Free admission We parked on street close bye…read moreI enjoyed my visit here, many famous paintings Free audio tour as well Many shops and restaurants near bye

This is a nice mid size museum at the edge of the Yale campus. We spent about two hours here. It…read morehas everything from sculptures to modern art pieces. The current exhibit on Indonesian textiles was very interesting. I also enjoyed the many pieces from Picasso and Kandinsky. They even have a Calder mobile. We also enjoyed the William Blake exhibit with his poems and prints. The staff was nice and friendly. The museum was clean and their map flyer really helped us navigate through the many rooms. Free admittance and free lockers are provided in the basement for our big purses, coats, and water bottles.

One of the best places to go in the Hartford area. It has an amazing collection of classic artwork…read moreand rotating collections of modern art. I've been many times and somehow I'm still surprised by some of the pieces on display (Van Gogh, Monet, Dali, etc.). They run various events and community days, and membership costs are very reasonable. Support the Arts!

I was miserable most of my time there. BUT. This was a great museum. I was miserable because the…read moreonly time I could go was on a Saturday, a free Saturday no less, on a day they had a festival, arts and crafts, and a Christmas tree event. So the crowds were INSANE. Like NYC level insane. That being said, I have lots of great things to say about this place, which underwent a huge renovation and modernization several years ago that was so good that the New York Times wrote an article saying it was "a masterpiece of renovation." The great hall is beautiful and though I don't care much for old school colonizer art, I was bummed it was teeming with Christmas trees and families, hindering my ability to take an artful photo to capture that masterpiece. The museum does a great job of mixing colors, styles, appreciating the classical, while also mixing in fun and modern elements. They have European art. Impressionist art. All that gold religious stuff. Modern art that's just some blocks and colors and makes you wonder, "is this really art?" They have a great surrealist section and a huge Dali painting, which is actually the marketing they used to get me here. They have some sculpture, some Greek sculpture and some contemporary art. I enjoyed the art by Black artists and art focusing on Black struggles in the Amistad Center, located on the third floor, though I wish this section was bigger. They had an Islamic art section, Chinese art, American art (most of what I saw was from the 20s through the 90s). I loved how each space was painted a rich, moody color. And the common spaces were full of patterns, stained glass, and multi-colored walls winding up the staircase. The staff were nice and helpful. I paid 20-something bucks for admission, but since I bought a ticket for a free Saturday, the staff was cool enough to contact me and ask me if I wanted a full refund. I told them to take the fee as a donation. I've seen almost all the museums in New York City, which is my favorite place in the world. But this one can hold its own. But if I ever visit again (which I doubt, cus who needs to see Hartford twice?)--I will avoid weekends and free days and definitely the Christmas tree festival!

I love this museum. It is worth visiting for the architecture alone. The beautiful light filled…read morespaces are the perfect backdrop to any artwork that they choose to exhibit. Also right up the hill from the museum, you can visit a collection of donkeys. Don't miss this Hudson Valley gem.

This is such a hidden gem in the area. Encourage everyone to check it out. The collection is…read moreamazing as well as the estate, and there are even animals on the grounds that you can pet. The only negative experience was the café. It was very expensive and the food was just OK and I also noticed that patrons who looked wealthy were treated a bit better with better service and their food coming out faster and extras like olive oil placed at their table. There were some guests that spoke Italian and just looked super wealthy and you could tell that the staff was just gushing over them, which was a bit of a turn off.

This museum was so mind blowing! I brought my friend here who is a workaholic and he said he…read moredefinitely needed this. The staff is very knowledgeable and helped so much with our journey through this magical place! From the outside it looks so small, but there is sooooo much to see on the inside. We didn't even finish the whole thing in the 2.5 hours that we were there. I loved the prison program art. How amazing!! I hope to be able to volunteer here one day :) Also, I must note that we ended up being there a little later than 5pm, but they didn't rush us to leave and wished us a nice day once departing. I can't wait to come back!

This is a small museum attached to winding country roads, and trees as far as the eyes can see…read more It's very country picture book-esque. They have two floors, and docents lurk everywhere available for questions. It's very open, it feels like a lot of space in the most of the rooms. They participate in the Connecticut Museum Passport, which made it worth the trip a little more... It was interesting, it was just small. The gift shop was also small, with very little personalized about the museum.

My second time here. It's an interesting building. Now this time the regular collection was not on…read moredisplay. They were nice about it and discounted the admission price. What was on display was Shirin Nishat Born of Fire . It's a pretty good exhibit.Iranian- American photographer. Wouldn't go out of my way to go but if you're in the area, worthwhile!

Parrish Art Museum is kind of hidden when you get past the main sign. It is in this building that…read moreon the outside you would not know that it is a museum. When you walk in there is a gift shop with very pretty objects. This museum is not big by any means but its a good size and has a few exhibits. One exhibit we saw was kAWS which I loved. This museum also has a cafe where you can get snacks and drinks. They also have some seating there. This museum is on a great piece of land so it has greenery all over. The staff here were nice and helpful.

