Connecticut is a small state with a big arts scene, and you can find world-class museums and cultural sites just a short drive away. Spring is right around the corner, and hitting the road to visit the destinations on the Connecticut Art Trail is a great cabin fever cure. Don’t forget that the Passport-Journal gives you a key to all of these sites, and unlocks several additional benefits as well!
Read our latest newsletter to learn about the latest news and events on the Connecticut Art Trail, including:
- The recognition of Old Lyme as a top small town arts destination, in part due to the Florence Griswold Museum and Lyme Art Association
- A new director and CEO at the Bruce Museum
- The 10th anniversary of a program connecting medical students with artwork at the Yale University Art Gallery and Yale Center for British Art
- Family art programs at the Yale University Art Gallery, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, and the Fairfield University Art Museum
- A look at Andromeda and Perseus, a Renaissance painting that was one of the key pieces of art in the initial collection at the Fairfield University Art Museum
Artist Mary Mattingly speaks about the work that forms part of the exhibition To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home.
About the Exhibition: Environmental threats and climate change are urgent matters of concern at Jesuit universities, where conversations on this topic often take place in reference to two documents by Pope Francis: Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home (2015) and the 2023 update Laudate Deum. Artists play an indispensable role in our collective response to climate change. To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home, curated by Al Miner and David Brinker, will present work by Athena LaTocha, Mary Mattingly, and Tyler Rai, three contemporary artists whose outlook resonates with the themes of Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum. The works are artistically compelling yet can inspire us to creativity and boldness in our efforts to address climate change. This exhibition will open at Saint Louis University’s Museum of Contemporary Religious Art in Fall 2025.
Image: Mary Mattingly, Still Life Returning, 2023, chromogenic dye coupler print. © Mary Mattingly, courtesy of Robert Mann Gallery
As we get closer to Valentine’s Day, we’re reminded just how much inspiration love has provided for arts and culture — from romantic love to the affection for natural beauty. This month, we invite you to explore some of the beautiful works on display at our 30 museums and cultural sites, and to rekindle your own love for art. The year is still young, so there’s plenty of time to pick up a Passport-Journal and get free admission to each of these locations!
Read our latest newsletter to learn about the latest news and events on the Connecticut Art Trail, including:
- CT Humanities grant awards for The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Florence Griswold Museum, and New Britain Museum of American Art
- A $1 million gift to support the chief curator position at The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art
- A new director for the Yale Center for British Art
- Family programming at Connecticut Art Trail sites including the Open Arts Studio at Grace Farms, a polar bear art activity at the William Benton Museum of Art, and a new monthly book and art club at the Lyme Art Association
- A profile of a new Connecticut Art Trail member site, Grace Farms in New Canaan.
As the Connecticut Art Trail celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2025, we’re thrilled to be doing so with 30 member sites! The Trail is bigger than ever, welcoming the Glass House as a full member and Grace Farms as an affiliate member. With a whole new year ahead of us, it’s a great time to pick up our new Passport-Journal — still just $35 — and explore these amazing destinations in the months ahead.
Read our latest newsletter to learn about the latest news and events on the Connecticut Art Trail, including:
- A distinctive award for the chief curator at the Mattatuck Museum
- The Hartford Dance Collective becoming artists in residence at the New Britain Museum of American Art
- A call for “Recycled Runway” designers from the American Mural Project
- Family programming at Connecticut Art Trail museums, including Joy in the Making at the Florence Griswold Museum, Storytime for Kids at The Aldrich Museum Contemporary Art Museum, and Recess Art Camps at MoCA CT.
- A profile of the latest Connecticut Art Trail member site, The Glass House in New Canaan.
2025 marks the double centenary of the birth of American artist George Inness (1825-1894), one of the premier landscape painters of the 19th century. Art historian Adrienne Bell, author of the 2015 George Inness and the Visionary Landscape, will discuss Inness’ relationship to the Tonalism movement on Tuesday, January 21 at 5 p.m. in the Diffley Board Room in Bellarmine Hall. A painting by Inness that has not been publicly exhibited in over 70 years, on loan from the Milton Klein Collection at the Bridgeport Public Library is one of the earliest works in the exhibition Dawn & Dusk: Tonalism in Connecticut,
About the Exhibition: This exhibition explores Tonalism in the United States from the 1880s to the early 20th century, through artists from the Northeast such as George Inness, John Henry Twachtman, and John Francis Murphy. Tonalism is a transitional movement that grew out of and reacted to the Hudson River School of painting and laid the groundwork for modernism. Evocative landscapes, evoking a spiritual connection to the natural world, often painted from memory, are the primary genre of this movement. The more than fifty artworks in this exhibition are drawn from private and institutional collections.
