Smithsonian Associates Kicks Off the Holiday Season With Virtual Programs
Smithsonian Associates Streaming offers plenty of ways for people to celebrate the holidays from the comfort of their own homes. Individual programs offer insights into holiday traditions, studio arts workshops add a touch of nature to participants’ holiday décor and a guided wine tasting unlocks an award-winning sommelier’s secrets to perfect seasonal food and wine pairings.
Programs include:
Non-Traditional Holiday Ornaments
Saturday, Nov. 14; 1:30 p.m. ET
Using mini-canvases as the base and adding decorative embellishments, photos and other personal mementos, participants create small hanging artworks that can be individualized to fit any occasion for giving.
Perfect Food and Wine Pairings (With a Holiday Twist):
Friday, Nov. 20; 6 p.m. ET
The holidays are meant to be filled with friends, family, cheer and great meals. So why stress over the right wines to pair with the season’s traditional foods? Participants can sip along at home with sommelier Erik Segelbaum in a guided tasting of the perfect wines to accompany holiday menus.
Natural Milkweed Floss Ornament
Sunday, Dec. 6; 1 p.m. ET
Participants learn to transform a milkweed pod and its floss into a whimsical nesting swan using both wet and needle-felting techniques that will add a touch of nature to their holiday décor.
Sunday, Dec. 6; 2 p.m. ET
Participants can take a break from the stress of the season to enjoy an entertaining and informative afternoon with an orchid expert and learn how to make an elegant orchid centerpiece. A supply list is provided in advance that gives ideas for orchid genera, containers and decorations.
Moroccan and Sephardic Cuisine
Sunday, Dec. 6; 3 p.m. ET
Chef Danielle Renov, a Moroccan Jew born in New York and at home in Israel, shares the cultures and traditions that inform her recipes in a lively conversation with cookbook author and Jewish cuisine maven Joan Nathan. Renov also suggests several recipes, including festive Hanukkah ideas from her new cookbook, Peas, Love & Carrots (Mesorah Publications Ltd.).
Sunday, Dec. 13; 10 a.m. ET
Historian Coleen Christian Burke highlights how first ladies have left their mark on White House Christmas celebrations, illuminating first ladies’ holiday themes, which while personal, have at times reflected events beyond 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
First Ladies' Crafting Traditions: The Art of Decorating at the White House
Sunday, Dec. 13; 1 p.m.
Inspired by the first lady crafting tradition, participants create a holiday ornament for their house: Michelle Obama’s meaningful hanging envelope.
The Nativity in Art: Centuries of Storytelling
Wednesday, Dec. 16; noon ET
Generations of painters have been inspired to capture the moment—and intense spirituality—of Christ’s birth. Art historian Elaine Ruffolo examines how the artistic evolution of the Nativity reflects developments in European art, from the earliest known image in a second-century catacomb through 17th-century presentations of the Holy Family in dramatic Baroque style.
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SI-331-2020
