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.
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.
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.
Escape into art with a new experience every month. Cash bar, nibbles, live music, and more. Join us for a Renaissance Faire on the front lawn! Come in costume, take a picture on the King’s throne, and enjoy a medley of entertainment, including acrobatics, stilt walking, and juggling. Outwit your opponent in a game of chess, enjoy a pint of mead, and stay for a screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Bring your own picnic blanket or lawn chair. No weapons or weapon props allowed. Program will move indoors in the event of inclement weather.
Free. Registration encouraged.
First Thursdays is generously funded by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All Program.
Join us for a joyful, family-friendly afternoon celebrating Flag Day with art, music, and community.
Free & Open to All
• Complimentary Ice Cream Social
• Live Music by Sweetcake Mountain Bluegrass Band
• Family Fun Activities: Face Painting by Picasso Parties + Pop-up Circus Zone by Circus Moves
Celebrate Flag Day with Fairfield University | Arts & Minds!
Spend a summer afternoon on campus enjoying live bluegrass, free ice cream, and activities for all ages. Bring the kids, meet friends, and soak in the spirit of the day on campus.
The Fairfield University Art Museum will be open from 1–5 p.m., featuring the exhibition For Which It Stands in both galleries.
Location: In front of the Quick Center for the Arts + Fairfield University Art Museum (Bellarmine Hall Galleries and Walsh Gallery)
Join Carey Weber, curator of For Which It Stands… and Executive Director of the Fairfield University Art Museum, for an exhibition tour!
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.
ACTIVITIES 10AM–2PM | FREE ADMISSION ALL DAY
Roll up your sleeves for art-making activities inspired by National Craft Month. Join a docentled tour of the collection and learn how makers drew inspiration from nature and local materials; then be inspired by the works on view and create a one-of-a-kind wooden artwork. Watch artists from Hartford Stitch contribute to the America’s Tapestry project, a community project celebrating untold stories of the original 13 colonies during the American Revolution. Grab a complimentary bag of popcorn and stay for a free screening of The Inventor at 2pm.
Free. Registration encouraged.
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, the Charles Nelson Robinson Fund, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee, and the Greater Hartford Arts Council. Program supplies are generously donated by S&S Worldwide.
Tuesdays, November 4, 11, and 18 | 5:30 to 6:30pm
Individual Class: $49 Member; $55 | Full Three Class Series: $108 Member; $120 | Limited seats available
“Getting” Contemporary Art is an interactive class series designed to connect today’s exhibitions with the deeper currents of art history. Each session explores the art historical and cultural contexts of artists currently on view at The Aldrich, blending storytelling, close looking, and discussion to help participants uncover new ways of seeing contemporary art. No prior experience with art history is required, only curiosity and a willingness to dive in.
“Getting” Contemporary Art is led by Kristen Erickson, art history teacher and Director of the Luchsinger Gallery at Greenwich Academy.
Attend all three classes or a single class!
Classes
Tuesday, November 4 – Nickola Pottinger: Jamaica, Memory, and Folklore
This class delves into the history and folklore of Jamaica to better understand Nickola Pottinger’s shape-shifting sculptures. Through a gallery walk, participants will examine the mix of spiritual and personal symbols in her works, which include casts of her own body and family heirlooms. Group discussion will encourage participants to uncover the layers of meaning carried by these spectral figures, which merge ancestral traditions with contemporary stories.
Tuesday, November 11 – Zak Prekop: Music in Abstraction
Have you heard of Song Exploder, the podcast where musicians take apart their songs piece by piece? In this class, participants will “explode” the vibrant abstract paintings of Zak Prekop. The session will focus on how he creates a sense of movement and stillness through color relationships, while also considering art historical precedents such as the “action painting” of the 1950s. Participants will further explore Prekop’s musical influences and how rhythm and harmony appear in his painting practice.
Tuesday, November 18 – Uman: Textiles, Calligraphy, and Transformation
Uman’s kaleidoscopic paintings reflect the story of her extraordinary life. She grew up in Somalia and Kenya, spent her teen years in Denmark, and traveled to Vienna and Paris before moving to New York where her artistic vision blossomed. This class will introduce participants to the art histories that shaped her, including East African textiles, Arabic calligraphy, and the work of Gustav Klimt and Sam Gilliam. During a gallery walk, participants will consider how Uman captures her memories, dreams, and personal transformation in visionary paintings that celebrate survival and creativity.
Instructor Bio
Kristen Erickson has been teaching art history and curating exhibitions for the past three decades. She spent eight years working in the curatorial field at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Smith College Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art before turning to teaching. Kristen currently teaches art history at Greenwich Academy, where she also runs the campus art gallery. She holds degrees in French and art history from Vassar College and Oxford University. A resident of Ridgefield, Kristen loves making contemporary art come alive for new audiences.
Saturday, December 6, 2025 | 7 pm
$10 Members and Students; $15 General Admission
Join us for an intimate duo performance by composer and percussionist Sarah Hennies and bassist Tristan Kasten-Krause, presented in connection with Zak Prekop: Durations. Hennies and Kasten-Krause will present a 40-60 minute set of experimental music within the Museum’s galleries, offering a meditative, resonant experience that blurs the boundaries between sound, space, and visual art.
Sarah Hennies is known for her immersive and durational performances that explore psychoacoustic phenomena, queerness, and the act of listening. Her duo with Kasten-Krause combines sensitivity and restraint, crafting quiet, expansive works that unfold gradually over time.
This event is presented in conjunction with Zak Prekop: Durations (on view through January 11, 2026), an exhibition exploring visual rhythm, repetition, and the temporality of painting. It also marks the launch of Zak Prekop’s first museum publication. This fully illustrated, 32-page softcover catalogue features bold new abstract paintings by the artist, along with an interview between Prekop and curator Eduardo Andres Alfonso. The catalogue will be available for purchase at the event.
Thursday, December 11, 2025 | 6 to 7 pm
Free: Members; $10 General Admission; $5 Seniors/Students
Join Diana Bowes Chief Curator Amy Smith-Stewart for an exclusive after-hours tour of Uman: After all the things…. The exhibition includes new and recent paintings, a mural, and sculpture. New York Magazine recently hailed the artist’s work as “a reminder of what painting can still do.”
Members, please join us at 5:30 pm for refreshments with Amy Smith-Stewart prior to the tour. To become a member, email hhart@thealdrich.org or join online here.