December at the Museum
We invite you to visit the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum during the holidays. We offer lots of fun for all ages in December.
This year, the Spanish Revival mansion of Rosamond and William K. Vanderbilt II – which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places – has been decorated by the noted designer and author Tricia Foley, and by local garden clubs.
Visitors on regular guided tours will enjoy a trip back in time in a grand home whose guests included famous Americans and British royalty. Tickets may be purchased only at the door. (Friday tours from 11:30 to 3:30; Saturday-Sunday tours from 12:30 to 3:30.)
Private tours of the mansion are also available: $150 for up to four guests; $200 for up to eight; $20 per additional person. Reservations can be made for any day between 10:00 am and 3:30 pm. Contact: carol@vanderbiltmuseum.org
Special Candlelight Tours of the decorated Vanderbilt Mansion will be offered on Saturday, December 7 and 14, and Friday, December 20, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. Cost: $15. Members free.
The planetarium show Season of Light (Friday and Saturday at 7 pm from December 6 to 28) explores the fascinating historical, religious, and cultural rituals practiced during the time of winter solstice – not only Christian and Jewish but also Celtic, Nordic, Roman, Irish, Mexican and Hopi. Adults $12; students with ID and seniors $10; children 12 and under $8; members, children under 2 free.
Children will have fun in Winter Solstice Workshops on December 26 and 27. Explore the collections, see a planetarium show, decorate a repurposed plastic bottle for forcing bulbs, and make a working sundial. 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Cost: $20/$18 members.
Seasonal marriage proposals: Propose to your beloved at the beautifully decorated historic estate. Experience a private tour of the festive mansion before the romantic moment. Then enjoy a photo session on the picturesque grounds. Contact: host@vanderbiltmuseum.org
See the Decorated Mansion by Candlelight
Enjoy some holiday magic on an evening Candlelight Tour of the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum’s decorated Spanish Revival waterfront mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places – on Saturday, December 7 and 14, and Friday, December 20, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. Cost: $15. Members free.
The renowned designer and author Tricia Foley has decorated eight mansion rooms. The Asharoken, Centerport, Dix Hills, Nathan Hale, and Three Village garden clubs have decorated an additional eight rooms.
Enjoy a trip back in time in a grand waterfront home whose guests included British royalty and Hollywood stars.
Visitors also can book private tours: $150 for up to four guests; $200 for up to eight. Reservations can be made for any day of the week between 10:00 am and 3:30 pm.
Visitors to the Vanderbilt also can enjoy the decked halls of the mansion during regular daytime tours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Quick Watercolor Portraits by Artist Sara Marie Martin
Have your portrait painted in watercolor by local artist Sara Marie Martin
Sunday, December 8, from 12:00 to 4:00 pm
Strike a pose! Your custom watercolor portrait will be painted within 10 minutes!
$20 per 5 x 7 (up to 4 people per painting)
Payable via cash or Venmo on site
*General Admission Required
Journey Through Space? Step Right This Way.
The Vanderbilt Reichert Planetarium – with full-dome video, surround sound, and 197 comfortable new seats – will take you on enthralling, immersive journeys through the Solar System.
On Friday and Saturday nights, you can enjoy two amazing astronomy shows and very popular laser music shows.
The Planetarium offers great daytime programming for children and adults Friday through Sunday
On Friday from 9:00 to 10:00 pm, it’s FREE to observe the night sky in the Observatory (weather permitting).
Name a New Chair in the Reichert Planetarium
When you name a new chair in the Vanderbilt Reichert Planetarium chair, you support innovative planetarium education and entertainment programming.
Observe a milestone, honor a loved one, or name a chair for your family or organization.
Dedicate | Celebrate | Recognize | Memorialize
Your nameplate will remain in place for the life of the seat. (It does not reserve the use of the seat.)
Give a Unique Gift That Will Last a Lifetime
Looking for a fresh, unique, everlasting gift for a loved one?
Purchase and engrave a brick that will become a permanent part of the Vanderbilt Museum.
Your donation will help the Vanderbilt to bring outstanding science, history, and art education to more than 25,000 students annually.
Your brick will be installed and displayed in your favorite brick walkway around the Vanderbilt Mansion and Terrace, or on the 43-acre grounds of the beautiful waterfront Estate.
For more information, email jaimie@vanderbiltmuseum.org.
‘Laser Taylor Swift’ Extended through December 29
Showings of the Vanderbilt Reichert Planetarium‘s wildly popular show, Laser Taylor Swift, have been extended again through December 29. If you were not able to see one of her shows on the Eras tour, Laser Taylor Swift is the next best thing!
With more than 200 million records sold, a shelf full of Grammys, and an army of fans, Taylor Swift is an inspiration for generations. This dynamic show takes her biggest hits and brings them to life in dazzling laser light.
Tickets: $18. (Free for Museum members.)
Setlist: You Need To Calm Down, Love Story, Anti-Hero Exile, Look What You Made Me Do, Willow, Lavender Haze, I Knew You Were Trouble, Blank Space, You Belong With Me, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Shake It Off.
‘Haunting Menagerie’, Museum’s First Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition
Wendy Klemperer
On Earth Day, April 22, 2023, the Vanderbilt Museum debuted Wendy Klemperer: Wrought Taxonomies, the first exhibition of outdoor sculpture at the historic summer estate of William Kissam Vanderbilt II.
Wendy Klemperer’s sculptures—a haunting assemblage of animal forms that span imaginary, endangered, familiar, and exotic species—celebrate natural history and the nonhuman world through evocative interactions with the surrounding environment.
Using materials salvaged from scrapyards, she composes ecological narratives that respond to the history and collections of Suffolk County’s first public park and museum. Her brilliant use of gestural lines captures the spectator’s attention and invites museumgoers to reflect on the relationship between an interest in animal life and the incessant push of human industry.
Wrought Taxonomies is the inaugural exhibition in the Vanderbilt Museum’s outdoor sculpture program and the institution’s second exhibition of contemporary art focused on the relationship between culture and animals. Visitors will see large pieces visitors as they stroll the grounds of the Vanderbilt, one of the few remaining Long Island Gold Coast mansions. Smaller pieces suspended from trees wait to be discovered along the Vanderbilt’s hiking trail. Other works will be found near garden areas and the Marine Museum.
The Vanderbilt Museum occupies the former Gold Coast mansion and estate of William Kissam Vanderbilt II, the great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt and a pioneer of American motorsport. Located in Centerport on the north shore of Long Island, it is renowned for its extensive marine and natural history collections, Spanish revival architecture, and picturesque parklands.
All sculptures are viewable with general admission to the Museum grounds. Educational programs and workshops associated with the themes and content of Wendy Klemperer: Wrought Taxonomies will be offered throughout the exhibition. Special thanks are due to the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, whose generous support made Wrought Taxonomies possible. The exhibition will run through April 2025.
Visitors are encouraged, during these weeks of mild autumn weather, to enjoy a picnic on the grounds.
