Social distancing during the coronavirus crisis?
Art lovers can still check out their favorite local museums and galleries with these virtual tours
Connecticut is rich with art galleries, museums and artists in all corners of the state, with gorgeous and engaging exhibits opening every week. Unfortunately, all of those galleries are currently closed in response to the coronavirus outbreak. But there’s still art to be seen, with virtual tours, online exhibits and Facebook live events. Until the health crisis has abated and people can safely go to gathering places again, let’s see art online, at these Connecticut-based websites. In addition, outdoor sculpture installations are still open to the public, and are a welcome respite for those craving a walk in the sunshine. At the outdoor venues, keep social distancing in mind in case there are other art-lovers and families on the property.
Online
Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Ave. in Hartford: “Holding Love’s Vision: Elisabeth Moss” will be viewable online at charteroakcenter.org until May 31.
Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme St. in Old Lyme: Five exhibits can be seen online at florencegriswoldmuseum.org/ exhibitions: “The Exacting Eye of Walker Evans,” of work by the legendary photographer (1903-1975); “Silver Wings and Golden Scales: Work by Jennifer Angus,” of a Griswold House installation using real insects; “Dear, Dear Husband,” of letters exchanged between Florence Griswold’s parents; “With a Needle & Brush: Schoolgirl Embroidery From the Connecticut River Valley,” of needlework from the late 18th and early 19th centuries; and “Woodrow & Ellen Axson Wilson in Old Lyme,” an exhibit of work by the first wife of the U.S. president, who painted at the Old Lyme art colony. On florencegriswoldmuseum.org/learn/see-change/, an in-depth study of George Henry Durrie’s “Seven Miles to Farmington” can be viewed. The museum also has a YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/GriswoldMuseum. In addition, the museum encourages people who want to take a walk to visit the outdoor Artists Trail.
New Britain Museum of American Art, 56 Lexington St.: “Kara Walker: Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)” can be seen at nbmaa.org/online, which also has curatorial chats, art activities, video lessons and a scavenger hunt. Also, NBMAA, and The Glass House in New Canaan, are presenting online offerings based on their respective Anni Albers exhibits. Visit nbmaa.org/exhibitions/annialbers as well as theglasshouse.org/learn/ anni-albers.
Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave. in Hartford: The website of the historic home, where the legendary writer lived from 1874 to 1891, has a 3D virtual tour at marktwainhouse.org/about/ the-house/virtual-tour/. A virtual reality tour also is available at that URL, but certain software must be downloaded.
Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St. in New Haven: At artgallery.yale.edu/ online-features, there are two exhibits: the photography show “Robert Adams: The Place We Live”; and “Dura-Europos: Excavating Antiquity,” an exhibit of photographs of an archaeological dig in Syria at which items in the museum’s collection were found. YUAG also has a YouTube channel featuring highlights from past exhibits: youtube.com/user/yaleartgallery.
Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St. in New Haven: The web page britishart.yale.edu/multimedia has videos of past gallery talk and lectures, short films and behind-the-scenes looks at past exhibits.
Artspace, 50 Orange St. in New Haven: Digital flatfile exhibitions can be found at artspacenewhaven.org/digital-flatfileexhibitions. These include “An Alternative Love Story,” with work by Tabitha Barnard, Ebony Beatty, Deborah Dancy, Tony Donovan, James Duval, Daniel Eugene, Insook Hwang, Jeff Ostergren, Yolanda Petrocelli, Lenny Moskowitz anbd Elizabeth Livingston; Folded,” with work by Lexi Axon, Tabitha Barnard, Ebony Beatty, Yaminay Chaudhri, Daniel Eugene, Jacquelyn Gleisner, Dan Gries, Nate Lerner, Shanna Merola, Lenny Moskowitz, Jeff Ostergren, Julie Pereira, Yolanda Petrocelli, Chen Reichert, Julia Rooney, Cynthia Beth Rubin, Ryan Sarah Murphy, Catherine Vanaria and Margi Weir; “Lovestruck,” with work by Aspasia Patti Anos, David Borawski, Colin Burke, Matthew DeLeon, Kathleen DeMeo, James Duval, Yikui Gu, Insook Hwang, Laura Marsh, Dorothy Powers and, Petra Szilagyi; “Seeing the Structure,” with work by Alexis Brown, Alisa Dworsky, Stephen Grossman, Rachel Hellerich, Katie Jurkiewicz, Maria LaraWhelpley, Martha Lewis, Irene K. Miller and Jeff Slomba; “individual vs. crowd,” with work by Colin Burke, Tim Campbell, Karen Dow, Alisa Dworsky, Caitlin Foster, Kathryn Frund, Robert Gregson, Willard Lustenader and Robin Sherin; “HAND in rotation,” with work by Kevin Van Aelst, Cynthia Back, Claudia Cron, Phyllis Crowley and Alyse Rosner; “Into and out of,” with work by David Coon, Karen Dow, Barbara Hocker and Hong Hong; and “Brightly,” with work by Colin Burke,
Sarah Gustafson, Insook Hwang, Evan Levine, Barbara Marks, Amy Pryor, Carol Radsprecher, Roxanne Faber Savage, Liz Pagano and Mark Williams.
Eckert Fine Art, 12 Old Barn Road in Kent: A group show, “Common Things,” can be seen at janeeckertfineart.com.
City Gallery, 994 State St. in New Haven: Exhibits of artwork by Judy Atlas, Meg Bloom, Joy Bush, Phyllis Crowley, Jennifer Davies, Nancy Eisenfeld, Freddi Elton, Roberta Freidman, William Frucht, Joyce Greenfield, Barbara Harder, Jane Harris, Sheila Kaczmarek, Kathy Kane, Susan Newbold, Tom Peterson and Michael Zack can be seen at citygallery.org.
Ely Center of Contemporary Art, 51 Trumbull St. in New Haven: At elycenter.org/digital-grace, is showing the exhibits “Wonder Working,” “Margaret Roleke: Fired,” “Brooks Dierdorff: Ballistics & Blindsight,” “Tony Saunders: elucidating,” “Mandy Beatrice: brio,” Jeanne Ciravolo: New Work,” exhibits of work by Matthew Seremet, Loren Britton and Loren Frank, as well as “Emotional Environments,” a show of work by Heide Follin and Sonia Bombart,” and “to (be)scare,” an exhibit of work by Amira Brown, Julian Miholics and Yovska.
Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University, 3011 Whitney Ave. in Hamden: Highlights from the permanent collection, as well as pieces from the exhibit “Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger,” are at collections.ighm.org/Eresults.aspx?pS=*&dir=ART.
Palestine Museum US, 1764 Litchfield Turnpike, Suite 200, in Woodbridge: A 10-minute informal online tour of the museum, recorded on March 8 at the opening ceremony of “Telling the Palestinian Story - 50 Women Artists - 200 Works of Art” can be found at youtube.com/ watch?v=M2k91U6Aj4o.
Stamford Museum and Nature Center, 39 Scofieldtown Road, is showing an exhibit, “Nathalia Edenmont: Fruitfulness” at egstudios.us/tours/stamfordct/StamfordMuseum/gallery.html.
Slater Memorial Museum, at Norwich Free Academy, 108 Crescent St.: A virtual tour of the museum is at nfaschool.org/ uploaded/Virtual_Tours/tour/index.html.
Maritime Garage Gallery, inside the parking garage at the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, 11 N. Water St.: “Strength Through Unity,” an exhibit of artwork
“that depicts the solidarity and resilience of humanity given the current situation with the global pandemic,” will be up until June 30 at facebook.com/maritimegaragegallery/ https://www.instagram.com/ maritimegaragegallery.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main St. in Hartford: An audio tour of the new exhibit, “Savor: A Revolution in Food Culture” is available at thewadsworth.org/savor. There are video hightlights from past exhibits “Bed Furnishings in Early America: An Intimate Look,” “Monsters and Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s,” “Fredric Church: A Painter’s Pilgrimage” and “Gorey’s Worlds” at thewadsworth.org/ creative-connections. Also on that page, on May 9 a virtual Second Saturdays for Families activity pack will be posted, and on May 13 our curator of American decorative arts Brandy Culp and artist Vanessa German will participate in a live conversation produced by #UNLOAD and the Quick Center for the Arts.
