For the Museum’s first 2024 Art Excursion, join Director of Community Engagement Cristin Searles Bilodeau on a trip to Connecticut to visit the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain followed by the Florence Griswold House in Old Lyme. The New Britain’s dynamic permanent collection represents the major artists and movements in American Art – from colonial portraits, to Hudson River School landscapes, Impressionist to Modernist to Abstraction and Pop Art – and will be a pleasure to explore. The Florence Griswold Museum embodies the artistic spirit of its legacy as the home of the Lyme Art Colony supported by namesake Florence Griswold (a distant relation to our own John N. A. Griswold) and serves as the home of American Impressionism.

Our day will begin with a docent-guided tour of special exhibition THE LAND CARRIES OUR ANCESTORS: CONTEMPORARY ART BY NATIVE AMERICANS, curated by artist, educator, editor, activist, and writer Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation). The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and marked the first time Native art had been presented there in 30 years. The exhibition highlights artworks by nearly 50 living Native artists that powerfully visualize Indigenous culture and knowledge of the land. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s own artwork was recognized in a highly acclaimed 2023 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, which was one of the Winter Speaker Series topics this winter.

After a delicious private catered lunch on site, guests may enjoy unscheduled time for visiting the permanent collection and other special exhibition galleries until we depart for the Florence Griswold Museum, where we will enjoy a guided tour of the historic house and highlights from the permanent collection and a visit to the spectacular gardens.