Rockefeller Center is the epicenter for Holiday Magic in New York City, with its beautiful tree and light decorations, but there are many wonderful places to explore to find inspiration during this season! 

During this virtual tour with art historian Sylvia Laudien-Meo, we will take a close look at Rockefeller Center and the history of its Christmas celebration, as well as its wealth of public art, designed to inspire us throughout the year.  Another noteworthy Christmas Tree is the one at the Met, with its Neapolitan Baroque Crèche, depicting a Mediterranean harbor town scene and placed in the Medieval Sculpture Hall.  We will also make a visit to The Jewish Museum, which has the largest collection of Hanukkah Lamps in the world, c. 1,050 outstanding designs from countries around the world, from ancient to contemporary - we'll see some of the highlights!  Our tour will conclude with Kiki Smith's beautiful new permanent window for the Eldridge Street Synagogue. 

Sylvia Laudien-Meo is an art historian who has been working as an art professional in various capacities for the past 3 decades, teaching at NYC art museums (MoMA, Guggenheim and the Jewish Museum), guiding art and architecture tours for the Municipal Art Society, Brandeis and UFT as well as private clients, teaching at Fairleigh Dickinson University and now mostly offering virtual tours and lectures with clients including OLLI of Dominican Univ., the 92StY, the New York Adventure Club and many libraries.  Sylvia was born and raised in Germany and came to the US as an Art History graduate student on a scholarship for Columbia Univ.; after working and raising her family in NYC, she just recently relocated to St Pete, FL.