New England Carousel Museum, 95 Riverside Ave. (Route 72) in Bristol: “A video tour of the museum can be found at thecarouselmuseum.org/online-content.
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, 121 Wall St. at Yale University in New Haven: At beinecke.library.yale.edu/ digital-collection/digital-exhibitions, these exhibits can be seen: “Carl Van Vechten’s Harlem Renaissance Portraits,” “Not Reading in Early Modern England,” “Making the Medieval English Manuscript: The Takamiya Collection,” “Arthur W. Wang: Photographs,” “Go, Little Book: Portable Medieval Manuscripts,” “Imprints: David Plowden, a Retrospective,” “No Place on Earth: America and the Utopian Dream,” “Petals on a Wet Black Bough: American Modernist Writers and the Orient,” “Petrarch: The Power of the Word,” “The Bollingen Prize for American Poetry,” “The Illustrated Word,” “The Illustrating Traveler” and “The Speculum Theologiae.” Family photos of Tsar Nicholas II’s family, raken between 1907 and 1915, can be seen at beinecke.library.yale.edu/collections/ highlights/romanov-family-albums.
Mattatuck Museum, 63 Prospect St. in Waterbury: “Edward Balthazar: Urban Artist” will be online until the end of the year at mattmuseum.org. The exhibit shows Waterbury scenes that Edward J. Balthazar (1890-1956) created during the 1930s and 1940s. Also up until the end of the year is “Women’s Sphere: Selections from the Collection,” a show of 25 works from the museum’s collection created by female artists.
Susan Powell Fine Art, 679 Boston Post Road in Madison: The exhibit “Bridging Realism to Abstraction” will be on view online until May 31 at susanpowellfineart.com/bridging-realism-to-abstractionapril-15-may-16-2020/. The artists are Ira Barkoff, Emilia Dubicki, David Dunlop, Tom Glover and Deborah Quinn-Munson.
William Benton Museum of Art, 245 Glenbrook Road at UConn in Storrs: At benton.uconn.edu/web-exhibitions/, visitors can see highlights from five exhibits, which were on show at the museum in the past few years: “Molas, Textile Designs of the Kuna Indians of Panama,” “The Work of Ellen Emmet Rand,” “Arpillera” and two exhibits of work by Reginald Marsh. Also, a video of the appearance at the museum of the femininst art activists The Guerrilla Girls is posted there. At benton.uconn.edu/ mfa-2020/ is the MFA 2020 Thesis Exhibition, with work by Jonathan Ampiaw, Karin Ching, Stefan Lopuszanski, Laurel Pehmoeller, Jasmine Rajavadee, Olivia Baldwin, Elizabeth Ellenwood, Shadia Heenan and Chad Uehlein.
Washington Art Association, 4 Bryan Memorial Plaza in Washington Depot: The exhibit “Monoprint 2020: Printers and Presses” can be seen in its entirety at washingtonartassociation.org/exhibitions/ exhibition-1.php. Artists in the show are James Stroud, John Walker, Mark Cooper, Marcus Linnenbrink, Carrie Moyer,
Eltono, Eva Lundsager, Jeff Perrot, Janine Wong, Catherine Kernan, Nona Hershey, Liz Dexheimer, Hanneline Rogeberg, Nancy Cohen, Sue Oehme, Deborah Freedman, Robert Kushner, Robin Cameron, Deborra Stewart Pettengill, Daniel Rios Rodriguez, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Paul DeRuvo, Meaghen Morrow, Chris Shore, Bill Jacklin, Charles Cajori, Anthony Kirk, Malcolm Campbell Moran, Eric Aho, Robert Andrew Parker, Deborah Weiss, Liz Surbeck Biddle, Barbara Grossman, Zemma Mastin White, Yvette Drury Dubinsky, Vicky Tomayko, Valentina DuBasky, David Row, John Thompson, David Bligh, Carolyn Muskat, Catrina Coelho, Donald Kelley, Stephan Haley, Kevin Whitman, Patrick Casey and Sophia Issak.
