Connecticut Museum of Culture and History

Thank you to everyone who joined us on Saturday for our annual Lunar New Year Celebration, in partnership with the Asian Pacific American Coalition of Connecticut (APAC). We had a wonderful time partnering again with CT State Community College, Manchester to host an exciting day full of performances, demonstrations, foods, arts activities and more. We hope it was both a fun and enriching experience for those who celebrate Lunar New Year each year, and those who experienced it for the first time! Special thanks to all of our vendors, community organizations, and performers who kept the crowds engaged, and an additional thanks to our hardworking staff and volunteers, and to the sponsors who made this event possible. Wishing everyone health, happiness, and good fortune in the Year of the Horse! #LunarNewYear2026 #YearoftheHorse #ConnecticutMuseum #thectmuseum #hartfordct #connecticut #Museum #ctartsandculture #cthistory

Which one are you giving to your Valentine this year? Sweet, elegant, elaborate, cheeky. These historical and vintage Valentines cards from the Connecticut Museum collection offer tidings of love for every special someone - whether that's your spouse, your significant other, your BFF, or your cat! These cards reveal how people expressed affection in their own time, often looking to the past for inspiration and affirmation that love is, in fact, timeless. #ValentinesDay #Valentine #history #valentinescard #love #historicalvalentine #ConnecticutMuseum #thectmuseum #hartfordct #connecticut #Museum #ctartsandculture #cthistory

What an amazing evening celebrating community and culture at the opening reception of our new exhibition, "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Thank you to everyone involved who helped bring this exhibition to life, and to everyone who came out to the Museum yesterday to support the exhibition's opening! Visitors heard an engaging presentation from Museum staff, the exhibition artists, and community participants from the North End and Classical Magnet High School. Music, food, and drinks were enjoyed throughout the evening, and the Museum was filled with an incredible energy! For those who couldn't make it, there is plenty of time to plan your next visit to see the art and artifacts up close. "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End" runs from February 12, 2026 - January 17, 2027. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ektbrDbd #ConnecticutMuseum #thectmuseum #hartfordct #connecticut #Museum #ctartsandculture #cthistory #ctartists #artsandculture #hartfordartsandculture #hartfordarts #history #ctart

Thank you to The Hartford Arts Pages for featuring our new exhibition, "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End!" "Drawn Here is not a museum telling people their story. It’s the community writing its own story. Students from Classical Magnet determined the graphic novels’ topics and gathered oral histories, and [the Museum] commissioned local artists to interpret the facts." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/ei23grED It's been a collaborative years-long effort to bring this exhibition to life, and we are thrilled to finally share it with all of you! Exhibition runs February 12, 2026 - January 17, 2027. Learn more about the exhibition: https://lnkd.in/ektbrDbd #ConnecticutMuseum #thectmuseum #hartfordct #connecticut #Museum #ctartsandculture #cthistory #museumexhibit #ctartsandculture #hartfordartsandculture #hartfordart #connecticutartists

Meet the artists whose illustrations are featured our upcoming exhibition, "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Irene Pham is an illustrator, cartoonist, and painter currently residing in Watertown, Connecticut. They received their Bachelor of Fine Art in Painting and Drawing at the University of Connecticut in 2024 and are completing a Master of Fine Art in Illustration at Western Connecticut State University. Irene has won a Long River Review award for their graphic memoir, Sore Waters, and received a UConn IDEA Grant award for their solo exhibition, From Grandfather to Mother, From Mother to Daughter. They have been shown in galleries in various Connecticut cities, including New Britain and Storrs, as well as Brooklyn, New York. See Irene's art in "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Exhibition opens February 12 at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History! Meet Irene at the opening reception on February 12. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ektbrDbd #ConnecticutMuseum #thectmuseum #hartfordct #connecticut #Museum #ctartsandculture #cthistory #museumexhibit #ctartist #artist #localartist #graphicnovel #exhibition #exhibit #art

Meet the artists whose illustrations are featured our upcoming exhibition, "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Tyrone “ZeroSnake” Motley is a Connecticut-based illustrator, animator, and visual storyteller whose work fuses traditional art with the bold energy of contemporary pop culture. His love of world-building grew into his ongoing manga-inspired series UNRIVALED. Beyond comics and animation, Motley is an accomplished fine artist and muralist, with paintings and large-scale public artworks displayed throughout Hartford and beyond. His vibrant canvases and murals share the same dynamic, character-driven storytelling found in his illustrated works. As an educator, he has led workshops at schools, museums, and public libraries, inspiring the next generation of artists with his mix of classical techniques and modern visual language. His mission remains to craft captivating stories and imagery that unite fans of both timeless art and contemporary culture. See Tyrone's art in "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Exhibition opens February 12 at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History! Meet Tyrone at the opening reception on February 12. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ektbrDbd #ConnecticutMuseum #thectmuseum #hartfordct #connecticut #Museum #ctartsandculture #cthistory #museumexhibit #ctartist #artist #localartist #graphicnovel #exhibition #exhibit #art

Meet the artists whose illustrations are featured our upcoming exhibition, "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Samuel Ferri has been cartooning for as long as he can remember—initially for his own strange amusement, and eventually through ongoing strips and graphic articles for publications including MAD Magazine, The NYPress, and The New York Observer. A longtime New Yorker, he has spent the past five years embedding himself in the greater Hartford arts community that he and his family now call home. In addition to producing his own irreverent drawings, Ferri programs Studio 20 South, the makerspace of the West Hartford Public Library, and teaches comics to all ages through the West Hartford Art League and The Bushnell Education programs. He is also a lead fabricator for Night Fall, where he helps bring oversized buildings, acorns, and other improbable structures to life. See Samuel's art in "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Exhibition opens February 12 at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History! Meet Samuel at the opening reception on February 12. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ektbrDbd #ConnecticutMuseum #thectmuseum #hartfordct #connecticut #Museum #ctartsandculture #cthistory #museumexhibit #ctartist #artist #localartist #graphicnovel #exhibition #exhibit #art

Meet the artists whose illustrations are featured our upcoming exhibition, "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Jacqueline C.J. Barnes is a Black writer and artist interested in exploring the boundaries of the fantastic. A chemist of genre and medium, she delves into the magical and imagined to confront the painful realities of memory and the inherited hopes of those that came before her. Jacqueline has a Bachelor of Humanities and Arts in Creative Writing and Art from Carnegie Mellon University and a master’s degree from UCLA’s Animation Workshop. She is a Voices of Our Nations Arts (VONA) Foundation 2017 alum, was a resident at the 2017 Santa Fe Art Institute, an inaugural fellow at the Highlights Foundation, a California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship recipient, and a Connecticut Office of the Arts Artist Fellowship awardee. Presently, she resides in New Haven and is working on her Black fantasy graphic novel, Anamnesis. See Jaqueline's art in "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Exhibition opens February 12 at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History! Meet Jacqueline at the opening reception on February 12. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ektbrDbd #ConnecticutMuseum #thectmuseum #hartfordct #connecticut #Museum #ctartsandculture #cthistory #museumexhibit #ctartist #artist #localartist #graphicnovel #exhibition #exhibit #art

Meet the artists whose illustrations are featured our upcoming exhibition, "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Jaime Alphonso is an illustrator and sequential artist based in Connecticut. She has been drawing for most of her life and her favorite way of sharing her work is through storytelling and the creation of new worlds. Alphonso received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from the University of Hartford in 2022. See Jaime's art in "Drawn Here: Stories from Hartford's North End." Exhibition opens February 12 at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History! Meet Jaime at the opening reception on February 12. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ektbrDbd #ConnecticutMuseum #thectmuseum #hartfordct #connecticut #Museum #ctartsandculture #cthistory #museumexhibit #ctartist #artist #localartist #graphicnovel #exhibition #exhibit #art

Thank you to everyone who joined us on Thursday evening for the sold-out event "Hidden History: Native Peoples and the American Revolution," hosted in partnership with Connecticut Public. Special thanks to our panelists for offering their insight and experience during a thoughtful post-screening discussion: 🔸Lorén Spears (Narragansett Niantic), Executive Director of the Indigenous-led Tomaquag Museum in Rhode Island 🔸Nakai Clearwater Northup (Mashantucket Pequot/Narragansett), Manager of Public Programs and Outreach at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. 🔸Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone), Professor of History at Yale University and author of The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, winner of the 2023 National Book Award for Nonfiction. An additional thanks to Diane Orson, special correspondent with Connecticut Public and a contributing reporter to National Public Radio, for moderating the panel. Join us at the Museum for more programs throughout the year, and discover 250 years of Connecticut's history through a variety of historical and cultural lenses: https://lnkd.in/e8SQy8gQ #ConnecticutMuseum #thectmuseum #hartfordct #connecticut #Museum #ctartsandculture #cthistory #ctpublic #Americaat250 #CT250