Since Earth Day 2023, a herd of steel animals has been living on the grounds of the Vanderbilt estate in Centerport: large forms set along the lawns and gardens, smaller ones hanging from the trees over the hiking trail. They leave this weekend. Wendy Klemperer: Wrought Taxonomies, the first outdoor sculpture exhibition the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum has ever staged, closes on Sunday, November 15.

The same evening, inside the Reichert Planetarium, a string quartet plays under a sixty-foot dome of projected stars. It is the sixth year of Strings Under the Stars, and this time there are two shows.

The sculptures, one last weekend

Klemperer composes her animals from material salvaged from scrapyards, drawing each body in gestural lines of steel. The species in the Vanderbilt show range across imaginary, endangered, familiar and exotic animals. According to the museum, the work was chosen to answer the history and collections of the estate, which William Kissam Vanderbilt II filled with natural history specimens and marine animals gathered on his voyages, and which became Suffolk County's first public park and museum.

The pieces are spread out, which is part of the experience. Larger works stand on the grounds where visitors walk between the mansion and the gardens. Others sit near the garden areas and the Marine Museum. The smallest are suspended from trees along the Vanderbilt's hiking trail.

The exhibition opened on April 22, 2023, as the first show in the museum's outdoor sculpture program. It is also the institution's second exhibition of contemporary art built around the relationship between people and animals. The museum has published an online catalog of the work on its exhibition page.

Strings Under the Stars, Sunday at 5 and 7 p.m.

The musicians of Long Island Chamber Music return to the planetarium for the sixth annual Strings Under the Stars. The museum added a second performance this year because of demand, so the quartet plays at 5 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. Each program runs about an hour without an intermission.

The music moves from Bach, Rameau, Beethoven and Brahms to space-inspired film and concert scores by Hans Zimmer and Philip Glass, paired with planetarium visuals of the cosmos. The museum says new pieces and visuals are added each year and announced at the performance. The players perform in their other lives with the New York Philharmonic, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, internationally touring string quartets and Broadway pit orchestras.

Tickets are $40 for general admission, $35 for children under 15, $35 for museum members and $45 at the door.

The rest of the weekend at the Vanderbilt

  • Owl Prowl, Friday and Saturday, with Karrthik Pitchayan of the Center for Environmental Education and Diversity, is sold out.
  • Sound Meditation with Amanda Gandolfo, Saturday morning, is also sold out.
  • Laser The Weekend runs Saturdays at 9:30 p.m. through November 28, a laser show set to The Weeknd's catalog, including Blinding Lights, Can't Feel My Face and Starboy.
  • Next up: the museum's holiday tree lighting on Saturday, December 5. Our story on that is here.

Plan your visit

The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum and Reichert Planetarium is at 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport. General information: 631-854-5579. To see the sculptures, go by Sunday; to hear the quartet, buy tickets for the 5 or 7 p.m. show on the museum's events page. More things to do this weekend are in our weekend guide.

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