Posts by Connecticut Arts Alliance

Reduced government funding, declining ticket sales and pandemic closures contribute to challenges facing theaters. It’s Saturday night at the New Haven Food Terminal complex. The parking lot is deserted and there’s an eerie quiet. For 57 years at Long Wharf Theatre some of the finest productions of American theater were produced, presented and premiered, many with stars…

Of the 188 people chosen to be Guggenheim Fellows in 2024, quite a few have ties to Connecticut. The awards have been given annually since 1925 and are considered among the most prestigious honors given to leading figures in arts, sciences and humanities. Most of the Connecticut-related names on this year’s list are affiliated with Yale University. Yale…

New Haven Harbor and the Q Bridge will serve as the backdrop for Long Wharf Theatre’s latest production, “A View from the Bridge” which runs Feb. 10 through March 10 at New Haven’s Canal Dock Boathouse. Arthur Miller’s play is about an Italian-American family living in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. New Haven’s waterfront…

Call them dances to spring. The winter has been largely subdued, with some plants, trees and mosses never succumbing to the chill. That is the same sort of freshness, vitality and perseverance that marks modern dance in Connecticut this year. The state has been a key stop for nationally touring dance troupes for a century or more,…

Hartford librarian among 9 awarded for work in community Gabbie Barnes is a multi-faceted woman who continually seeks ways to expand her knowledge and set forth on new journeys, she said. “It’s important to me that we move through the world looking for opportunities to transform ourselves and how we relate to one another,” said…

The Westville Performing Arts Center (WPAC)—a community art space run by the nonprofit organization Arts in CT—is now homeless. After three years running drama, music, dance, and visual arts classes on the second floor of the former Saint Aedan’s Parish school building, Arts in CT Executive Director Barbara Alexander turned in the keys on Jan. 17 following what…

Yale University’s $163 million Schwarzman Center is not only a new hub for students, but adds to downtown New Haven’s arts, entertainment and social scene, officials said. “I don’t think there’s a space like this, not just in Connecticut, but anywhere,” said the center’s Executive Director Rachel Fine. The center is named for billionaire Blackstone founder and 1969 alum Stephen…

Iranian artist Minoo Emami was in the gallery preparing for a daring, almost unthinkable piece of performance art. On Nov. 11, Veterans Day, Emami destroyed 22 of her paintings by fire, including early works dating back to 1998. Many of the paintings depict artificial limbs in whimsical, but sometimes surreal and dark settings. “I love my paintings,…

From high-tech helicopters to “the country’s best pizza,” medical breakthroughs and aerospace, Connecticut’s innovative culture and quality of life makes it an ideal place to live, work and grow a business, according to the state’s new marketing campaign. Gov. Ned Lamont launched a $1.5 million campaign Tuesday to hammer home Connecticut’s best qualities. It is as…

A national arts advocacy organization, Americans for the Arts, found that spending by arts and cultural organizations in 2022 supported 2.6 million jobs nationwide, $152 billion in spending and $29 billion in income and sales tax revenue to local, state and federal governments. The group’s latest report, “Arts & Economic Prosperity 6,” argues that “Nonprofit arts…