Experience Mikailwitl For Generaciones Perdidas, a new performance by Marcela Torres in The Aldrich’s Sculpture Garden. Featuring Mitotilliztli danzantes, traditional danza, sound, reggaeton rhythms, and ceremonial elements, the work honors lost lineages and the sacredness of land while paying tribute to the Ramapough Lenape Nation and Lunaape Munsee Delaware Nation. Guests are invited to bring a flower or bouquet as their offering and admission to the collective altar.

Celebrate a transformative Decade of Grace and Peace at Grace Farms with music commemorating the moment from world-renowned musicians, and a can’t-miss discussion with Grace Farms CEO and Founder Sharon Prince, Chief Strategic Officer and Founding Creative Director Chelsea Thatcher, and Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA in conversation with Toshihiro Oki, Grace Farms Architecture Advisor.

Over the past 10 years, Grace Farms has made a meaningful impact, both locally and worldwide. Imagined and realized as a new kind of public place, Grace Farms welcomes visitors from across the world to encounter world-class performers, artists, and speakers, together fostering a space for contemplation and meaningful dialogue.

Since our opening, we have continued to create new outcomes and deliver measurable impact. We launched the groundbreaking Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced and child labor from the global building materials supply chain. We also created Grace Farms Tea & Coffee as a public benefit LLC, to share Grace Farms through our ethically and sustainably sourced signature teas and coffees while giving back 100% of profits to the Design for Freedom movement.

This anniversary is more than a milestone—it is a moment of momentum, a time to honor what we’ve built together as a local and global community.

Conversation & Music | A Decade of Grace and Peace
2 – 4 pm

Join us for a special afternoon* as we celebrate ten years of Grace Farms, featuring:

Grace Farms CEO and Founder Sharon Prince, Chief Strategic Officer and Founding Creative Director Chelsea Thatcher, and Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA, in conversation with Toshihiro Oki
Featured performance by GRAMMY® Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell
Cellist and Grace Farms Artist-in-Residence, Arlen Hlusko

Join us for unforgettable moments and joy for all ages! Surrounded by scenic fall landscapes, enjoy live music, an immersive tea lounge, art experiences, and more, while welcoming a season of programming centered around the theme, We all build.

Encounter, Experience, and Explore Pass
10 am – 1:30 pm

Enjoy an immersive morning at Grace Farms, with opportunities to:

Encounter new handmade seating in the Plaza, designed by Kazuyo Sejima & Associates; ParaPosition, Grace Farms’ first permanent sculpture by acclaimed artist Alicja Kwade; new painted portrait by Hannah Rose Thomas; new permanent photographic work, “Haida Gwaii,” for the Grace Farms Library by James Florio; a special coffee and tea experience with Ibu Rahmah, chairwoman of the female-led coffee cooperative Ketiara; and the next edition of our With Every Fiber exhibit.

Experience live music from acclaimed cellist Arlen Hlusko filling the Plaza; a conversation with James Florio and architect Toshihiro Oki from 11 am – 12 pm; and an inspiring conversation about natural pigments with Hannah Rose Thomas, PhD from 12:15 – 1:15 pm.

Explore expansive fall vistas and the inspiring architecture and landscape of Grace Farms during pop-up talks, while enjoying freshly baked Grace Farms pastries, catered lunch options, and handcrafted ice cream created with Grace Farms Tea flavors.

Conversation & Music | A Decade of Grace and Peace
2 – 4 pm

Join us for a special afternoon program as we celebrate 10 years of Grace Farms, featuring:

Grace Farms CEO & Founder Sharon Prince, Chief Strategic Officer and Founding Creative Director Chelsea Thatcher, and Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA, in conversation together with Toshihiro Oki.
Featured performance by GRAMMY® Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell.
Cellist and Grace Farms Artist-in-Residence, Arlen Hlusko.

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.

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

As the changing leaves paint Connecticut’s landscapes in vibrant hues of red, orange, and gold, we’re reminded of the transformative power of nature — and its everlasting ability to inspire us. This autumn, come visit the museums and cultural sites on the Connecticut Art Trail to witness the changes taking place everywhere from artists’ homesteads to award-winning galleries. Whether you view the awe-inspiring landscapes of famous artists or the thought-provoking pieces of contemporary talents, you’re sure to find your own inspiration. 

Read our latest newsletter to learn about the latest news and upcoming events on the Connecticut Art Trail, including:

• A profile of the Eastern Art Gallery
• Information on the Governor’s Art Awards taking place at the Five Points Arts Center
• The Art Museum at the University of Saint Joseph seeking public input on a new acquisition
• How the Yale University Art Gallery and Yale Center for British Art helped the Yale University School of Art earn a high ranking in a prestigious publication
• Featured family activities at the New Britain Museum of American Art, Lyme Art Association, and Fairfield University Art Museum

If you currently have a Connecticut Art Trail Passport-Journal, you only have a few months left to visit all 24 sites on the Trail and be eligible for our grand prize giveaway! We’ll have more information shortly on Passport-Journal availability for 2025.

The Connecticut Art Trail has launched a new campaign encouraging people to take advantage of the autumn season by mapping out adventures at the state’s art museums.

“Map It Out” invites residents and visitors to experience the Connecticut Art Trail by seeing multiple museums in a single day or weekend. The organization is sharing routes that highlight museums in close proximity, posting suggestions for these trips on its social media channels. The campaign also highlights individual museums, encouraging people to include them on their itinerary during fall trips.

“Connecticut’s landscapes have been inspiring artists for years, and it’s a particularly popular time for people to enjoy the changing scenery before the chilly winter months arrive,” said Carey Mack Weber, President of the Connecticut Art Trail and the Frank and Clara Meditz Executive Director at Fairfield University Art Museum. “Many of our member museums are just a short drive away from one another, making it easy to spend a full day experiencing some of Connecticut’s great cultural attractions.”

Map It Out is also a way to help all holders of the Connecticut Art Trail’s Passport-Journal to complete this document before the end of the year. The Passport-Journal grants free admission to all member museums on the Trail for one year after purchase. Anyone who visits all of these museums during the calendar year is eligible for a grand prize giveaway of an overnight stay for two and couples massage at the Delamar Hotel of their choice.

Passport-Journals are available for purchase on the Connecticut Art Trail website or at any member museum for $35.