Discover the treasures in your own backyard on this admission-free day at Winterthur. Get outside and explore the garden or learn something new in our galleries. Enjoy activities around the estate such as crafting, a curator-guided gallery walk, and story time. Together with our community partners, Winterthur offers fun for all, inside and out! Free. Activities offered until 4:00 pm. Museum and galleries open until 5:00 pm.
Please be aware that parking is limited, and we expect a large turnout early in the day. Please visit any time but consider arriving later. You will have plenty of time to enjoy all Winterthur has to offer.

Visitor Center

  • Stop by the New Castle County Libraries table to decorate your own bookmark and learn about the free services the library offers including 3D printing, museum pass checkouts, concerts and classes, job search help, and more.
  • Learn about Read Aloud Delaware’s Volunteer Reading Program and LENA Start—a free program designed to guide parents of newborns to 3-year-olds as they prepare their child for kindergarten. Enjoy a giveaway of new and gently used books for children and a patriotic visit and story time with Pete the Cat.
  • Visit the Kennett Underground Railroad Center table and learn about the mission, special events, and guided bus tours of this organization that tells the stories of the people helped by the Underground Railroad on their journey to freedom.
  • Learn how Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research rescues and rehabilitates birds that are injured, orphaned, or affected by oil and other contaminants. Discover the role birds play in our ecosystem, get tips on how you can support local wildlife, and explore how conservation efforts help protect our feathered neighbors for future generations.
  • Visit with two bunnies from The Barn at Spring Brook Farm, which helps children with disabilities connect with animals and nature.
  • Enjoy a performance by The Rainbow Chorale of Delaware, a non-auditioned LGBTQ+ and allies community chorus.

Greenhouse Area

  • Meet Sarah Bourne Rafferty of Atwater Designs, see her recent creations, and watch her create works of art using cyanotype, the oldest photographic process.
  • Visit Mt. Cuba Center’s space to learn how the center serves as a botanical garden dedicated to the conservation of native plants and their habitats.
  • Learn which vegetables can be seeded for the fall season and see demonstrations of seeding and transplanting vegetables into containers from the Food Bank of Delaware. Take free seeding supplies to try your new skills at home.
  • Spinning a Yarn: Wool at Winterthur

Join Matthew Monk, associate textile curator, and friends as they spin, dye, and weave using wool from the Winterthur merino sheep. See and feel textile work in action, ask questions, and learn about our sheep, wool, and the historical processing, dyeing, and use of wool.

  • Watch members of the Harmony Weavers Guild and FiberGuild demonstrate various techniques, including spinning fiber into yarn using drop spindles, traditional spinning wheels, or electronic spinners; weaving yarn into textiles on portable looms; knitting with traditional needles or a knitting machine; and kumihimo, a Japanese braiding technique.
  • Visit The Wheelmen to explore the heritage of early American bicycles. Meet members who restore and ride vintage bicycles, research cycling history, share stories, and keep skills from cycling’s golden era (through 1932) alive.
  • Climb aboard Winterthur’s firetruck and discover its fascinating history and role in protecting the estate.
  • Decorate your own terra cotta pot with garden-inspired designs, then plant a seed in it and learn how to care for the new plant. Make a wooden garden marker to label your soon-to-be flower or vegetable.

West Gallery Circle

  • Visit Guiding Paws of Delaware, who raise puppies that will become life-changing Seeing Eye dogs for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The Seeing Eye, founded in 1929, works to enhance the independence, dignity, and self-confidence of blind people through the use of Seeing Eye dogs.

Galleries Reception Area

  • Join Josh Lane, furniture curator, at 1:00 pm for a Gallery Walk through his new exhibition, Challenging Masterpieces: Art and Identity in American Furniture, which highlights more than 70 standout pieces from the collection, each selected for its exceptional craftsmanship, inventive design, or use of rare and unexpected materials. Please meet in the Galleries by 12:50 pm. Space is limited.
  • Pop by the Delaware Division of the Arts for a hands-on art activity that kids and adults can create together and take home.
  • Stop at the People to People Delaware table to pick up a free peace sticker and play their global kids’ game to win a prize.
  • Visit the Delaware Historical Society table to hear stories about the history of the first state.
  • Visit the First State Mini Club’s table highlighting the 250th anniversary of the United States and experience their interactive miniatures display.
  • Stop by the Winterthur Library’s table to see items from 18th-century America and from the early days of the museum.

Rotunda

  • Join Duwenavue Santé Johnson, Radical Americana artist and Winterthur Maker-Creator fellow, at 11:00 am and learn how to hand-embroider a star on wool and embellish it with glass beads. For ages 15 and up.

Register now.

Photo by Becca Mathias

        Share: