Calendar of Events

Melodies of Certain Damage (Opus 6) performances are canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.  Ticket purchases will be refunded automatically. Ticket-holders may present their original email confirmation for complementary same-day admission.

Tsabar’s Melodies of Certain Damage (Opus 6) performances are realized in a landscape of smashed guitars. The shattered remains evoke the destructive actions popularized in male-dominated rock and roll, but here they become instruments of communal performance that offer a feminist narrative. Join Tsabar and an ensemble of women and gender non-conforming performers from across the region as they activate Tsabar’s installation through site-specific performance. Free with admission. Masks are required for visitors attending this performance. Musicians not required to wear a mask. Tickets are limited, reservations required.

Melodies of Certain Damage (Opus 6) performances are canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.  Ticket purchases will be refunded automatically. Ticket-holders may present their original email confirmation for complementary same-day admission.

Tsabar’s Melodies of Certain Damage (Opus 6) performances are realized in a landscape of smashed guitars. The shattered remains evoke the destructive actions popularized in male-dominated rock and roll, but here they become instruments of communal performance that offer a feminist narrative. Join Tsabar and an ensemble of women and gender non-conforming performers from across the region as they activate Tsabar’s installation through site-specific performance. Free with admission. Masks are required for visitors attending this performance. Musicians not required to wear a mask. Tickets are limited, reservations required. Registration link will be available soon. 

Lino Tagliapietra is one of the greatest glassblowers in history. Bridging the divide between Italian and American glassblowing, Tagliapietra‘s career has crossed continents and inspired a new generation of glassblowers. Now in his eighties, he is a mentor, motivator, and visionary who continues to push the boundaries of the medium. Don’t miss Tagliapietra’s work on view in Fired Up: Glass Today. $9; $7 seniors and students with ID; $6 members and Wadsworth Welcome. Museum admission not included. 

Lino Tagliapietra is one of the greatest glassblowers in history. Bridging the divide between Italian and American glassblowing, Tagliapietra‘s career has crossed continents and inspired a new generation of glassblowers. Now in his eighties, he is a mentor, motivator, and visionary who continues to push the boundaries of the medium. Don’t miss Tagliapietra’s work on view in Fired Up: Glass Today. $9; $7 seniors and students with ID; $6 members and Wadsworth Welcome. Museum admission not included. This screening is preceded by a 1pm tour of Fired Up: Glass Today. Docent tour is free with registration.

Since 1971, the Pilchuck Glass School has pushed the limits of glass, a medium that can last centuries or shatter in an instant. Through the story of this small but highly influential school in the Pacific Northwest, Pilchuck: A Dance with Fire reveals the remarkable convergence of visionary individuals like Dale Chihuly, regional culture, and good timing to explain how and why Pilchuck and the studio glass movement blossomed. Tour Fired Up: Glass Today before the film. $9; $7 seniors and students with ID; $6 members and Wadsworth Welcome. Museum admission not included. Docent tour is free with advance registration. 

Since 1971, the Pilchuck Glass School has pushed the limits of glass, a medium that can last centuries or shatter in an instant. Through the story of this small but highly influential school in the Pacific Northwest, Pilchuck: A Dance with Fire reveals the remarkable convergence of visionary individuals like Dale Chihuly, regional culture, and good timing to explain how and why Pilchuck and the studio glass movement blossomed. Tour Fired Up: Glass Today before the film. $9; $7 seniors and students with ID; $6 members and Wadsworth Welcome. Museum admission not included. Docent tour is free with advance registration. 

5pm gallery viewing, 6pm conversation

Artist Matt Paweski and curator Jared Quinton discuss the new suite of tabletop and wall-mounted works made for the artist’s MATRIX exhibition. Join us in the galleries before the program for a first look at the exhibition. Free with required registration.   

In-person tickets have SOLD OUT. Register for the live stream to attend the lecture via Zoom.

5pm reception, 6pm lecture—In museum & virtual 
Jelani Cobb, PhD, is an expert on how race, politics, history, and popular culture intersect in America. Author of the highly acclaimed book The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress, Cobb also writes about police brutality, voter access, racial discord, and partisan polarization and eloquently explores how the past looms in our contemporary societal landscape and how we can collectively push toward a more equitable America. Jelani Cobb discusses the complex dynamics of race and racism in America, to clarify them and inspire his audience to collective activism with the goal of achieving equity in the form of genuine democracy. He shows us that not only are the levers of justice in our hands, but we can move them in the direction we see fit. 

The Pennington Lecture is presented in honor of the Rev. Dr. James W. C. Pennington and is part of Capital Community College’s Black Heritage Project. The project aims to surface the remarkable history of the first Black church and school for Black children in Hartford through an exhibition on Hartford’s Black community formation (now on view at the college), curriculum in a variety of courses, and programs such as this.  

This lecture is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Capital Community College Foundation and presented as a collaboration between Capital Community College, The Amistad Center for Art & Culture, and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. 

In the early sixteenth century, artists in the Low Countries carved intricate miniatures from boxwood as symbols of religious devotion for their wealthy Christian patrons. Today, these carvings produce an uncanny effect on museum visitors—they stop people in their tracks and demand to be remembered.

Why do these tiny treasures from half a millennium ago have such an outsized impact today? Barbara Drake Boehm, The Paul and Jill Ruddock Senior Curator of the Met Cloisters, Emerita, explores the world of these small wonders and ponders their mesmerizing effect. Free with required reservation. 

Presented in partnership with the Design and Decorative Arts Council with additional support provided by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation Fund at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Image: Attributed to Adam Dircksz and workshop, Miniature coffin, c. 1500–1530. Boxwood, metal (possibly silver), ink or paint. Gift of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and The Evelyn Bonar Storrs Trust Fund

In a village hidden in the mist-shrouded northwest Vietnamese mountains, an indigenous Hmong community is home to twelve-year-old Di, part of the first generation of her people with access to formal education. A free spirit, she happily recounts her experiences to Vietnamese filmmaker Diem Ha Le, who embedded herself in Di’s family over three years to document this unique coming of age. As Di grows, her carefree childhood gives way to an impulsive and sensitive adolescence, a dangerous temperament for what will happen next; in this insular community, girls endure the controversial but accepted tradition of “bride kidnapping.” One night, Di’s parents return from celebrating the Lunar New Year to find that their daughter has disappeared. Winner of the Best Directing award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Diem’s film is a tender portrait of a community caught between tradition and modernity with one girl tragically stuck in the middle. Directed by Diem Ha Le. 92 minutes. Not rated.

$9; $7 seniors and students with ID; $6 members and Wadsworth Welcome. Museum admission not included.