Calendar of Events

A musical instrument made of glass? Explore the contemporary glass art on view in Fired Up: Glass Today as Vera Meyer performs an informal concert on the glass harmonica, a musical instrument developed by Benjamin Franklin. Free with museum admission. 

Stigmatized by its associations with cannabis, flameworked glass has been almost completely left out of the broader discussion surrounding the contemporary glass art movement. Recent public policy shifts and greater inclusivity within the glass art community are turning the tide, bringing long-overdue recognition to the contributions of flameworkers. Brandy Culp, curator of Fired Up: Glass Today, moderates a discussion between artists David Colton, Kim Thomas, Carmen Lozar, and Curator of Postwar and Contemporary Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass Susie Silbert about the history, artistry, and ever–advancing technology of flameworking to shed light on this historically under-appreciated technique. Listen as some of the major voices in contemporary flameworking reflect on the art form’s journey from scientific laboratories and underground studios to the mainstream art world. 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. 

Listen to an informal musical performance in Avery Court by the Hartford-area Oboe Duo Agosto: oboist Ling-Fei Kang and oboist/English hornist Charles Huang. Free with museum admission. 

Listen to an informal musical performance by members of the Hartford-area Azul String Quartet, cellist Pablo Issa and violist Eugenio Figueroa, while you explore the works on view in Morgan Great Hall. Free with museum admission.

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 1965, choreographer and filmmaker Yvonne Rainer premiered Parts of Some Sextets at the Wadsworth Atheneum with a cast of ten performers and twelve mattresses. The work marked a pivotal aesthetic shift in the artist’s approach to movement and helped usher in a radical shift in contemporary dance. Nearly six decades after its presentation here and a subsequent presentation at Judson Dance Theater, the work’s impact continues to be felt through a recent revival and continued scholarship. To celebrate the publication of Remembering a Dance: Parts of Some Sextets, 1965/2019 (Performa / Lenz Press / Wadsworth Atheneum, 2023), Rainer returns to the Wadsworth in conversation with dancer, choreographer, and longtime collaborator Emily Coates. The artists reflect on Rainer’s pioneering career, discuss the process of reconstructing Parts of Some Sextets for the Performa 19 Biennial in New York, and consider the landscape of contemporary dance.

Free with required reservation. A book signing follows the conversation.

Presented in partnership with Performa and sponsored by the Auerbach Library Associates at the Wadsworth Atheneum. Additional support is provided by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation Fund at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Image: Yvonne Rainer, Parts of Some Sextets, 1965/2019. Performa 19 Biennial. Photo by Paula Court, 2019. Courtesy Performa

Entwyned Early Music Ensemble returns to the Wadsworth for an informal program of seventeenth-century music from the Dutch Republic. Enjoy the works on view in Chasing Rembrandt and the nearby Dutch art galleries while listening to the sounds of Rembrandt’s time. Free with admission.

Presented with support from The Saunders Foundation Music Endowment at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Drop in for an informal performance by Chia-Yu Joy Lu, director of the Chinese music ensembles at Wesleyan University and Smith College, and Flora Gu, Wesleyan University student musician, featuring the erhu (Chinese two-string fiddle) and guzheng (Chinese 21-string zither). As you listen, view artworks from East Asia in the Wadsworth’s collection, including a porcelain “Vault of Heaven” vase dating to the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Free with admission.

Presented with support from The Saunders Foundation Music Endowment at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

”Vault of Heaven” vase (tianqiu ping), Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period (1736–95). Porcelain. Bequest of Elisha E. Hilliard, 1951.321

Join trumpet player and composer Haneef Nelson, the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s 2023 Jazz Activation Fellow, for an informal performance with the Birth of the Cool Ensemble led by Drake Smith. While you listen, view Bob Thompson’s monumental painting Garden of Music (1960), which features depictions of Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and other jazz legends that inspired Thompson’s work. Free.

Presented with support from the Greater Hartford Arts Council and the Saunders Foundation Music Endowment at the Wadsworth Atheneum

Image: Bob Thompson, Garden of Music, 1960. Oil on canvas. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1987.4