Calendar of Events

Wadsworth members enjoy a special look at Fired Up: Glass Today with curator Brandy Culp. Availability is limited. Email invitations will be sent with registration links.

Demonstrations: 1-2:30pm
Drop-in: noon-4:30pm

A temporary glass-working studio at the museum. Experience this magical art form live and get a firsthand look at the tools, techniques, and processes used in creating art from molten glass. Free with admission. Presented in partnership with Mobile Glassblowing Studios. 

Featuring Chicago-based artist Joseph Ivacic, co-founder of Mobile Glassblowing Studios Phil Vinson; and Moshe Bursuker, head of the Hartford Art School glassblowing program

Demonstrations: 1-2:30pm
Drop-in: noon-4:30pm

A temporary glass-working studio at the museum. Experience this magical art form live and get a firsthand look at the tools, techniques, and processes used in creating art from molten glass. Free with admission. Presented in partnership with Mobile Glassblowing Studios. 

Featuring Chicago-based artist Joseph Ivacic, co-founder of Mobile Glassblowing Studios Phil Vinson; and Moshe Bursuker, head of the Hartford Art School glassblowing program

A docent guided tour of collection highlights. Availability is limited to 15 participants and advance registration is required. Visitors are required to wear a face mask/covering and encouraged to observe a safe social distance from others. Same-day general admission is included in the price of your tour ticket. Check here for more information about how we are preparing for your visit. 

An inside look at the works of art and stories presented in the special exhibition. Availability is limited to 15 participants and advance registration is recommended. Visitors are required to wear a face mask/covering and encouraged to observe a safe social distance from others while in the museum. Check here for more information about how we are preparing for your visit. 

Glass is a medium full of magic and possibility, championed by artists who are innovating through techniques, materials, and personal inspirations. Follow Brandy Culp, curator of Fired Up: Glass Today, as she sheds light on the ways contemporary glass artists are pushing boundaries, forging new paths, and encouraging viewers to take a closer look at the art form. Free with museum admission. Meet in front of the Museum Shop

American artist James McNeill Whistler divided his time between Paris and London throughout his career. In the autumn of 1861, he spent three months on the coast of northern France to recover from illness. While there, he painted his first ever seascape, Alone with the Tide, which he later renamed The Coast of Brittany. Listen in as curator Erin Monroe, Krieble Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, and Director Dr. Matthew Hargraves explore the meaning and story behind Whistler’s powerful composition. Free with museum admission. Meet in front of the Museum Shop.   

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. 

In MATRIX 190, Stephanie Syjuco turns to incorporates imagery of nineteenth–century works from the Wadsworth’s American art collection as a lens to explore how art and museums shape our view of history. Join curators Erin Monroe and Jared Quinton as they discuss the shifting narratives around these grand portraits, idealized landscapes, and dramatic history paintings, including John Vanderlyn’s The Murder of Jane McCrea (1804). Free with museum admission. Meet in front of the Museum Shop. 

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.