This week as we continue to celebrate Connecticut in Color: Making History, we want to tell you about a hidden gem you may not have realized is here in our state.
The Amistad Center for Art and Culture is inside of the Wadsworth Atheneum in downtown Hartford.
The center was the backdrop for our most recent episode of Connecticut in Color. The Amistad houses more than 7,000 pieces of art and artifacts that rotate on display in the center’s space on the Wadsworth’s second floor.
Recently, NBC Connecticut spoke with Kimberly Kersey, the center’s executive director, about what makes the Amistad Center so important.
“We hold a special place in the community. We offer the art, but we also offer a full complement of cultural experience as well. I’d invite you to come visit us year round and take advantage of the book readings, the gallery talks, the artist talks” says Kersey.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
During Black History Month, the center hosted “Freedom and Fragility,” an exhibition about African American history, struggle and the strides made.
The center offers programming year round like screenings, readings and performances in person and virtually, with the goal of showing visitors the richness of black history past and present.
Local
“I think about where we’ve come from and the strides that we’ve made. We’ve had our first Black president. We now have our first Black vice president. We’ve come an incredible way. But there’s still so much work to be done” says Kersey.
The Amistad Center is set to welcome an artist in residence in 2021. The emerging young artist will spend 18 months building a body of work that will debut at the center at the end of their residency.
Learn more about the Amistad Center at their website: https://www.amistadcenter.org/
