health and Harmony in the Middle Ages (Theresa Raniolo)
20 To the Stars! (Betty Ann Murphy)
27 Bilingual program: Nature in the Middle Ages/27 de septiembre, La naturaleza en la Edad Media (Begonia Santa-Cecilia)
October
4 Shields and Symbols (Gwen Mayhew)
5 Looking for Light (Theresa Raniolo)
18 Knights! (Christina DeLeón)
25 Bilingual program: Medieval Artists/25 de octubre, Artistas de la Edad Media (Begonia Santa-Cecilia)
November
1 A Medieval Pilgrimage (Gwen Mayhew)
2 Kings and Queens (Christina DeLeón)
15 Architecture Adventure (Sarah Harshman)
29 Bilingual program: Medieval people/29 de noviembre, Personajes de la Edad Media (Begonia Santa-Cecilia)
December
7 Medieval Entertainment (Sarah Harshman)
20 Learning to Look at Medieval Art (Lauren Mancia)
Conversations with a Curator or Conservator
Intriguing objects in the collection of The Cloisters are discussed in informal 20-minute chats with a Metropolitan Museum curator or conservator. Conversations begin at 2:00 p.m. and are free with Museum admission.
September 5 Helen Evans, Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator of Byzantine Art, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters
October 3 George Bisacca, Conservator, Department of Paintings Conservation
November 7 Melinda Watt, Associate Curator, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
December 5 Peter Barnet, Senior Curator, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters
Festivals
Sunday, September 28, 11:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Medieval Festival
This is an annual event in Fort Tryon Park organized by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the Washington Heights Inwood Development Corporation. The Cloisters will offer highlights tours at 11:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and a garden tour at 1:00 p.m. Free with Museum admission.
Friday, December 26–Saturday, December 27
Family Festival: Voices from the Middle Ages
The award-winning sketch comedy group Story Pirates takes on the roles of knights, monks, queens, and saints in this interactive storytelling event for children ages 4 to 12 and their families. The festival is free with Museum admission.
Subscription Concerts
For more than 50 years, The Cloisters has been a venue for concerts of early music. The magnificent 12th-century apse from Fuentidueña, Spain, provides an unforgettable setting and superb acoustics. Concerts take place at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.; tickets are $45.
Saturday, December 6: In Praise of Saint Nicholas (Ensemble Organum and Christos Chalkias)
Saturday, December 13, and Sunday, December 14, The Christmas Story (The Waverly Consort)
Sunday, December 21, Veni Emmanuel: Chant and Polyphony for Advent and Christmas (Lionheart)
To order concert tickets, call (212) 570-3949 or go to www.metmuseum.org. For all other
concert-related inquiries, call (212) 650-2290.
Ongoing
Highlights Tours of The Cloisters Collection for individual visitors: Monday–Friday and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
Garden Tours: Daily at 1:00 p.m. (September–October)
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September 5, 2014
Image caption: Detail from The Hunters Enter the Woods (from the Unicorn Tapestries), 1495–1505. South Netherlandish. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of John D. Rockefeller Jr., 1937
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