Clarinetist Chadwick Thomas and pianist Yujin Lee present a concert inspired by the Friends and Enemies of Modern Music, a society founded by celebrated Wadsworth Director Arthur Everett “Chick” Austin, Jr. (1900–1957) that sponsored performances by pioneering modern composers in Hartford in the 1930s. Before the performance, drop by the galleries to view Staging Modernism: How the Wadsworth Made America Modern.
Free with museum admission.
Supported by the Saunders Foundation Endowment for Music and the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation Fund at The Wadsworth.
Oliver Tostmann, Susan Morse Hilles Curator of European Art, dives into the history of the collection and examines how close looking has played a pivotal role in making important discoveries. Tostmann explores the practice of connoisseurship and reveals how it has led to the acquisition and reattribution of significant works in the museum’s European art collection.
Free with museum admission. Registration required. Meet outside the Museum Shop.
Bernardo Strozzi. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 1615. Oil on canvas. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund. Endowed in memory of A. Everett Austin Jr. by Mrs. A. Everett Austin Jr. 1931.99.
Escape into art with a new experience every month. Cash bar, nibbles, live music, and more! Join us to celebrate the opening of Framing American Democracy. Express your vision of democracy and design a symbol of freedom. Enjoy gallery talks, classic cocktails, and stay to experience Within Our Gates, a silent film with live musical accompaniment.
Free. Registration encouraged.
First Thursdays is generously funded by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All Program.
Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturing Company (American, 1835-1955), Length, Country Gentleman (detail), 1930-1945. Polychrome, plain-weave printed cotton. Gift of Carol L. Cheney, 2003.20.1
ACTIVITIES 10AM-2PM | FREE ADMISSION ALL DAY!
Celebrate the 53rd Annual Hartford Youth Art Renaissance, featuring artwork by K–12 students created in collaboration with Hartford Public Schools art classrooms. Join us to honor Hartford’s talented young artists, dedicated educators, and families. Create your own take-home art frame using a variety of materials and enjoy outdoor fun with face painting, lawn games, and more!
Second Saturdays for Families is supported by the Art Bridges Foundation, Connecticut Health and Education Facilities Authority (CHEFA), the Andrew J. and Joyce D. Mandell Family Foundation, the Ensworth Charitable Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee, the George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Co-Trustee, the J. Walton Bissell Foundation, Inc., the David T. Langrock Foundation, and the Charles Nelson Robinson Fund, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee. Program supplies are generously donated by S&S Worldwide.
FREE AS PART OF FIRST THURSDAYS
A wildly irreverent reimagining of the Arthurian legend, Monty Python and the Holy Grail follows King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table on an increasingly absurd quest for divine purpose. Along the way, history collapses into nonsense, heroism is cheerfully dismantled, and logic is no match for coconuts, killer rabbits, and very silly French taunts.
Directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones. 1975. United Kingdom. English. 1 hour, 31 minutes. Rated PG.
Erin Monroe, Krieble Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, and Katie Tycz, Interim Richard Koopman Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts, examine the formation of the United States through the perspective of 19th-century American artists, and explore how the artworks on view in Radical Roots helped position the “Land of Steady Habits” as a center of radical thought and nation-building from the 17th century onward.
Free with admission. Registration encouraged. Meet outside the Museum Shop.
George Francis (American, 1790–1873), Charter Oak and Wyllys House, c. 1856–8. Oil on wood panel. Gift of William F. Steel, 1931.126
Join The Wadsworth and The Amistad Center for Art & Culture for a day of hands-on artmaking, storytelling, cultural demonstrations, and interactive learning inspired by African American history and art.
Explore the ways contemporary artists have celebrated and questioned America’s founding ideals through highlighted works on view in Contemporary Artists Reflect.
Free with admission. Registration encouraged. Meet outside the Museum Shop.
Alex Katz (American, born 1927), Young Washington, 1975. Lithograph on paper. Gift of Lorillard, a Division of Lowe’s Theaters, Inc., 1976.9. © 2026 The Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Enjoy live jazz with the Steve Bulmer Trio and Bourassa’s extravagant brunch, along with a complimentary bloody Mary or mimosa.
Seatings at 11am and 1pm $49 / $39 members. Kids 12 and under $39 / $29 members. Includes museum admission.
Jazz Brunches are generously sponsored by the Richard P. Garmany Fund at Greater Hartford Gives.
Join Carey Weber, curator of For Which It Stands… and Executive Director of the Fairfield University Art Museum, for an exhibition tour!
Wednesday, May 27, 12 noon: Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery
Thursday, June 18, 5:30 p.m.: Bellarmine Hall Galleries
About the exhibition: This exhibition examines depictions of the American flag through 70+ works by a diverse group of artists, beginning during WWI with Childe Hassam’s Italian Day, May 1918 and continuing to the present day, including a textile sculpture commissioned for the show from Maria de Los Angeles. The exhibition includes work in a variety of media by artists including Jasper Johns, Faith Ringgold, Robert Rauschenberg, Shepard Fairey, and Julie Mehretu, and challenges viewers to consider who the American flag truly represents and whether justice is available to all.
For Which It Stands… forms part of America250: The Promise and Paradox, an initiative through which Fairfield University Explores 250 Years of the American Experiment.