Events

MoCA\CT presents Looking for History, featuring three artists, Rick Shaefer, Ellen Harvey, and Michael Borders—each presented in their own dedicated gallery space at varying intervals over the course of the exhibition from June 25 to November 15, 2026. In recognition of the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026, the Museum invites visitors into distinct yet interconnected conversations about our nation’s past, present, and potential future. Rick Shaefer | Colossi On view June 25 – November 15, 2026 With consummate draftsmanship, Rick Shaefer’s Colossi presents a series of monumental landscape drawings, each dominated by an imposing wall that eventually encircles the globe. Past, present, and futuristic machinery coexist, conveying infinite ambition and posing the timeless question: Are we walling in or walling out? The installation includes Shaefer’s poignant drawing Water Crossing from the Refugee Trilogy, and the evocative series Liberty Dismantled. Diagrams and videos explore Shaefer’s art historical inspirations and engage viewers in a meditation on the boundaries that define our world. Shaefer has had solo exhibitions at the Fairfield University Art Museum, the National Academy of Design, and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. Rick Shaefer, Siege (2023), charcoal on synthetic vellum (three panels), 84 x 114 inches Rick Shaefer, The Northern Wall (2024), charcoal on […]

With consummate draftsmanship, Rick Shaefer’s Colossi presents a series of monumental landscape drawings, each dominated by an imposing wall that eventually encircles the globe. Past, present, and futuristic machinery coexist, conveying infinite ambition and posing the timeless question: Are we walling in or walling out? The installation includes Shaefer’s poignant drawing Water Crossing from the Refugee Trilogy, and the evocative series Liberty Dismantled. Diagrams and videos explore Shaefer’s art historical inspirations and engage viewers in a meditation on the boundaries that define our world. Shaefer has had solo exhibitions at the Fairfield University Art Museum, the National Academy of Design, and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.

Michael Borders’s panoramic Connecticut Industry—a 10-foot by 40-foot mural with eight panels representing each of the state’s counties.—immerses visitors in our state’s industrial evolution. Through 25 years of research, Borders documents the interplay of the landscape, machinery, products, and the people that built Connecticut spanning more than 350 years. Today, as the industrial landscape is undergoing a technological transformation, Borders’s vision makes us wonder what automation and artificial intelligence will bring to future generations. Borders has exhibited his work at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and the New Britain Museum of American Art. Admission Free for all MoCA\CT members; $10 admission for non-members; $8 admission for seniors and students. Reserve here. Gallery Hours Thursday: 12-8 PM Friday: 12-5 PM Saturday: 10 AM-5 PM Sunday: 12-5 PM

Art Adventures! - Saturday Drop-In Art Class for Kids 10/17 Saturday, October 17, 2026, 12PM-1:30PM MoCA/CT Art Studio Classroom - entrance in back $25.00/per child Ages 4+ Your child can join us every Saturday for a relaxed and inspiring drop-in art class at the museum! Whether your child is an experienced artist or just looking to have fun, our multi-media classes offer a creative space to explore new techniques and expression through art. Each session is designed to be fun, interactive, and hands-on, with a focus on encouraging your child's unique artistic voice. Each class will feature a new theme or project, including painting, drawing, sculpture, and collage so they can come back week after week to try something fresh and create their own masterpieces. Materials are provided. Come create, connect, and have fun with art!

Saturday, October 17, 2026 in the MoCACT art studio 1:45PM-2:45PM Donations Accepted - suggested $25.00 Adults with disabilities Through guided projects and open-ended exploration, artists will strengthen their personal style, experiment with mixed media, painting, drawing, sculpture, and design, and gain confidence in creative decision-making. Emphasis is placed on self-expression, independence, and the joy of the creative process, with individualized instruction that meets each artist where they are. This class encourages artistic growth, curiosity, and community while celebrating each participant’s unique voice.

