15 Museums For $25—

Connecticut Art Trail Launches Art Pass

On May 1, the state-wide Connecticut Art Trail will launch an Art Pass valid for admission to all 15 world-class museums and historic sites on the Trail. For just $25 per person, a visitor can experience all properties for a two-week period determined by the purchaser. Children age 12 and under are free when accompanied by an adult.

The Art Pass will available for purchase only online, at ArtTrail.org.

The Connecticut Art Trail is a nationally recognized partnership between 15 world class museums and historic sites, created to promote Connecticut’s rich cultural assets as part of a travel experience.

The trail was launched in 1995 as the Connecticut Impressionist Art Trail, celebrating the state’s ten museums and historic sites which highlighted American Impressionism. Ten years later another five museums were added and the trail’s name changed to simply Connecticut Art Trail, and then last year one more museum was added to the trail (while one of the others dropped off).

In Fairfield County the Art Trail members are The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Bush-Holley Historic Site in Cos Cob/Greenwich, The Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, and Weir Farm National Historic Site in Wilton-Ridgefield.

Yale Center for British Art and Yale University Art Gallery, both in New Haven, are also on the trail.

Litchfield Hills area museums include The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield; and Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center, Waterbury.

Mystic Country museums are The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme; Lyman Allen Art Museum, New London; Slater Memorial Museum-Norwich Free Academy Campus, Norwich; and The William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut, Mansfield-Storrs.

And the museums in the River Valley are Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington; New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain; and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford.

The Art Pass makes it easy to visit more than one museum, eliminates waiting in line to buy a ticket, and offers great savings. From bucolic farms, art studios and former artists’ boardinghouses to grand and modern art museums in vibrant downtowns, visitors will discover diverse, quality collections rich in history and heritage, including European masterpieces, American Impressionism, ancient art and contemporary culture.

The website also offers recommended lodging, dining and area attractions near each museum, special Lodging Packages, and Trail Getaway itineraries for each region.