Calendar of Events

Explore how Naama Tsabar creates objects that function both as artworks and musical instruments. Design a musical instrument of your own and watch a presentation by our friends at the Connecticut Science Center as they unravel the mysteries behind sound. Enjoy a dance performance from Spectrum in Motion. Find the Ice Cream for a Dream truck for free ice cream while supplies last. Admission is free noon-2pm on Second Saturdays.

This program is sold out. Join decorative arts curators Brandy Culp and Linda Roth as they consider the complex history of punch and the ways silver and rum were entangled in the eighteenth century. Sample rum from Bloomfield’s Waypoint Spirits distillery and preview the historic objects in the museum’s new Silver Vault that were used to serve this complicated beverage. $15; $10 Members/students with ID. Must be age 21 to attend. 

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. 

Join us at the museum to celebrate Latinx heritage and culture with art making, storytelling, and performances. Admission is free noon-2 pm on Second Saturdays. Design a Carnival mask with Multi-Cultural Learning Center Bomba de Aquí. Participate in an interactive dance presentation by Proyecto Cimarron, a Puerto Rican Bomba Performance Group based in New Haven. Watch students from Marinera Dance Academy demonstrate traditional Peruvian dance. Please note: Due to The Hartford Marathon, parking bans and road closures will be in effect throughout the day on Saturday, October 8, 2022. 

Únase a nosotros en el museo para celebrar el patrimonio y la cultura latinx con la creación de arte, la narración de cuentos y las actuaciones. Diseña una máscara de Carnaval con el Centro de Aprendizaje Multicultural Bomba de Aquí. Participe en una presentación de danza interactiva a cargo del Proyecto Cimarrón, un grupo puertorriqueño de interpretación de la bomba con sede en New Haven. Vea a los alumnos de la Academia de Danza Marinera realizar una demostración de danza tradicional peruana. Tenga en cuenta: Debido al Maratón de Hartford, el estacionamiento estará prohibido y las calles estarán cerradas todo el día del sábado 8 de octubre de 2022.

Tour Fired Up: Glass Today with one of our knowledgeable docents and learn how artists transform humble materials into striking works of art in the exhibition. Explore color & light at our hands-on light tables and then create your own stained glass artwork! Admission is free from noon-2pm on Second Saturdays. Family-friendly tours take place at 12:15 & 1:30pm.

Ease into the new year with a slow art afternoon. Take a stroll through the museum and practice close looking with your favorite artwork. Learn about Mohegan culture and history through storytelling and tribal artifacts in a presentation by specialists from The Tantaquidgeon Museum. Use a variety of mixed materials to design a happiness scrapbook and document the moments that bring you joy. Admission is free from noon-2pm.

Celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through art making, performances, and tours for all ages. Explore The Amistad Center for Art & Culture’s exhibition Art and Activism at Tougaloo College during its final day in Hartford and learn how art can catalyze social justice. Free admission all day.   

ART MAKING
Work alongside the Public Art for Racial Justice Education team in a portable mural highlighting national leaders of the civil rights movement.
Join muralists from RiseUp for Arts and add your mark to their “Piecing It Back Together” artwork.
Conversation Starters: Demonstrate the power of your voice and create a sign that showcases your unique opinion.
Soar Together: Did you know that the dove symbolizes peace? Use a variety of colors, shapes, and textures to decorate a dove ornament that carries your hopeful vision for the future.

PERFORMANCES
Enjoy a performance by singer Elizabeth Lyra Ross in The Amistad Center for Art & Culture. 1pm
A special recital by Dejavé Dance Company reveals collaborative choreography at work and inspires everyone to move. 2:30pm
Listen to an uplifting presentation by the Voices of Hartford vocal ensemble. 3:15pm

FAMILY TOUR Eyes on Art | 12:15 pm, meet in the Main Street lobby

Presented in partnership with The Amistad Center for Art & Culture. Generously supported by Talcott Resolution. 

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 celebration of Black History Month, pay tribute to African American artists’ contributions, triumphs, and creativity. Design a portrait highlighting Black and Brown voices with artist Marsh and delight in a performance by bassist Conway Campbell Jr. Presented in partnership with The Amistad Center for Art & Culture. Admission is free noon–2pm.