Longwood Reimagined, The Morgan at 100, The Bally Foundation, Museum Store Gift Guide

December 2024

Dear Readers,

Happy December! We have a fun issue for you this month with organizations that highlight artistic and literary talent and that have timely holiday appeal.

We start with Linda Cabasin's article on Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia. The gardens are famous for their dazzling Christmas displays, and this year is extra special as they open "Longwood Reimagined," the new stunning West Conservatory including a new glass house and expanded orchid house.

Jimmy McKenzie shares art works at the Bally Foundation on Lake Lugano, highlighting a lesser-known gem and thought-provoking art in a beautiful building in a desirable holiday destination. The Foundation has created a home and community for artists.

In a second article, Linda Cabasin writes about one of New York's jewels, the Morgan Library, as it turns 100. The Morgan has enticing 2025 programs and an extraordinary diverse collection from Charles Dickens and Gutenberg Bibles to works by Bob Dylan and Jane Austen. It also has a delightful holiday gift shop.

Last but not least, we share a wonderful article from Joseph O'Neill at the American Alliance of Museums who writes about museum gift shops around the country. Gift shops at museums are often a place to find beautiful and meaningful holiday presents and a way to support their institutions.

Thank you for reading and please do share our website and newsletter with friends, family and colleagues who may be interested. We also have a presence on Instagram and FaceBook. www.sideofculture.com

with best wishes,

Victoria Larson

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Longwood Gardens Celebrates Christmas with a New Conservatory

By Linda Cabasin

Famous for its dazzling Christmas displays, Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia has exciting holiday surprises for visitors this season that include the opening of its stunning new West Conservatory. The multi-year Longwood Reimagined project, begun in 2021, also added a new glasshouse for the reinstallation of Roberto Burle Marx’s tropical Cascade Garden, an expanded Orchid House, an outdoor bonsai display area, and an administrative and educational building. Read on

Exploring Art and Innovation at the Bally Foundation

By Jimmy McKenzie

The Bally Foundation has been at the center of cutting-edge artistic innovation since its founding in 2006, fostering creativity and thought-provoking exhibitions. Founded in Lugano, Switzerland, the foundation opened its doors in 1931 in a picturesque lakeside setting to serve as a meeting point between art, nature, and culture. Read on

A New York Treasure Turns 100: The Morgan Library & Museum

By Linda Cabasin

Three Gutenberg Bibles, the only surviving manuscript of Milton’s Paradise Lost, Thoreau’s journals, 1,500 Old Master drawings: financier John Pierpont (J. P.) Morgan (1837–1913) acquired these and more for his personal library in New York City, now the Morgan Library & Museum. In 2024, a collection that began as one man’s haul of rarities has been celebrating 100 years as a public institution. Read on

The 2024 Museum Store Gift Guide

By Joseph O'Neill

As cheerful as the holiday season can be, it can also be a dizzying blur of to-dos, chief among them the task of finding thoughtful, interesting gifts that will delight their recipients. Museum stores are a blessing in this challenge, with their refined selection of unusual curios and feel-good benefits to their institutions’ educational missions. The only problem is, with so many excellent museum stores around the country (and the world, for that matter), where do you start? Read on