Holiday events lined up at the Heinz History Center
The Senator John Heinz History Center has a host of events lined up for the holiday season.
Families can skip the mall lines and take photos with Santa Claus at the History Center on select dates. Old St. Nick will be in the museum’s Great Hall from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 27-29, Dec. 5-6, Dec. 12, and Dec. 19-20. Santa visits are included with regular admission, and photos are free.
Mastodons, saber-toothed cats, and giant beavers await in “Planet Ice: Mysteries of the Ice Ages.” The exhibit takes visitors on an 80,000-year journey through a world reshaped by glaciers, where early humans found ways to survive alongside some extraordinary animals.
Guests can check out full-scale skeleton replicas of prehistoric megafauna, see mastodon bones unearthed in the region, and discover what artifacts from Meadowcroft Rockshelter reveal about what life was like in Pennsylvania thousands of years ago.
Opening this Saturday, the History Center’s new exhibition “A.H. Gorson: Painting the Steel City” presents Pittsburgh through the eyes of pioneering landscape artist Aaron Harry Gorson. Inspired by Maxwell King’s biography, “Fire in the Night Sky,” the exhibit features 44 Gorson paintings alongside historic photographs, archival materials, and steelmaking objects.
Gorson, a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania, found light, color, and beauty in Pittsburgh’s mills, transforming industrial scenes into dramatic landscapes that captured the vitality of America’s Steel City.
On Nov. 28, the History Center will host a frosty family fun day, “Winter Wonderland: A Journey Through Ice and Time,” inspired by the “Planet Ice: Mysteries of the Ice Ages” exhibit. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., families can sip hot cocoa, gather for campfire stories, and discover prehistoric creatures that once roamed Western Pennsylvania. Guests can also learn to use a prehistoric spear thrower with World Atlatl Association champions, settle in for a screening of “Ice Age,” and pose for a holiday photo with Santa.
On Dec. 4, the History Center will host an evening exploring the fashions, fortunes, and personalities of Pittsburgh’s Gilded Age, in partnership with The Frick Pittsburgh. During a panel discussion, curators and historians will connect storylines from HBO’s “The Gilded Age” to the lives of Pittsburghers who shaped the era, from the Carnegies and Fricks to prominent African American families and the workers who powered the city’s industries. Guests can enjoy cocktails and live music, see historic gowns, and explore the museum’s exhibitions through an interactive scavenger hunt.
All children aged 17 receive free admission to the Heinz History Center through the Kamin “Free for Kids” Initiative.
For more information about Holidays at the History Center, please visit heinzhistorycenter.org/holidays.