Virtual Out of Town   

Join a docent-led tour of the 2024 special exhibition Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings, featuring artworks excavated from the capital of the ancient Shang Dynasty (ca. 1250 BCE–ca. 1050 BCE), the source of China’s earliest surviving written records and the birthplace of Chinese archaeology. This exhibit of remarkable artifacts includes jade ornaments, ceremonial weapons, bells, chariot fittings and bronze vessels. Learn about the advanced technology of bronze casting, explore intricate and sophisticated designs of ritual objects, and discover famous “oracle bones.”

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is home to more than 46,000 objects from the Islamic world; the ancient Near East; South, East, and Southeast Asia; and the United States. Located in Washington DC, the Smithsonian institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex with twentyone museums and the National Zoo. The institution was founded in 1846 with funds from the Englishman, James Smithson (1765-1829) according to his wishes “under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” As the first art museum of the Smithsonian, the Freer Gallery of Art, combined with the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, has a hundred-year legacy of preserving, exhibiting, and interpreting exemplary works as the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.

Experience the magic of A Longwood Christmas! During this festive season, prepare to be amazed as our OLLI group is extended an invitation to ‘virtually’ explore the wondrous spaces of Longwood Gardens at its holiday best. Our group will experience many decorated spaces… marvel at ‘select’ how-didthey-do-that displays … and enjoy spectacular beauty at every turn.

A living & expanding expression of its 1920’s founder, Pierre S. du Pont, Longwood Gardens covers 200 plus acres located about an hour west of Philadelphia. At its’ beginning in the early 1960s, the holiday display included a modest 1,000 poinsettias indoors and a small Christmas Tree Lane in the parking lot. Nothing compares to the growth of Longwood’s Christmas display. On site attendance soared as more features were added and by 1984 there were 81 trees outdoors with 60,000 lights. Today, as many as 300,000 guests enjoy an extravaganza of 400,000 lights, 200 concerts, dancing fountains, and superb floral displays – just the sort of spectacle that Mr. du Pont loved.

Our virtual stroll will be led by Jim Sutton, Associate Director, Display Design as our group is guided through paths outside decorated with hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights and the historic Main Conservatory, where magnificently decorated trees, thousands of poinsettias, and fragrant flowers transform Pierre S. du Pont’s fabled glass house into a holiday wonderland. Our discussion will be facilitated by Timothy Gould, Director of Continuing Education, Longwood Gardens.