As snow settles over campus and the new year approaches, there’s still plenty of fun to be found across Yale and New Haven — much of it free. Find inspiration in the category-defying art of Yale’s museums. Learn more about the Elm City’s cultural history. Cheer for the Bulldogs on and off the ice. Sample some of New Haven’s finest local produce. The winter recess runs until Jan. 12, when classes resume, and hours may vary by venue over the holidays; please follow the links to find the current open dates and hours.
Yale Peabody Museum
Blast 80 million years into the past at the Yale Peabody Museum, where skeletons of Tylosaurus, a huge marine lizard, and Archelon, its sea turtle prey, dangle over the Central Gallery in an air-borne chase. While there, catch a glimpse of “Temporal Portal” — a new, student-made mural that celebrates biodiversity — and, in the next hall over, artist Rudoph F. Zallinger’s “The Age of Reptiles,” a 110-foot mural that inspired the original Godzilla. Finally, visit “¡Taíno Vive!,” a bilingual exhibition that tells the story of the Taínos, the Indigenous peoples of the northern Caribbean islands.
- Hours
- Free
Yale University Art Gallery
Striking patterns and complex dye techniques are on display in “Nusantara,” an exhibition at the Yale University Art Gallery that journeys through six centuries of Indonesian woven textiles (ending January 11). Also on view: “Hans Hofmann,” which features the “push-pull painting” theory of this famous 20th-century art teacher — and offers insight into how his teaching and artistic practice informed one another.
- Hours
- Free
Yale Center for British Art
The Yale Center for British Art contains the largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom in a grid of interlinked gallery spaces suffused with natural light and an exterior of matte steel, glass, and concrete — the final work of Modernist architect Louis Kahn. See the exhibition “Hew Locke: Passages” (closes on January 11), a career-spanning look at the Guyanese-British artist, who uses multimedia work to explore the material legacy of colonialism.
- Hours
- Free
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
One of the world’s largest libraries of its kind, the Beinecke holds documents of human culture, dating from 200 B.C.E. to contemporary times. Highlights include the Gutenberg Bible — the earliest book printed in Europe using movable type. This winter, the library has two special exhibitions: one on the chirimen crêpe-paper books of Japan, and the other on artists’ books.
New Haven Museum
Sixty years ago, a group of theatre enthusiasts — including Jon Jory and Harlan Kleiman, both Yale School of Drama graduates — turned an empty warehouse on New Haven Harbor into Long Wharf Theatre. Learn about the company’s rich history of bold, inclusive theater in “Invite to Engage,” an exhibit at the New Haven Museum that features re-created sets, rare archival materials, and more.
Wooster Square Winter Farmer’s Market
Find fresh, local produce — along with baked goods, prepared foods, and more — at this indoor farmers market in the Conte West Hills School gymnasium.
- Saturdays until March 28; Hours
- Free to visit
Yale Athletics
Classes may be on break, but Yale’s student-athletes are still at play. Early in the new year, you can catch multiple home games from the women’s ice hockey team at Ingalls Rink — or, if you’ve had enough of the cold, visit John J. Lee Amphitheater to see the women’s basketball team play against Ivy rival Brown.
