Visit 18 museums around Connecticut this fall with the CT Passport

Members of the Connecticut Art Trail, an awardwinning collaboration of world-class museums and historic sites across the state, are featuring artists that made Connecticut their home or were greatly impacted by the state, this fall.

Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury – The Matt’s current exhibition, An Artist for All Seasons, features colorful landscape art from Dmitri Wright. Some pieces in the collection were painted at another Connecticut Art Trail location, Weir Farm National Historic Site in Wilton. One can view paintings of flowers and the Julian Alden Weir Barn at The Matt, and then go see the barn in person! https:// www.mattmuseum.org/ exhibition/an-artist-for-allseasons/

Weir Farm National Historic Site, Wilton Weir Farm and Beyond: The Art of Sperry Andrews, on display in the Burlingham House Visitor Center until October 29, highlights art created by Sperry Andrews, the last resident of the Weir House. Views of Weir Farm and the nearby towns of Ridgefield, Wilton, Danbury, Bethel and Brookfield show both landscapes and some interior views. Several different forms of media are included; from a large scale oil on canvas painting of the Weir House to a series of nine small pencil sketches depicting a 1973 train derailment in Redding, CT. The grounds at Weir Farm are open year-round, but the visitor center hours and tours come to a close in October. https:// www.nps.gov/wefa/planyourvisit/indooractivities.htm

Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London – Darien artist Billi Kid brings his witty and streetwise commentary to the subject of environmental impact in Lyman Allyn’s Near :: New series of contemporary artist. This exhibition, Deer in the Headlights, features street art in collaboration with some of today’s most prolific sticker and street artists. http://www.lymanallyn.org/deer-in-the-headlights-man-vs-nature/

Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich – Join the Slater Museum for the Opening Reception of Bela Lyon Pratt: Sculptor of Monument, on Oct. 15 from 1-3 p.m. The exhibition features the work of Norwich-native Bela Lyon Pratt on the centennial of his death and the Sesquicentennial of his birth, revealing his innate draftsmanship and his ability to sensitively capture human emotion, passion, strength and fragility, rendered in bronze and marble. Learn more at https:// www.slatermuseum.org/ exhibitions-2/

The William Benton Museum of Art, UConn Storrs Campus – Marking 35 Years: The Work of Deborah Dancy. A retrospective of work by CT Artist Deborah Dancy, recently retired from the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Connecticut. Dancy is a painter whose abstract work describes odd invented spaces and stacked structures. Subtle tonalities and fragmented lines become descriptive markers in work that suggests familiar yet ambiguous spaces. Exhibition on view through October 15. http://benton.uconn.edu/2017/07/18/ marking-35-years-the-workof-deborah-dancy/

Art Museum, University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford – The Art Museum, USJ’s current exhibition Past Progressive // Future Perfect: Recent Acquisitions and Promised Gifts (on view through Dec. 17) features more than 50 works of art from around the world dating from the 17th century to the present. The exhibition includes works by a number of Connecticut artists such as sculptor Carol Kreeger Davidson, painter/printmaker Robert J. Kirschbaum, and muralist James Daugherty. http://www.usj.edu/arts/artmuseum/exhibition/current/ past-progressive-futureperfect

Bruce Museum, Greenwich – An exhibition of work by Fair Haven-born painter, illustrator and author George Wharton Edwards (1859-1950), is on display until Nov. 25. By the early 20th century, Edwards became close friends with the American Impressionists associated with the Cos Cob Art Colony and the Greenwich Society of Artists. This exhibition highlights his artistic diversity. https://brucemuseum.org/ site/exhibitions_detail/ george-wharton-edwards-1859-1950-illustratorpainter-writer-august-52017-n

Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield – Richard Lytle (American, b. 1935) has been exhibiting his work internationally since the mid-1950s, but has deep roots in Connecticut. He attended the Cooper Union, then graduated from Yale University with a BFA in 1957 and from Yale College of Art with an MFA in 1960. While still in graduate school, he was selected for Dorothy Miller’s seminal 1959 “Sixteen Americans” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Now, you can see a collection of his work, Richard Lytle: A Retrospective, at Fairfield University Art Museum’s Walsh Gallery through February 3, 2018. https://www.fairfield.edu/museum/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/

Greenwich Historical Society, Greenwich – Greenwich Historical Society’s (GHS) permanent collection in the Bush-Holley House features artifacts from residents of the house in the Colonial Period (17901825) as well as art and furnishings from when the home was used as the boardinghouse for the Cos Cob art colony (1890-1920). GHS is also featuring an exhibition Jim and Jane Henson: Creative Work, Creative Play until October 8; the Henson’s made Greenwich their home from 1964-1971, and it influenced much of their work. http://www.hstg.org/current

The CT Art Trail began as the CT Impressionist Art Trail in 1995; it has since grown considerably to expand the group’s scope beyond Impressionism to showcase the diversity of collections within the state.

“It was a very exciting moment when we realized that many of the world-class museums in the CT Art Trail were focusing their attention on Connecticut artists this fall,” said Carey Weber, President of the CT Art Trail and Assistant Director of Fairfield University Art Museum. “We are delighted to highlight the synergy and collaboration of the museums in the Trail that allow us to share this rich programming with the museum-going public.”

At the 2017 Connecticut Governor’s Conference on Tourism in May, the CT Art Trail was recognized as the 2017 Tourism Partners of the Year Award recipient for their collaboration since 1995, and their dedication to promoting Connecticut’s rich cultural history and driving visitation to the state for over two decades.

The Connecticut Art Trail is an award-winning, nationally recognized partnership between eighteen worldclass museums and historic sites, created to promote Connecticut's rich cultural assets as part of a travel experience. The Trail was launched in 1995 as the Connecticut Impressionist Art Trail, celebrating Connecticut's ten museums and historic sites that highlighted American Impressionism. In 2005, the member museums voted to expand its membership beyond Impressionism to include even more quality museums and historic sites, increasing the membership to eighteen today. This strategic initiative was accomplished in order to reach a broader audience and showcase the diversity of collections within the state. The Connecticut Art Trail also offers the Art Passport, granting visitors one-day access to each museum along the Trail for a small fee. The upgraded Passport is made possible by an exclusive sponsorship from Greenwich Hospitality Group. More information about the Art Trail can be found online at ctarttrail.org.