Lyman Allyn Art Museum

Located just off I-95, Exit 83, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum has enjoyed celebrating the arts with visitors for almost a century. Featuring particularly strong collections of American paintings and decorative arts, the museum also presents a wide range of changing exhibitions and programs throughout the year. 

The historic grounds include a sculpture trail which is surrounded by 12 rolling acres of gardens and lawns. The grounds are open to the public for walking and picnicking. The museum’s free first Saturdays are popular with families, and include hands-on arts and science activities. On the first Thursday of every month, adult visitors can enjoy an upscale creative session, with drinks and light bites. 

The Housatonic Museum of Art

Stay Close. Stay Curious: The Housatonic Museum of Art (HMA) holds one of the largest art collections of any community college in the United States with almost 7,000 artworks. The focus of the HMA is modern and contemporary American and European art, including Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Romare Bearden, Cindy Sherman, and Jenny Holzer. The collection also includes artwork from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. 

Unlike most campus museums, the HMA displays selections of its collection throughout Housatonic Community College. Visitors also enjoy the special exhibitions, lectures, films and programs offered in the Burt Chernow Galleries. The galleries are free and open to the public.

Hartford Art School Galleries, University of Hartford

The Hartford Art School Galleries encompass the Joseloff Gallery, the Donald and Linda Silpe Gallery, the Kaman Print Study Center, and the Art on Campus Program. These exhibition spaces inspire our community year-round and engage with students daily through creative visual experiences. 

The exhibition program, which mounts more than a dozen installations annually, is designed to explore concepts, issues, and directions in global contemporary art, while reinforcing the power, richness, and diversity of visual language today.

The galleries are free and open to the public. Please check the website regularly for updates regarding exhibitions and related programming.

Fairfield University Art Museum

One museum, two spaces: In the Bellarmine Hall Galleries, the Fairfield University Art Museum displays its permanent collection alongside rotating special exhibitions. The permanent collection features European and American paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and historic plaster casts as well as artwork from Asia, Africa and South America. Also on view are works of art on long-term loan from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Worcester Art Museum, and the American Numismatic Society. 

In the Walsh Gallery, located in the Quick Center for the Arts, the museum presents larger special exhibitions. Special events include designated family days, mindfulness sessions and unique workshops.  

Bruce Museum

Located in Bruce Park overlooking Greenwich Harbor, the Bruce Museum is a community-based, world-class institution that offers a changing array of exhibitions and educational programs to promote the understanding and appreciation of art and science.

The museum’s recent expansion includes four leading-edge galleries that provide vastly expanded accommodations for changing art exhibitions; and dedicated space to show the museum’s permanent art collection.

The entire ground floor is free and open to the public during museum hours. It includes a new museum store; a restaurant with indoor/outdoor seating; a state-of-the-art auditorium; and meeting spaces for special event use. The grounds also include a sculpture garden and landscaped walking paths. 

Note: The CT Art Trail Passport is not sold or valid during weekends of May and October Outdoor Festivals. 

Art Museum, University of Saint Joseph

Located on the University’s Olmsted Brothers-designed campus, the Art Museum holds a distinguished collection of more than 2,400 paintings and works on paper. Particularly strong in American 20th-century art, it includes paintings by Thomas Hart Benton, Georgia O’Keeffe and Milton Avery as well as prints by Childe Hassam and George Bellows. 

The collection of works on paper spans seven centuries, ranging from early European woodcuts to contemporary Japanese prints and a growing collection of photography. The museum offers four to six special exhibitions per year accompanied by gallery talks, lectures, and family programs.

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum  

Founded by art collector and fashion designer Larry Aldrich in 1964, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is one of the oldest contemporary art museums in the United States. The Aldrich is one of the few independent, non-collecting institutions in the country and the only museum in Connecticut solely dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art. The Aldrich is internationally recognized for its artist-centric programs and visionary exhibitions. It presents first solo museum exhibitions by emerging artists, significant exhibitions of established artists, and thematic group exhibitions.

Since its founding, The Aldrich has presented the work of more than 8,000 remarkable artists and has often been the first to introduce the work of now-acclaimed artists, including Eva Hesse, Robert Smithson, Frank Stella, Jack Whitten, Ann Hamilton, Olafur Eliasson, Huma Bhabha, KAWS, Mark Dion, and Shahzia Sikander, among many others.