Week Ender: Happenings in December

December is a good time to explore the many artistic and cultural treasures at Yale’s museums and libraries.

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Yale University Art Gallery
1111 Chapel St.
Visit http://artgallery.yale.edu/hours-and-directions for hours and information.

View African art, American decorative arts, ancient art, and European art as well as special exhibitions. Meant To Be Shared; Selections from the Arthur Ross Collection of European Prints opens on Dec. 19; and it’s your last chance to see The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art, which closes Jan. 3. Free.

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Cushing/Whitney Medical Library
Sterling Hall of Medicine, 333 Cedar St.
See http://web.library.yale.edu/buildings for library hours.

Discover Cushing’s Brains. Named for Yale College graduate and neurosurgeon Dr. Harvey Cushing, the center includes more than 400 specimen jars of patients’ brains and tumors, Cushing’s surgical illustrations, his personal diaries, black-and-white patient photographs, and memorabilia, as well as historical anatomical and medical materials. Other exhibits at the medical library include Historical Illustrations of Skin Disease and Discover the Beauty of Science. Free.  

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Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
170 Whitney Ave.
See http://peabody.yale.edu/visit/admission-hours for museum hours.

Explore the Peabody’s permanent collection — providing a record of the history of the Earth, its life, and its cultures, including “The Great Hall of Dinosaurs.” Visit the Peabody’s special exhibits including Samurai and the Culture of Japan’s Great Peace (ending Jan. 3), which brings to life the many-layered history of the samurai and those they ruled.

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Sterling Memorial Library
120 High St.
Winter break hours: 11 a.m.-2:45 p.m. Closed Dec. 24-27; and Jan. 1-3

Visit one of Yale’s most prominent buildings and the largest of all the Yale libraries. Completed in 1930, it was named for its benefactor, John William Sterling (Yale Class of 1864). August 2014 marked the completion of a major restoration project that has returned the majestic entrance nave to its original architectural splendor. The library currently houses approximately four million volumes on 16 floors of book stacks, as well as numerous departments, reading rooms, and exhibits. Free.