> Stephen Brand wrote:
>
> I have had lots of trouble with this issue.  Since I don't celebrate
> Christmas, I have always felt a struggle with how we can make our holiday environments more welcoming for everyone.  I believe this is a
big challenge for both mission and market driven reasons.

Dear Stephen:  the timeliness of your remarks is perfect, as our staff is
planning the specifics of our December program.  I have been interested
in hearing about other museum programs, so I'll relate what our museum
does.    We are a historic house(1917)/art museum and the public
(teachers, off-the-street visitors, members) really expects the house to
be decorated for Christmas.  They call and ask specifically about this!
We decorate simply with fresh flowers throughout the house (yes, we have
climate control but do it anyway)  Our director (who would want you to
know is Christian!) shares many of the sentiments of the list who worry
about excluding non-Christians, has set strict guidelines about our
programs.  We have trees in the living room but decorate them with paper
snowflakes, and we have a beautiful wooden menorah on display.  We avoid
designating our holiday programs as "Christmas" -- we have a children's
party called "Festival of Giving and Light" -- in which we celebrate
Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa.  We do have Santa Claus but far more
popular is the Grinch (kids seem to hug or kick him)!  We also have a
holiday celebration for Older Adults which mostly features songs
(Christian and Jewish) and sometimes a display of work by older
adults/seniors from our museum program.  We present three nights of
Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory".  We have a holiday Open House which
features entertainers from gospel choirs, mariachi bands, madrigal
singers. . .  what has all this got to do with the Reynolds family whose
home this was?  Very little since their Christmas celebrations were very
low-key.  (We do sometimes exhibit some of their Christmas cards c.
1917-1940's, and a children's dollhouse).  But it is a chance to offer an
alternative to the commercial frenzy of the holidays, emphasizing music,
tradition, inclusiveness and acceptance.

This year we are adding a new program (sometime right after Thanksgiving)
about how to "Simplify Your Christmas" led by Wanda Urbanska, who
recently hosted a PBS special "Escape from Affluenza".

Kathleen Hutton
coordinator of education, Reynolda House Museum of American Art
Winston-Salem, NC
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