It’s one of those “only in Winter Park” sort of events. The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art will launch the holiday season in the aptly named City of Culture and Heritage by lighting up seven beautiful (and priceless) Tiffany windows in Central Park and presenting a concert by the Bach Festival Choir, Youth Choir and Brass Ensemble.
This year will be the 47th annual Christmas in the Park, a tradition that was begun by Hugh F. McKean and his wife, Jeannette Genius McKean, who was the granddaughter of Charles Hosmer Morse. Hugh McKean was a former president of Rollins College and later director of the museum—which is renowned for its world-class collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
There’s a believe-it-or-not backstory about how the McKeans came to possess the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Tiffany, but we don’t have the space to tell it here.
Suffice it to say, the couple initiated this event because they wanted to share their collection with as many people as possible in an informal setting because, well, that’s just the kind of people they were.
All you have to do is show up at Central Park at 6:15 p.m. when the signal is given to turn on the window lights. (Really, you should get there sooner because the park starts filling up beginning around 4 p.m.)
The windows you’ll see are memorials, with religious themes, produced by Tiffany Studios in the 1890s for the chapel at the Association for the Relief of Respectable Aged Indigent Females in New York City.
Then, after marveling at the illuminated works of leaded-glass art, enjoy holly jolly holiday music from the choir and orchestra under the direction of the legendary John V. Sinclair. The concert, which is held in the northern section of Central Park, ends at about 8 p.m. with the windows remaining on view until about 8:30 p.m.
The Morse Museum is located at 445 North Park Avenue, Winter Park. Central Park is located on Park Avenue in historic Downtown Winter Park. For more information, call or visit the website.
Saavedra’s priorities include not only expanding the slate of festival features but cementing her organization’s roster of sponsors and promotional partners. The message is clear: Cultural outreach is bigger than any one person—and it takes a village to make a world.
Dr. Phillips Center is located at 445 South Magnolia Avenue, Orlando. For more information, call or visit the website.
