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.

Hill-Stead Museum

Hill-Stead Museum is noted for its 1901 33,000-square-foot house filled with art and antiques. Pioneering female architect Theodate Pope Riddle designed the Colonial Revival-style house, set on 150 hilltop acres, to showcase the Impressionist masterpieces amassed by her father, Cleveland iron industrialist Alfred A. Pope. 

Collections in 19 intact rooms include original furnishings, paintings, and numerous art works. The c. 1920 sunken garden is the centerpiece of the grounds; while three miles of walking trails treat visitors to beautiful habitats and a variety of native pollinators, birds, ponds, meadows, forest, and foliage. Special events include gala dinners, a May Market, Sunken Poetry Festival, and multicultural music, dance and theater performances.

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.

Greenwich Historical Society / Bush-Holley House Museum 

The circa 1730 National Historic Landmark Bush-Holley House survived the American Revolution and became the site of CT’s first American Impressionist art colony from 1890 to 1920, where influential artists including Childe Hassam and John Henry Twachtman lived and worked. 

This exciting reimagined campus includes beautiful museum galleries, library and archives, museum store, and landscape and gardens restored to the period of the Cos Cob Art Colony. Greenwich Historical Society preserves and interprets the history of this vibrant, globally influential community through exhibitions and engaging lectures, programs, and events.  

Florence Griswold Museum

The recipient of a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence, the Florence Griswold Museum has been called “Giverny in Connecticut” by the Wall Street Journal, and a “must-see” by the Boston Globe. 

In addition to the historic Florence Griswold House, the Museum features a gallery for changing art exhibitions, education and landscape centers, an artist’s studio, twelve acres along the Lieutenant River featuring the Robert F. Schumann Artists’ Trail, and historic gardens. Special offerings include a seasonal cafe with scenic outdoor seating, curated gift shop, art camps for kids, Art Bar for adults, holiday programs and festivals.

Center For Contemporary Printmaking

A multimedia studio and gallery located in central Norwalk near South Norwalk, the center is dedicated to the art of the print; including traditional and innovative printmaking, papermaking, book arts, digital processes and related disciplines. 

The Center for Contemporary Printmaking is the only printmaking facility of its kind between NYC and Boston. It is housed in an historic landmark nineteenth-century carriage house in Mathews Park, near the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion and the Stepping Stones Museum for Children. It hosts a diverse series of workshops, webinars, and competitions throughout the year.

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.