Museum activities include tours, artist talks

HARTFORD — The Wadsworth Atheneum is operating on a reduced schedule with limited capacity and timed-entry in line with the state's Reopen Connecticut guidelines. Hours are noon-8 p.m. on Fridays and noon-5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Admission is free through Jan. 31. Visitor registration is required in advance via thewadsworth.org. Walk-up visitors may be accommodated based on availability. Face masks, social distancing, and a contactless temperature check are required to enter the museum.

The following programs are for your calendars and event listings. Please note: some programs require preregistration or have limited capacity. For more information, visit thewadsworth.org

Jan. 8; noon, Artists Talk: Your Turn. Artists Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley reimagine comforts and basic necessities as a laborious negotiation. Artist and Yale University design critic Pamela Hovland joins Schweder and Shelley for an exploration of the dramatic environments they have constructed to challenge the limits of cooperation in design and living. In conjunction with the exhibition Made in Connecticut. Free. Register via thewadsworth.org.

Jan. 9: Virtual Second Saturdays for Families: Lines and MovementLearn how artists use line to guide your eye across an artwork and watch performers from Sea Tea Improv use movement to illustrate a story. Try your hand at designing a linear masterpiece. How many different types of lines can you incorporate in your artwork? Digital activity packs include art-making demonstrations, visual scavenger hunts, close looking prompts, and story time in English and Spanish. Available on the second Saturday of the month and afterwards via thewadsworth.org. Free.

Sundays, Jan. 10, 17, 24, 31; 10 a.m.: Art History through the Wadsworth. Learn about important moments that have been enshrined or underrepresented in the history of art through specific works of art in the collections of the Wadsworth with Janna Israel, Adult and Academic Programs Manager. This virtual series takes place over five Sundays, Jan. 10-Feb. 7. Registration payment covers all five sessions. $10; $5 members. Advance registration required via thewadsworth.org.

Jan. 14, noon: Curator Talk: Ali Banisadr / MATRIX 185. Banisadr finds inspiration and senses powerful sounds in the work of artists such as Bosch, Goya, and the Surrealists, who create imaginative visual social commentaries. Curator Patricia Hickson explores the themes and stimuli that fuel Ali Banisadr's explosive paintings in a gallery talk about his MATRIX installation. Free. Register via thewadsworth.org.

Jan. 18: Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Day: Messages of Hope. Stop by the museum from 12-5 p.m. and pick up a free art pack full of supplies to design a mixed-media collage from home, or join a highlights tour at 11 a.m. or family tour at 11:15 a.m.. Reserve a timed ticked via thewadsworth.org to visit. Tour capacity is limited and preregistration is required. Virtual activities including a reading by children's book author Abdul-Razak Zachariah, dance performance by Jakar Hankerson, and discussion about the poetry of Jayne Cortez and her critical work in the Black Arts Movement are available online via thewadsworth.org. Presented in partnership with The Amistad Center for Art & Culture.

Jan. 21, 5-6 p.m.: Artist Talk: Enrique Chagoya & Ruben Cordova. In a conversation with art historian and critic Ruben Cordova, Chagoya will discuss his work and the way he uses visual language as a weapon of critique, centering on his work Histoire Naturelle des Espécies: Illegal Alien's Manuscript (2008) on view in the exhibition Protest and Promise. Free. Register via thewadsworth.org.

Jan. 28, 5-6 p.m. Daniel Salazar: Guitar in the Galleries. Salazar performs a musical interlude performed virtually from the galleries of the Wadsworth as he finds inspiration in collection highlights. Free. Register via thewadsworth.org. Tours: Docent guided tours for individuals and small groups of up to 8 people, unless otherwise noted, are available by reservation only via thewadsworth.org. Museum entry is limited at these times to guided groups only and visitors are required to remain with the group for the duration of the tour. Or, enjoy a docent guided tour of collection highlights from the comfort of your own home. Visit thewadsworth.org for details.

Theme tours: Made in Connecticut, through Feb. 7, Sundays, 11 a.m.; Protest and Promise, runs through Feb. 10, Wednesdays, 1 p.m.

Family Tours: Every second and fourth Saturday, 11:15am Reserved for families and adults with children. Little ones, strollers, and intergenerational bonding expected. Recommended for ages 12 and under.

The Wadsworth Atheneum's five connected buildings, representing architectural styles including Gothic Revival, modern International Style, and 1960s Brutalism, are located at 600 Main St., Hartford. Hours: Friday, noon-8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 12-5 p.m. Admission: free through Jan. 31, 2021; $15 adults; $12 seniors; $5 students; free for members, Hartford residents, and youth age 17 and under. Hours and fees subject to change. Call 860-278-2670; or visit thewadsworth.org

Contributed photo Docent-led tours, exhibits such as “Made in Connecticut” and live music are on the January calendar of events at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford.