Several museums on the Connecticut Art Trail have opened registrations for their 2025 summer camps, which give children of all ages a chance to build their creativity and strengthen their artistic skills.
Art-themed summer camps include gallery tours, craftmaking, outdoor activities, and more. Most camps offer weekly sessions, with the ability to sign up for multiple sessions during the summer. Scholarships and discounts are available in many cases.
“Summer camps on the Connecticut Art Trail are an excellent way for both children and adults to discover the art museums in their community,” said Carey Weber, President of the Connecticut Art Trail and the Frank and Clara Meditz Executive Director at Fairfield University Art Museum. These programs offer an immersion in Connecticut’s rich art collections and activities designed to stimulate creativity, and they’re a great way for kids to enjoy the summer.”
Summer camps scheduled at Connecticut Art Trail museums include:
- The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art: Camp Aldrich offers sessions for grades 1-3 from July 7-18 and for grades 4-6 from July 21-25
- American Mural Project: Summer@AMP and Teen Art Studio weekly programs explore a variety of themes including art play, band lab, and outdoor design and build. Available to ages 6-18, running June 23 to Aug. 1
- Five Points Arts: Summer Teen Art Labs feature afternoon sessions four days a week from July 7 to Aug. 14. This is a free program designed to help young artists develop a strong portfolio.
- Florence Griswold Museum: The museum’s weekly summer programs include Wee Faerie Camp (June 10 to July 3), Intensive Camp for Middle School Students (June 23-27), and Art Colony Camp (July 7 to Aug. 8); sessions are available for grades 1-8.
- Greenwich Historical Society: Art & History Camps offer children in grades 2-8 an interactive experience on this historic campus, with three separate experiences available between July 14 and August 1.
- Hartford Art School Galleries: The Hartford Art School’s Pre-Collegiate Visual Arts Portfolio Workshop runs July 7 to Aug. 1. This is designed for high school students interested in pursuing an art career and helps them develop a portfolio to apply to art colleges and universities.
- Lyman Allyn Art Museum: The Summer Art Immersion program runs July 7 to August 1 and includes weekly sessions for ages 5-11.
- Mattatuck Museum: The School’s Out program has six week-long sessions between June 30 to Aug. 8 and is open to ages 6 and up.
- MoCA CT: Camp MoCA runs June 16th through Aug. 18 and is open to ages 4-10.
- Mystic Museum of Art: Junior Studio Camps and Specialty Camps are available to ages 3.5 to 15 between June 16 and Aug. 22.
- New Britain Museum of American Art: Weekly three day sessions are available for ages 6-12 from July 8-31.
- Silvermine Arts Center: Summer Art Studio week-long camps run from June 16 to Aug. 22 and are open to ages 3-17.
- Stamford Museum & Nature Center: Wonder Art Camp and Wild at Art Camp are open to ages 18 months to 3 years old, with two-day sessions available each week from June 30 to Aug. 8.
For more information on individual camps, including updates on registration availability, check the museum website.
Join us for a reception to celebrate the opening of the new exhibition An Gorta Mór: Selections from Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum on Thursday, April 10 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Quick Center Lobby and Walsh Gallery.
About the Exhibition: This exhibition presents highlights from the collection of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, which explores the impact of the Irish Famine of 1845-1852 through artwork produced by eminent Irish and Irish-American artists of the past 170 years. The works on view in the exhibition will include paintings by late 19th- and early 20th‐century artists like James Brenan, Daniel Macdonald, James Arthur O’Connor and Jack B. Yeats, as well as sculptures, paintings, and works on paper by contemporary artists including John Behan, Rowan Gillespie, Brian Maguire, and Hughie O’Donoghue. The exhibition is presented by Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield Exhibition.
Image: James Arthur O’Connor, Scene in Connemara, 1828, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield Exhibition.
Join this unique conversation with Trude Fleischmann’s biographer Heike Herrberg, and her cousins Barbara R. Loss and Dr. Henry Rosenberg!
Did you know that April 12th is Slow Art Day? With the average museumgoer looking at a piece of art for less than 30 seconds, Slow Art Day encourages people to take more time to deeply appreciate a few works. The recommendation is to take in a single painting or sculpture for 10 minutes to really appreciate its intricacies.
