The “clouds of heaven” motif—an arching, multilayered band of clouds, usually appearing at the top of a medieval work of art—is used repeatedly in the original art and decoration created for Glencairn in the 1920s and 1930s. It is found in various locations in the building in stained glass, sculpture, and metalwork. This article will provide examples of the “clouds of heaven,” both in the art made for Glencairn and in Raymond Pitcairn’s personal medieval collection.

In 2020 Glencairn has significantly expanded our web-based resources and our social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and YouTube. As 2020 comes to a close, this special “Year in Review” issue of Glencairn Museum News highlights some of these efforts.

The Glencairn Christmas Sing and our “Christmas in the Castle” tour have moved online in 2020 as video programs. We’re thrilled that so many people who will never have the opportunity to travel to Glencairn have been able to “visit us” virtually this holiday season.

This year Glencairn Museum’s annual World Nativities exhibition is taking place online for all to enjoy. Every day, from December 1 through December 25, a new Nativity scene from Glencairn’s collection will appear in the online Advent calendar on our website.

Karen Loccisano and R. Michael Palan, a husband-and-wife artist team from Bridgewater, New Jersey, create handmade, exquisitely detailed Nativity scenes. In American Nativity, they have reimagined what the Nativity miracle might have looked like if it had taken place during the Great Depression, with migrant American farmers traveling west from the drought-stricken plains to California during the Dust Bowl.

Dr. Jennifer Houser Wegner, Associate Curator in the Egyptian Section at the Penn Museum, explores the history and purpose of ancient Egyptian images of Isis and Horus in Glencairn’s collection.

“Painter, craftsman, musician, student, teacher, husband, father and friend—Winfred Hyatt was all of these” (Charles Kintner, 1961). While Winfred S. Hyatt is remembered principally for his work at Bryn Athyn’s stained-glass studio—which produced windows for both Bryn Athyn Cathedral and Glencairn—he was a man of multiple talents who filled many roles in the life of the community. This essay is an overview of his artistic legacy.

An image on the obverse of a 1796 halfpenny token in the collection of Glencairn Museum depicts the New Jerusalem Temple in Birmingham, England. This is the only contemporary image of the first structure ever built exclusively for New Church (Swedenborgian Christian) worship. Rev. Joel Christian Glenn has created a 3D computer-rendered reproduction of this important church.

Google Arts & Culture is an immersive way to experience art, history, and culture from more than two thousand organizations worldwide. Glencairn Museum launched its official partnership with this innovative Google platform last spring, and since then over one hundred works of art from the Museum’s permanent collection have been published online.

Number 4, 2020

This spring Glencairn Museum, and other museums and historic sites around the world, have been facing a perplexing challenge. How can we stay relevant and connected with our audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people are unable to visit museums in person?