Art Lovers Don't Need to Go Far to Get a Great View

When you feel inspired to spend time appreciating art, it’s probably natural, living where we do, to think first of an excursion into New York City. 

There’s no denying that New York is one of the great cultural centers of the world. Days could be spent exploring the city’s art museums without exhausting its collections of great masters and emerging artists. 

But, when you’re looking for an hour or an afternoon’s indulgence in the visual arts, it’s also possible to satisfy yourself much closer to home.

Perhaps the most storied arts venue in the Norwalk area is the Silvermine Art Center, which traces its origins more formally to the early 1920s when a group of artists in the Silvermine art colony formed the Silvermine Guild. Current exhibitions include The center currently has four exhibitions, all of which end on April 1. Registration for art classes began on March 11.

The Center for Contemporary Printmaking in the old carriage barn of the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion calls itself "the only nonprofit organization between New York City and Boston solely dedicated to the art of the print," and the nonprofit organization usually has an exhibit. Right now, it's is up.

The has exhibitions, lectures, films and discussion groups. According to its Web site, the center's members include "some of the most professional artists in the area" along with plenty of amateur artists. The center  exists to sell and exhibit their art and to conduct classes. It's runs through March 27.

The Weir Farm Art Center in Wilton, “sustains and promotes the legacy of American artist Julian Alden Weir and preserves Weir Farm’s historic landscape and artistic tradition.” Connecticut’s only National Park, it’s also the only one dedicated to American painting.

A unique combination of park, historic site and arts center, it’s sure to provide inspiration as it did for the American impressionists who visited and painted here over 100 years ago. 

Celebrating 100 years, the Bruce Museum in Greenwich has a unique combination of offerings under one roof. The museum, as its website explains, “is a regionally based, world-class institution highlighting art, science and natural history.”

Among it’s current exhibitions, is  “Cindy Sherman: Works from Friends of the Bruce Museum”. Billed as its, “major winter exhibition featuring the work of one of today’s most influential artists,” this show, "is comprised of approximately 30 works, including large-scale black-and-white and color photographs, drawn from 10 local collections in Greenwich and the surrounding communities."

Ridgefield is home to The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, a beautiful space which houses, “one of the few non-collecting contemporary art museums in the United States.” 

Featuring the work of emerging and mid-career artists, it currently has on exhibition the work of Swiss artist, Thilo Hoffman, among others. Hoffmann’s work, “High School Portraits, features 14 area students as subjects.

At the Carriage Barn Arts Center in New Canaan, high school students are the artists, rather than the subjects. Beginning March 13, this charming space located on the grounds of Waveny Park, will feature, “Through Our Eyes, the work of 50 New Canaan High School art students. Admission to this show is free, so take advantage of the opportunity to get in on the ground floor with these young talents.