Calendar of Events

Discover how MATRIX artist Matt Paweski mixes elements of architecture, furniture, and interior design in his work. Assemble a unique keepsake box with inspiration from the tabletop sculptures on view in the exhibition, and join our friends from ConnLUG and contribute to life-size furniture made entirely from LEGO pieces! Admission is free noon–2pm. 

Celebrate spring at the Wadsworth during our 40th Annual Fine Art & Flowers. Stunning floral arrangements by florists, garden clubs, and interior designers are shown alongside the works of art that inspired them. A $5 surcharge is added to all admissions during this springtime fundraiser presented by the Friends of the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Celebrate spring at the Wadsworth during our 40th Annual Fine Art & Flowers. Stunning floral arrangements by florists, garden clubs, and interior designers are shown alongside the works of art that inspired them. A $5 surcharge is added to all admissions during this springtime fundraiser presented by the Friends of the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Celebrate spring at the Wadsworth during our 40th Annual Fine Art & Flowers. Stunning floral arrangements by florists, garden clubs, and interior designers are shown alongside the works of art that inspired them. A $5 surcharge is added to all admissions during this springtime fundraiser presented by the Friends of the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Tour the exhibition Alexander Calder: Collaborative Creations with a docent and learn how artists’ combined efforts produce unique textiles. Be sure to lend your finishing touch to our community rug. Design a card using a variety of textures to give to someone you love. Sign up for an Eyes on Art Family Tour at 12:15pm. Admission is free noon–2pm.

Tour the exhibition I Am Seen… and learn about the studio practices of the African American photographers of Frederick Douglass’s era. View a daguerreotype demonstration and observe how these one-of-a-kind images are created. Afterward, design a portrait and frame that captures your unique personality. Don’t forget to join our friends across the street at Center Church for additional family programming, including a performance by Nathan M. Richardson, renowned interpreter of Frederick Douglass. Find the Ice Cream for a Dream truck for free ice cream parked outside the museum while supplies last. Admission is free from noon–2pm.

Presented in collaboration with Center Church. 

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

Discover how MATRIX artist Lisa Alvarado creates meditative, patterned works that echo non-Western traditions of abstraction. Use sand to design a colorful geometric configuration. Work alongside artist and graphic designer Lindaluz Carrillo to develop a large-scale background that emphasizes community. Enjoy a dance performance from Spectrum in Motion. Find the Ice Cream for a Dream truck, parked outside the museum from noon to 2pm, for free ice cream while supplies last.

Image courtesy of Lindaluz Carrillo.

Celebrate Latine heritage and culture with art making, music, and performances. Work alongside teaching artists from Bomba De Aqui in a vejigante mask-making workshop. Watch Mexican folkloric dancer Tere Luna perform in collaboration with Mariachi Mexico Antiguo. Then participate in an interactive dance presentation by Movimiento Cultural Afro-Continental and learn the history of Bomba, an Afro-Puerto Rican style of music and dance. Admission is free noon–2pm.

Please note: The Hartford Marathon runs on October 14. Check hartfordmarathon.com for best access to downtown Hartford, parking bans, and road closures.