Read our latest newsletter to see how you can try out Slow Art Day at any of our 30 member museums and cultural sites, and to get the latest news and events from the Connecticut Art Trail, including:
- A new social prescribing program in Connecticut that enables health care providers to recommend arts activities as part of a patient’s treatment
- The Center for Contemporary Printmaking reaches its 30th anniversary milestone
- A famous portrait of Henry VIII is now on view at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
- Family programs at the Slater Memorial Museum, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, and The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art
- A look at J.M.W. Turner’s Staffa, Fingal’s Cave, part of the extensive collection of Turner works at the Yale Center for British Art that will be on display at the newly reopened museum
- The grand prize winners of our 2024 Passport-Journal giveaway!
Virtual Art in Focus: Unknown French Artist, Diptych: Scenes from the Life of Christ and the Virgin, ca. 1350-1400, ivory
Discover the intricacies carved in this delicate devotional object, on long-term loan from the Metropolitan Museum of art!
Join Curator of Education Michelle DiMarzo online!
Image: Unknown French Artist, Diptych: Scenes from the Life of Christ and the Virgin, ca. 1350-1400, ivory. Lent by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.214)
Livestream Opening Lecture: Join William Abbott, associate professor of History, as he discusses the historical origins of the Great Hunger/Irish Famine on Thursday, April 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the Quick Center for the Arts, Kelley Theatre!
Presented in conjunction with An Gorta Mór: Selections from Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, organized by Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield Exhibition (Walsh Gallery, April 11-August 16).
About the Exhibition: This exhibition presents highlights from the collection of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, which explores the impact of the Irish Famine of 1845-1852 through artwork produced by eminent Irish and Irish-American artists of the past 170 years. The works on view in the exhibition will include paintings by late 19th- and early 20th‐century artists like James Brenan, Daniel Macdonald, James Arthur O’Connor and Jack B. Yeats, as well as sculptures, paintings, and works on paper by contemporary artists including John Behan, Rowan Gillespie, Brian Maguire, and Hughie O’Donoghue. The exhibition is presented by Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield Exhibition.
Image: James Arthur O’Connor, Scene in Connemara, 1828, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield Exhibition.
Join us for a reception to celebrate the opening of the new exhibition An Gorta Mór: Selections from Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum on Thursday, April 10 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Quick Center Lobby and Walsh Gallery.
About the Exhibition: This exhibition presents highlights from the collection of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, which explores the impact of the Irish Famine of 1845-1852 through artwork produced by eminent Irish and Irish-American artists of the past 170 years. The works on view in the exhibition will include paintings by late 19th- and early 20th‐century artists like James Brenan, Daniel Macdonald, James Arthur O’Connor and Jack B. Yeats, as well as sculptures, paintings, and works on paper by contemporary artists including John Behan, Rowan Gillespie, Brian Maguire, and Hughie O’Donoghue. The exhibition is presented by Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield Exhibition.
Image: James Arthur O’Connor, Scene in Connemara, 1828, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield Exhibition.
Exhibition organized by Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield
This exhibition presents highlights from the collection of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, which explores the impact of the Irish Famine of 1845-1852 through artwork produced by eminent Irish and Irish-American artists of the past 170 years. The works on view in the exhibition will include paintings by late 19th- and early 20th‐century artists like James Brenan, Daniel Macdonald, James Arthur O’Connor and Jack B. Yeats, as well as sculptures, paintings, and works on paper by contemporary artists including John Behan, Rowan Gillespie, Brian Maguire, and Hughie O’Donoghue.
On view in the Walsh Gallery, April 11 – August 16, 2025.
James Arthur O’Connor, Scene in Connemara, 1828, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Quinnipiac University and the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield
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
Join Jackie DeLise, master certified meditation and mindfulness teacher and stress management expert, for a guided meditation class in the tranquil Bellarmine Hall Galleries. Jackie will share ancient wisdom for your modern lifestyle, and will guide you in becoming your true self.
No prior experience necessary – learn how to cultivate inner calm, clarity, peace and harmony in your life. All are welcome!
To learn more about Jackie visit: https://www.jackiedelise.com/.