The event will also be livestreamed on The Quick Live. Click here to register for a reminder.
George Inness, Durham, Connecticut, 1879, oil on wood panel. Lent by The Milton Klein Collection, Bridgeport Public Library
The holiday season is one of the happiest times of year on the Connecticut Art Trail, as art museums and cultural sites across the state host special events and celebrations. It’s a great time to explore some of the fantastic destinations Connecticut has to offer, and to wrap up your 2024 Passport-Journal if you want to enter our grand prize giveaway! Don’t forget to take advantage of our seasonal buy one, get one deal for next year’s Passport-Journal; it makes a great gift!
Read our latest newsletter to learn about the latest news and upcoming events on the Connecticut Art Trail, including:
- A reopening date at the Yale Center for British Art after a two-year building renovation
- The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art being named as one of the top 20 art museums in the United States by the Washington Post
- A special display of Hockey Hall of Fame trophies on display this weekend at the Bruce Museum
- Family activities for the holidays including an Access for All Community Day and Holiday Makers Market at the New Britain Museum of American Art, Winter Wonder Day at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, and a Holiday Linocut Sampler course at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking
- A featured item from a Connecticut Art Trail museum’s permanent collection: The Minutes No. 14 by prominent Surrealist artist Kay Sage at the Mattatuck Museum
Join our Museum Educator for our winter Art Party! Attendees will enjoy relaxing tutorials, while viewing the Ink & Time: European Prints from the Wetmore Collection exhibit in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries. Art supplies will be provided!
Please note: This event is in-person only and will not be streamed. Seating is limited–please register in advance.
Teen Art Studio is a welcoming art makerspace just for teens.
Every Second Saturday of the month, from 10:30am to 1:30pm, teens transform the program room with their laughter, inquiring minds, and art. Teen Art Studio (TAS) is a once-a-month, drop-in program that empowers teens to work independently and together on self-directed art projects.
Facilitated by beloved teaching artist Shana Bazelmans, TAS is a welcoming place for teens to:
Be themselves.
Have fun making art while making friends.
Try their hand at varied mediums (e.g., drawing, painting, sculpture, fashion, photography).
Expand their knowledge of the visual arts.
Explore major artworks.
Build their art portfolios.
Embark on a collective artistic journey in a relaxed, sociable studio environment, with the guidance of the teaching artist.
New teens can join at any time!
The program is drop-in and free with student admission ($5) or an annual AMP student pass. For details, email michelle@americanmuralproject.org.
Second Saturdays, 10:30am to 1:30pm
Upcoming Dates:
December 14
January 11
February 8
March 8
April 12
May 10
June 14
Teen Art Studio is made possible in part by The Torrington Savings Bank Foundation, Renee Chatelain and Kevin Lyle.
Looking for fun things to do with the kids? AMP’s Family Days offer games, storytimes, and art activities for the whole family to enjoy.
Embrace the holiday travel season with a creative journey into the world of cartography—the work and art of making maps. On Saturday, November 30, bring the whole family for a map-making art activity and a special story hour for the little ones with guest reader Carol Parent of Beardsley Library at 10:45am. Free admission for visitors under 18.
As we move closer to the holiday season, there’s still plenty of great exhibitions and events to discover on the Connecticut Art Trail — and just a couple of months left to complete your Passport-Journal! If you’re looking to get a head start on your holiday shopping, our popular buy one, get one deal on Passport-Journals will return on November 15th. Member museums will continue to sell 2024 Passports until they run out, or until the start of the new year.
Read our latest newsletter to learn about the latest news and upcoming events on the Connecticut Art Trail, including:
- The reopening of a sculpture garden at The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art
- Museum honors for the Housatonic Museum of Art and Mattatuck Museum
- A combined Giving Tuesday effort among the Hill-Stead Museum, New Britain Museum of American Art, and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
- Featured family activities including Colonial Toys and Crafts at the Greenwich Historical Society, Fun with Printmaking at the Fairfield University Art Museum, and A Sandra Boynton Christmas at the American Mural Project
- A featured permanent collection item at a Connecticut Art Trail site: Childe Hassam’s The Mill Pond, Cos Cob at the Bruce Museum