Arts Center East, 709 Hartford Turnpike in Vernon: The 70th annual Academic Artists Association exhibit of traditional realism can be seen at academicartistsassociation.org/exhibitions/70th-2020.html.
Connecticut Historical Society, One Elizabeth St. in Hartford: At chs.org/online-exhibition, visitors can see the exhibits “Remembering G. Fox & Co.,” “The Ambassadors of Folk,” “Historic Timeline of Connecticut’s LGBTQ Community” and highlights from the society’s collection.
The Urban Collective, 85 Willow St. in New Haven: Nasty Women Connecticut feminist art collective posted a Facebook live overview of the exhibit “Rituals of Resistance” at facebook.com/luciana.mcclure/videos/10102647470639867.
Bruce Museum, One Museum Drive in Greenwich: The pieces from last year’s exhibit iCreate, of work by Greenwich-area students, can be seen at brucemuseum.org/ site/exhibitions_detail/icreate-2019.
Creative Arts Workshop, 80 Audubon St. in New Haven: “Luminous Instruments,” an exhibit of photography by Harold Shapiro, is at creativeartsworkshop.org/gallery/luminous-instruments.
ArtSpace, 480 Main St. in Willimantic: Graduating BFA students in UConn’s Department of Art and Art History are showing their work at uconnbfa2020.com, instagram.com/uconnbfashow and online.fliphtml5.com/jnntv/uepw.
WORK_SPACE, 903 Main St. in Manchester: At goo.gl/maps/tx4AQshVYcYgiwA2A, web visitors can see the exhibit of art by teens who attend Manchester, Cheney Tech, East Catholic and Great Path high schools in town.
New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Ave.: The web page collections.newhavenmuseum.org has a list of permanent exhibits, including “Form and Function: Decorative Arts from the Collection,” “From Clocks to Lollipops: Made in New Haven,” “New Haven Illustrated,” “Robert R. Wiseman Artist Etcher, “Signs of the Time: Highlights from the Collection” and “The Amistad Story: Cinque LIves Here.” Click on the link to see items in that exhibit.
Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, 1 Royce Circle at UConn in Storrs: “Living Objects: African American Puppetry,” an exhibit that was on display from Oct. 2A;5, 2018 to April 7, 2019, is online now at bimp-exhibitions.org/livingobjects/the-exhibition. Also, the end-ofsemester presentation of UConn Puppet Arts students will be May 7 and 8 at 7 p.m. at facebook.com/BallardInstitute/ and will be available afterwards at youtube.com/ channel/UC3VSthEDnYS6ZjOwzT1DnTg. Talkbacks led by puppeteer Blair Thomas also will take place each night.
Five Points Gallery, 33 Main St. in Torrington: Virtual tours of the exhibits by Rebecca Zablocki and Harriet Caldwell, as well as the exhibit “Power Figures,” are at fivepointsgallery.org/virtual-tour-powerfigures.html.
Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave. in New Haven: A “Virtual Opening Reception” for the group exhibit “Journeying” and two solo shows by Frank Bruckmann and Kim Weston will be held March 21 at 3 p.m. at Facebook.com/KehlerLiddellGallery.
Spectrum Art Gallery, 61 Main St. in the Centerbrook section of Essex: The exhibit “Shadow Dance” is online and can be seen at spectrumartgallery.org/productcategory/shadow-dance.
Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Road: Two historical exhibits can be seen online: “Adventurous Use of the Sea: The Cruising Club of America” and “The 38th Voyage of the Charles W. Morgan.” mysticseaport.org/explore/exhibits.
Hygienic Art Galleries, 79 Bank St. in New London: “The Crossing,” the annual juried exhibit, will be unveiled March 21 at 7 p.m. at facebook.com/hygienicart and hygienic.org.
Windsor Art Center, 40 Mechanic St.: The exhibit “Local Color 4: Rails, Roads & Rivers ” can be found at windsorartcenter.org/local-color-4-rails-roads-rivers.
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 170 Whitney Ave. in New Haven: A virtual tour of the David Friend Hall, a time lapse video of the renovation of the Great Hall and other museum features can be found at peabody.yale.edu/digital-resources.
Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road in Farmington: The online auction of Kate Emery’s painting, “After the Storm,” to benefit the museum will continue through March 31 at KateEmery.com/auction.
The Gallery at Still River Editions, 128 East Liberty St. in Danbury: “Three Generations,” a group show of paintings, etchings and sculpture by Vito Gesualdi, David Gesualdi and Daisy Gesualdi, can be seen at stillrivereditions.com/virtual-exhibition-three-generations.
Southington Community Cultural Arts Center, 93 Main St.: An exhibit of selfies of people and their pets, organized by SoCCArts, is at youtube.com.
Art Gallery at Western Connecticut State University, in the Visual & Performing Arts Center on the Westside Campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury: Senior Portfolio Virtual Exhibition is on view at wcsu.edu/art/2020/03/2020-senior-portfolio-virtual-exhibition.
Lyman Allyn Art Museum, 625 Williams St. in New London: The Lyman Allyn app, available in the Apple store, features, among other things, tours of the galleries and educational content. lymanallyn.org.
Fairfield University, 1073 North Benson Road: At fairfield.edu/museum/watchand-listen/index.html, a series of videos can be seen relating to the current exhibit “Archives of Consciousness: Six Cuban Artists.”
Lyme Art Association, 90 Lyme St. in Old Lyme: “Yin and Yang: Abstraction and Realism,” a group show, can be seen at lymeartassociation.org/yin-and-yang/ and in a virtual tour at youtube.com.
Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, 110 Pequot Trail in Ledyard: “Neetôpáwees: Dolls as Ambassadors of Native Culture,” a collection of Native American dolls, can be seen at artsandculture.google.com.
Art League of New Britain, 30 Cedar St.: The Connecticut Women Artists 2020 show can be viewed here: onlinejuriedshows.com/ClosedShowThumbs.aspx?OJSID=43181.
Mystic Museum of Art, 9 Water St.: A virtual tour of Photo Show 42 can be found at mysticmuseumofart.org/2020/04/ photo-show-42-virtual-tour.
Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St.: An overview of the library’s art collection can be seen at youtube.com.
Outdoor exhibits
David Hayes Sculpture Fields, 905 South St. in Coventry: The fields, which surround the home of the sculptor (19312013), are open to the public for self-guided tours. davidhayes.com.
Gilbert V. Boro Studio 80 + Sculpture Grounds, 80 Lyme St. in Old Lyme: The sculpture grounds, with works by Boro and other artists, is on private property but is open to the public. Boro asks guests not to enter any buildings. A YouTube video about the grounds, part of the Smithsonian Channel documentary series “America: Over the Edge,” can be seen at gilbertboro.com.
Main Street in Hartford: A stroll down Main Street provides ample artworks to view. In front of the library, there is a sculpture by David Hayes and a statue of Mark Twain. Between City Hall and Wadsworth Atheneum is Alexander Calder’s massive red “Stegosaurus.” In front of the Atheneum are a statue of Nathan Hale and sculptures by Conrad Shawcross, Tony Smith and William Turnbull. Across the street from the Atheneumn is Carl Andre’s “Stone Field Sculpture.” Also across the street from the Atheneum is the Bushnell Towers sculpture garden. thewadsworth.org.