Calendar of Events

Filmmaker Andrew Neel, Alice Neel’s grandson, puts together the pieces of the painter’s life using intimate one-on-one interviews and personal archival video footage. The documentary explores the artist’s personal challenges and tragedies, and Alice Neel’s legacy. Tickets: $10 adults, $9 seniors and students (with school ID), $7 members. Free for film stars.
*Film preceded at 1pm by a gallery talk with curator Patricia Hickson in Discovering Rose Fried’s Nephew by Alice Neel. Space is limited and registration is required. Click here to purchase a Tour+Film ticket at no extra cost.
2007. US. 81 min. Not Rated. Directed by Andrew Neel.
For all films, programs in the theater, and events serving food and beverages proof of vaccination and matching photo ID are required upon entry. Patrons who are not vaccinated (including those under age 12) must provide a recent negative COVID-19 test. Learn more.

Eavesdrop on Christina Forrer in conversation with contemporary poet and fairy tale writer Sabrina Orah Mark, whose imaginative tales describe our fears, much like Forrer’s visual narratives in her tapestries. Free virtual program.
Image: Christina Forrer, Sepulcher, 2021. Wool, cotton and linen. 97 in. x 162 in. © Christina Forrer; Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York, and Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago. Photo: Joshua White

“The Nutcracker Suite & Spicy”—the rousing, toe-tapping, high-kicking spin on the classical ballet choreographed and directed by Carolyn Paine and performed by CONNetic Dance is returning to delight audiences. Stream the production along with the 25 minute documentary short film, “The Nutcracker Suite & Spicy: 10 Years in the Making” by CineVerite Productions, until December 31. Click here to watch.
This program is postponed to Tuesday, April 19.
In advance of the Pennington Lecture, join poet and English professor Antoinette Brim-Bell and a panel of faculty and students from Capital Community College for an open discussion of Sarah Lewis’s book The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery. Free with admission.

5pm gallery viewing & reception
6:30pm conversation
The American artist Tony Smith occupies an important place in the history of twentieth-century art and design. Best known for his large-scale sculptures—inventive polygonal forms made of steel, most painted black—Smith left behind a body of work that continues to defy easy classification and whose fertile breadth is yet to be fully explored.
The Wadsworth Atheneum’s decisive role in the development of Tony Smith’s artistic career serves as the historical context for a conversation between the art historian and curator James Voorhies and artists Tom Burr and Torkwase Dyson who, in separate bodies of work, have referenced Smith’s art and the modernist ideologies out of which it evolved. Matrix: On the Art of Tom Burr, Torkwase Dyson, and Tony Smith will inaugurate a new series of nomadic programs called “In Dialogue,” presented by the Tony Smith Foundation, which is committed to placing the legacy of the artist in context and in conversation with the contemporary arts.
Join us in the galleries before the event to view a selection of works by Tony Smith and the collection of abstract expressionist paintings donated to the Wadsworth by the artist in 1967. Free and open to the public with required registration. Learn more about our theater vaccination requirements.
Presented in partnership with the Tony Smith Foundation.

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.

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.