The Frick’s ‘Home for the Holidays at Clayton’ returns this month
The Frick Pittsburgh is getting into the festive spirit with the return of its “Home for the Holidays at Clayton” tours along with a handful of other winter events, including a handbell concert, an ornament workshop, a Gilded Age holiday cookbook talk and more.
Also, for the first time, the Frick is hosting an evening where visitors are invited to tour Clayton’s first floor at their own pace. Visitors will enjoy the house decorated for the holidays along with snacks and drinks to enjoy after the tour.
Here are some of the events coming up:
-“Home for the Holidays at Clayton”
Nov. 20, 2026 – Jan. 3, 2027
When visitors tour the Clayton mansion, they will learn how the holidays were celebrated by different groups in Pittsburgh during the Gilded Age, including the Frick family and their staff. Tours are Tuesdays through Sundays, 10:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
=Gilded Age Holiday Cooking Class
Sunday at 2 p.m.
Typical Gilded Age holiday treats are explored in this cooking class. In this workshop, attendees will make, taste and take-home sugar plums, festive popcorn balls and chocolate wine. This workshop is for people aged 18 or older and is not recommended for people with nut allergies.
-Woven Ornament Workshop
Nov. 21 at 1 p.m.
Students of all levels will use the basics of hand weaving to create two traditional Scandinavian ornaments: a star-made with your choice of red or blue hand-dyed reed-and a white snowflake.
-Gilded Age Holiday Cookbook Talk and Tasting
Nov. 29 at 2 p.m.
“The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook” features the history behind each confection, its ingredients and baking methods. In this talk based on the book, author Becky Libourel Diamond will touch on holiday lore of the time, with backstories of now-ubiquitous Christmas customs such as Santa Claus, the Christmas tree and Christmas cards, interspersed with tales of Gilded Age Hanukkah and New Year’s celebrations, holiday debutante parties, teas, and grand balls.
-Ring Pittsburgh: A Holiday Concert in Handbells
Dec. 6 at 2:30 p.m.
The concert from Ring Pittsburgh will blend the warmth of familiar holiday music with the versatility of handbells.
-Caravaggio: Hell on Wheels and Heaven on Canvas
Dec. 13 at 2 p.m.
The lecture will examine the art of Italian painter Michelangelo Caravaggio in the context of his life, which is cut short by the artist’s endless provocations. Without the brawls, the self-indulgence, the flights from prosecution, all of which led inexorably to his death at 37, how many more masterpieces could he have left to posterity? Or was his personality and his artistic production so thoroughly intertwined that one was impossible without the other? This question, of course, is unanswerable, but Dr. Kahren Jones Arbitman’s lecture will tell the story and attendees can draw conclusions.
Tickets or additional information are available at frickpittsburgh.org.