This spring/summer's Raphael: Sublime Poetry exhibit was a sight to behold. 170 works by this…read moreartist known to us as Raphael (Raffaello di Giovanni Santi (1483-1520)) were displayed, many never reunited together for hundreds of years until now, the first comprehensive retrospective on his work in the US (at least according to the Met press release). Luckily I had the opportunity to check it out a week before closing, and the galleries were unsurprisingly packed to the brim. While slow-moving, thankfully most patrons were considerate of others, giving everyone a chance to appreciate each sketch, study, painting, or other media. I'll admit I went a little crazy with the photos, taking pics of almost all the works that I could, figuring when would be the next time I would see a collection such as this. It was incredible to glimpse preparatory sketches and see Raphael's style and ink/chalk work firsthand; it was like peering into the mind of a genius. Of the many paintings displayed, a couple themes stood out: the tenderness displayed in his Virgin and Child renderings, and the utmost detail he paid attention in his sketches on the human body. (And sidebar--one thing I've learned from this exhibit is Yelp's censorship of nudity is pretty strict, which I understand for relevant reasons, though slightly unfortunate when it comes to art, so I had to self-censor some pieces.) For more info: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/raphael-sublime-poetry

From ancient artifacts to the wonders of the world, there are numerous museums that meet all the…read morecriteria. There are a lot of things NYC does well, particularly its museums across the five boroughs. There are 80 museums, 32 of them in Manhattan. Opened in 1880 right next to the iconic Central Park, where New Yorkers call it Museum Mile, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, better known as the 'Met,' is one of New York's premier museums. It's considered the second most visited art museum in the world, slightly behind the Louvre in Paris, containing over 1.5 million pieces of art, some dating back thousands of years. My partner and I decided on a visit after 9 years and booked our tickets online. Once we stepped inside, the Great Hall was breathtaking, and from there it just feels like the museum goes on forever. It's impossible to see everything in one visit. We started out at the Costume Art, moving to a recently open exhibit, Rediscovering Della Robbia, Fabergé, revisiting the European sculpture, Arms and Armor & our favorite, the Impressionist at the 19th Century Paintings. The entire museum was welcoming, featuring spacious areas that allowed large crowds to navigate comfortably without crowding each other. The staff we encountered were all very professional, courteous, and knowledgeable about the areas of the museum. The Met offers something for everyone, whether one's a first-time visitor or a lifelong art lover.

Fabulous place. First time visitor and was bowled over by art exhibit. Free admission/free parking…read more Wonderful historic building. Strong recommendation.

This museum is small, so it allows you to have an up close and personal experience with the art…read morework. I was gory enough to see an exhibit by Bisa Butler in this space. The tickets were time which prevented over crowding. They also have a delightful sculpture garden to enjoy when the weather permits.

I loved my experience here. The art was beautiful, and I loved the different styles, materials, and…read moremediums that were used to create fine works of art. The influences of each piece were really interesting, and everything was beautiful. They even had an outdoor seating area where you could hang out and look at one of the beautiful sculptures in the back. The only reason why this review is three stars is that the security guards kept following us around the exhibits and watching us very closely as if we were going to touch something or steal something. It made me really uncomfortable. Although I loved the museum, they needed to chill a bit. I know how to visit museums being from NYC where they have pieces by the big names. I loved the artists here, though. They were really good and I was inspired.

"If a man could be two places at one time I'd be with you…read moreTomorrow and today Beside you all the way" (Bread) The Fairfield Art Museum has a split personality! That's because their wonderful painting and sculpture exhibits can be found in two separate and distinct buildings. The two locations are known as the Bellarmine Hall Galleries and the Walsh Gallery. You can walk from one to the other by following Bellarmine Road, it was a fairly easy walk. The Bellarmine Galleries are on the lower level of Fairfield University's main building. The space had previously been used for basement storage and underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation that opened the museum in 2010. They have some permanent exhibits dating from antiquity through the centuries, and many of them are religious themed. The paintings and artifacts are beautiful. The rotating exhibit displayed photographs. 'Famous & Family: Through the Lens of Trude Fleischmann'. She was a groundbreaking photographer that lived from 1895-1990. She loved taking portrait photos and I saw portraits of Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Leopold Stokowski among the 100 photos on display. The second museum space is known as the Walsh Gallery, and you'll find it inside the Quick Art Center. It's used to showcase special exhibitions and today's exhibition featured selections from Ireland's Great Hunger Museum. The exhibit looks at the impact of the Irish Famine of 1845-1852 through artwork produced by Irish and Irish American artists. Some of the paintings and sculptures were truly haunting, especially "Famine Ship", a sculpture crafted in 2000 by John Behan. His sculpture looks like an ordinary three masted ship, but if you look closely at the masts and the riggings you'll unveil dozens of intertwined bodies representing those that perished along the journey from Ireland to America. There was a guard and a very helpful docent in Bellarmine, and a guard with no docent at Walsh. Both halves of the museum are free and the walk along the campus from one to the other was very scenic and enjoyable. In fact, the art on Fairfield's campus isn't restricted to the museum. We saw plenty of public art sculptures all over the university grounds.

This museum is split between two buildings on the Fairfield University campus. I suppose they're…read morewithin walking distance of one another, but it would be a longer, uphill walk and both have parking nearby. The Bellarmine Hall Gallery is on the basement of a beautiful stone building sitting on top of the hilly campus. There is handicapped parking off O'Neil Way, and parking directly in front of the building (four spots). The hall has a lot of beautiful religious art from the 1500s, 1600s.. They are associated with the Met, and have other small examples of art from other cultures, some dating back to BCE. There is also a rotating exhibit, which at this time, the rotating exhibit is Japanese lacquer boxes. The Walsh Gallery is located in the Quick Art Center, and seems to be rotating exhibits. At this time, they have pieces from six Cuban artists. Both Galleries have extremely beautiful pieces and detailed descriptions explaining what you're looking at. Admission is free. Since both Galleries are on campus, check before going to make sure nothing has changed due to school breaks.