Art Adventures! - Saturday Drop-In Art Class for Kids 10/24 Saturday, October 24, 2026, 12PM-1:30PM MoCA/CT Art Studio Classroom - entrance in back $25.00/per child Ages 4+ Your child can join us every Saturday for a relaxed and inspiring drop-in art class at the museum! Whether your child is an experienced artist or just looking to have fun, our multi-media classes offer a creative space to explore new techniques and expression through art. Each session is designed to be fun, interactive, and hands-on, with a focus on encouraging your child's unique artistic voice. Each class will feature a new theme or project, including painting, drawing, sculpture, and collage so they can come back week after week to try something fresh and create their own masterpieces. Materials are provided. Come create, connect, and have fun with art!

Saturday, October 24, 2026 in the MoCACT art studio 1:45PM-2:45PM Donations Accepted - suggested $25.00 Adults with disabilities Through guided projects and open-ended exploration, artists will strengthen their personal style, experiment with mixed media, painting, drawing, sculpture, and design, and gain confidence in creative decision-making. Emphasis is placed on self-expression, independence, and the joy of the creative process, with individualized instruction that meets each artist where they are. This class encourages artistic growth, curiosity, and community while celebrating each participant’s unique voice.

Join MoCA/CT for an evening of conversation moderated by the Museum’s Executive Director, Robin Jaffee Frank, featuring artist Rick Shaefer; Avon Theatre Executive Director Peter H. Gistelinck; architect, educator, and urban-policy leader Rick Bell. Bell heads the Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space at Columbia University and previously served as Assistant Commissioner at the New York City Department of Design and Construction. Together, the panel will explore the ideas behind Shaefer’s monumental charcoal drawings, including history, ambition, preservation, infrastructure, and the human impulse to build boundaries. Shaefer’s drawings imagine the American landscape as a place altered by barriers, abandoned machinery, and signs of human control. Through his Colossi series, he places enormous walls in open landscapes, where they appear both ancient and strangely futuristic. These structures evoke familiar debates around borders, land use, and security, while also suggesting the failure of walls to resolve the larger fears that lead people to build them. His Baroque-inspired imagery and historical references link present-day concerns to older patterns of empire, territorial expansion, and the desire to control the natural world. Drawing on Bell’s experience in architecture, public space, sustainable urbanization, and the changing urban landscape, the conversation will connect Shaefer’s work to […]

Adult Class All materials included Step beyond the canvas and into an immersive, intuitive approach to Abstract Expressionism led by artist Melissa Benedek. Through color, movement, texture, music, and spontaneous mark-making, you’ll learn to quiet the inner critic, trust your instincts, and allow the painting to unfold organically. This is less about creating a “perfect” painting and more about letting go, exploring, and discovering what emerges when intuition takes the lead. No experience necessary, just curiosity, an open mind, and a willingness to create.

Enjoy an intimate evening with East Coast Contemporary Ballet featuring an excerpt from their upcoming Fall Season at the Quick Center and an interactive artist talk-back with the audience. The Salon Series offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at the rehearsal process of a current work-in-progress with the opportunity to see the dancers work through a piece and hear directly from the director, choreographer, costume designer and dancers.  ATTEND ONE OF OUR SALON SERIES AND RECEIVE 10% OFF YOUR TICKETS TO ECCB’S FALL SEASON DANCESCAPES ON NOVEMBER 7 AT THE QUICK CENTER FOR THE ARTS.     

Step inside the creative process with East Coast Contemporary Ballet for an intimate evening of dance, discovery, and conversation.

Art Adventures! - Saturday Drop-In Art Class for Kids 10/31 Saturday, October 31, 2026, 12PM-1:30PM MoCA/CT Art Studio Classroom - entrance in back $25.00/per child Ages 4+ Your child can join us every Saturday for a relaxed and inspiring drop-in art class at the museum! Whether your child is an experienced artist or just looking to have fun, our multi-media classes offer a creative space to explore new techniques and expression through art. Each session is designed to be fun, interactive, and hands-on, with a focus on encouraging your child's unique artistic voice. Each class will feature a new theme or project, including painting, drawing, sculpture, and collage so they can come back week after week to try something fresh and create their own masterpieces. Materials are provided. Come create, connect, and have fun with art!