Shepherds and angels will have plenty of company at the University of Dayton this Christmas season. The university’s free annual Nativity exhibit, “It Takes a Village: Christmas in Community,” opens to the public on Nov. 16 and runs through Jan. 15 in Roesch Library, the university announced.
The exhibit takes its name from the crowds that gather around the Christ child in the largest sets in the Marian Library’s collection — not just the Holy Family, but entire villages of bakers, farmers, butchers, the blacksmith and even the mayor, according to the University of Dayton’s announcement.
The centerpiece is the university’s largest Nativity on display this year, a provençal village featuring more than 200 figures, the university said. Alongside it, visitors will find delicate paper Nativity sets featuring animals and villagers surrounding the Holy Family, and a large Fontanini Nativity set that highlights the Nativity traditions of St. Francis, according to the announcement.
“Nativity scenes aren’t always just about the Holy Family; sometimes artists bring entire communities into the story,” curator Bridget Retzloff said in the University of Dayton’s announcement. “It’s a reminder that the joy of Christmas is best shared with others.”
The exhibit is designed to be hands-on as well as visual. The university said the display includes a seek-and-find activity, an ornament craft and a touchscreen with video and digital content for visitors of all ages, spread across the Roesch Library building at 300 College Park in Dayton.
The sets come from the Marian Library, an international research destination devoted to Mary, the mother of Jesus, which the university says holds more than 3,600 Nativity sets, along with books, periodicals, artworks and other artifacts. A different selection from the collection anchors the library’s Christmas exhibit each year.
Admission is free. To see all areas of the exhibit, the university advises visiting during the Marian Library’s hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, from Nov. 16 through Jan. 15; the section in the Stuart and Mimi Rose Gallery is open whenever Roesch Library is open. The exhibit is closed Nov. 26-27, Dec. 8 and Dec. 24 through Jan. 1, according to the university’s exhibit page.
For Dayton families, the exhibit has become a quiet holiday tradition — a free, indoor stop that pairs with the season’s lights and concerts. This year’s village theme, the university says, is an invitation to look past the manger and notice the whole community gathered around it.
Photo: A dressed-figure Nativity scene of the kind held in crèche collections. Photo: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA