Rotating installations celebrating standout artists and makers in our state.

Moshe Bursuker equates the art of glassmaking to that of a musician spending countless hours to reach their potential. His latest works reflect his constant efforts to master this unpredictable material. Bursuker’s work is on view in galleries and exhibitions around the country. He has taught and completed residencies at several institutions including The Corning Museum of Glass, UrbanGlass, and Wheaton Arts in New Jersey. He teaches as an adjunct professor at the Hartford Art School. Bursuker’s work is also on view in Fired Up. Meet the artist and watch as he teaches his glass class from The Hot Shop on October 13.

Real Art Ways presents a solo exhibition by Howard el-Yasin. Curated by David Borawski.

Howard el-Yasin’s sculptural and installation work focuses on everyday materials as signs pointing to multiplicities of meaning. Through unconventional and castoff materials, el-Yasin looks at social value and marginalized racial and gender identities. The gallery installation includes an immersive suspended piece comprised of thousands of baked banana peels sourced from the artist’s community.

Howard el-Yasin is a New Haven, CT-based interdisciplinary artist, curator and educator holding degrees from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA ’16), Wesleyan University, and New England College. They have exhibited their artwork nationally, and have work in several private collections. They are currently an adjunct faculty member at MICA, and the co-founder/curator of SomethingProjects, an artist-run curatorial initiative. They were a recipient of MICA’s Leslie King-Hammond Award (2016) and the Faculty and Staff Queer Alliance Award (2015). They are a trustee of the Vermont Studio Center and a former VSC residency fellowship recipient (2012). el-Yasin has also served as a volunteer leader with numerous Connecticut-based non-profit organizations, including as Director/Curator of Arts Literature Laboratory (2002-2009).

Real Art Ways presents a solo exhibition of recent work by 2021 Real Art Award recipient Joe Bun Keo.

Connecticut-based artist Joe Bun Keo uses found and altered objects to create poetic installations and assemblages. His recent work is informed by personal experiences with mental health, debt, and Khmer (Cambodian) – American identity. In bitter melons / bitter pills, the artist presents a new body of work that focuses on sentimental, cultural and utilitarian values within the discussion of materiality and identity.

Joe Bun Keo (b. 1987) is a Khmer (Cambodian) – American artist living and working in Connecticut. His work “unpacks intergenerational trauma through the scope of ‘neomaterialism’ and the concept of ‘power objects.’”

From studio glass to American flameworking, Fired Up presents a major showing of contemporary glass work created out of the artists’ desire to connect with their material and engage greater conversations surrounding community. Discover over 50 glassmakers who are pushing boundaries, forging new paths, and inspiring people in support of this art. Beyond the exhibition, experience the magic of glass firsthand through a lineup of related programs and events, including live glassblowing demonstrations at the museum.

Using the materials and methods of photographic reproduction, artist Stephanie Syjuco researches museum collections and archives to explore America’s colonial history and the construction of its national identity. At the Wadsworth—established in 1842 and among the first art museums in the country—Syjuco studied the extensive object files and photographic archives of its founding collection of Hudson River School paintings, as well as the bequest of Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt, heir and widow of gun manufacturer and Hartford native Samuel Colt. These grand portraits, romanticized landscapes, and dramatic history paintings convey complex fables and shifting racial and patriarchal narratives. In the installation, the artist repositions these stories utilizing various photography-based modes of dissemination and reproduction—color transparencies, black-and-white photocopies, scholarly publications, photographic murals, and new digital photography—that focus, confuse, and conceal imagery to produce new readings. By investigating the art collection through the lens of museum departments tasked with its administration and care, Syjuco considers how museum stewardship stands as a metaphor for the United States itself, a country in a constant state of invention.

In Every Little Thing, Rashmi uses photo collage to explore environmental challenges faced by our planet. Her recent series, Modern Archaeology, depicts industrial relics and abandoned factories as they are reclaimed by nature’s relentless march against man-made waste and environmental abuse. Created by assembling fragments from a personal collection of photographs, Rashmi’s collages use everyday objects to represent a collision between the past and our constantly changing present. Together the works lay out a narrative of our previous and current societal successes and failures.

Bring your kids, or don’t. You definitely don’t need an excuse to ride the historic 1914 Stein & Goldstein Carousel because it frickin’ rules. Pro tip: the best seat in the house is on a horse named Freedom.

November 25-December 18
Friday-Sunday 12-5PM

Holiday Hours:
December 23 12-5PM
December 24-25 CLOSED
December 27-30 12-5PM
December 31 3-10PM
January 1 CLOSED

This winter, the Connecticut Convention Center will transform into a dazzling Christmas wonderland. Glow invites you to celebrate the magic of the season at a one-of-a-kind Holiday Light Festival and Market.

It’s a wonderful time to be back at Hartford Stage! Watch as an ensemble brings dozens of characters to the stage alongside a live sound effects “foley” artist in the style of a 1940s radio show, broadcast straight from our theatre. This festive American holiday classic tells the story of the idealistic George Bailey in conflict with the Scrooge-like Mr. Potter, and of the greater community coming together to show George how much his life truly matters on a fateful Christmas Eve.

Pratt Street is transformed into an open-air, outdoor holiday market. Each weekend, you can shop from local artisans, enjoy live musical performances and demonstrations, eat and drink at the street’s restaurants and bars, and visit Pratt Street retail businesses.

Hours
November 26-December 18
Saturdays & Sundays 11AM-3PM

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. After you’ve hollied your jollies at the Winterfest ice skating rink, take a brisk seasonal stroll to Union Station for some holiday shopping at Winterfair.