MoCA CT

Collecting 501: Buying Selling Loaning Art + Tax Planning
2025-10-16 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
MoCACT’s series ‘On the Art of Collecting’ continues with ‘Collecting 501: Buying Selling Loaning Art + Tax Planning.’

Join us for an information packed session. This series is generously sponsored by Wealthspire Advisors.

October 16, 2025
5:30pm cocktails
6-7pm program

Register here

Docent-Led Exhibition Tour
2025-10-18 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-10-25 13:00 - 14:30 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Learn more about the current exhibition from an expert docent. No advance registration required; all tours included in Museum admission. Remember, gallery admission is FREE for MoCA Members.

Performing Arts at MoCA: Caity Gyorgy (Jazz)
2025-10-19 16:00 - 17:30 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Discover the thrill of live jazz at MoCACT with Caity Gyorgy, a three-time JUNO Award-winning vocalist and Jazz at Lincoln Center artist. Known for her dazzling bebop and swing, Gyorgy has lit up stages around the world — from Tokyo’s Cotton Club to Live From Emmett’s Place — and now she brings that same electric energy to Westport for one night only.
This is your chance to experience an international jazz sensation at the height of her career. With her 2025 JUNO-winning album Hello! How Are You? and her brand-new release Asking For Trouble, Caity delivers a performance that blends timeless swing with fresh originality. Seats are limited — secure your tickets today and be part of an unforgettable evening of world-class jazz at MoCACT.
MoCACT Members receive 10% discount
General Admission: $50
Senior/Student: $40
Purchase Tickets

Sessions at MoCACT: Reflections by ECCB
2025-10-30 19:30 - 21:00, 2025-10-31 19:30 - 21:00 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
REFLECTIONS by East Coast Contemporary Ballet

Thursday, October 30 & Friday, October 31
7:30 pm

This mixed repertory program spotlights two premieres by director Claire Mazza and company artist Bret Coppa that introspectively delve into varying elements of human nature.
Prepare to be transported and delighted by enchanting music, dazzling costume engrossing choreography and exquisite dancers.

Tickets Here.

Collecting 601: A Case Study in Building a Collection
2025-11-13 16:30 - 18:00 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
MoCACT’s series ‘On the Art of Collecting’ continues with ‘Collecting 601: A Case Study in Building a Collection.’

Join us for an information packed session. This series is generously sponsored by Wealthspire Advisors.

November 13, 2025
4:30pm cocktails
5-6pm program

Register here

Opening Reception: Enough Already
2025-11-13 18:00 - 20:00 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Register Here: $10 general, $8 for seniors + students
Enough Already (formerly titled Riveting) was organized by the Dayton Art Institute and curated by Jerry Smith + Mariah Postlewait.
The MoCACT presentation is organized by the museum’s Arts Advisory Committee.
Enough Already presents extraordinary art by contemporary women artists drawn from the significant private collection of Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell. This bold exhibition expresses the collectors’ personal interest in finding emergent artistic voices and powerful artistic statements that speak to prominent social issues of the day, including those relating to LGBTQ+ communities and reproductive rights. All major mediums are included: paintings, sculptures, works on paper, photographs and textiles. Themes range from humorous and irreverent to thought-provoking.
The show will feature internationally recognized artists including Louise Bourgeois, Deborah Butterfield, Barbara Kruger, Ana Mendieta, Catherine Opie, Cindy Sherman, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, Mickalene Thomas, and Carrie Mae Weems, featured alongside under-recognized artists. One of the highlights will be Carolee Schneemann’s Interior Scroll (1974/75), a groundbreaking achievement of feminist art that remains relevant and controversial to this day.
Sara Vance Waddell is a Cincinnati-based arts philanthropist and advertising media executive who has been consciously collecting feminist-leaning art over much of the past decade.
Programming Overview
To accompany the exhibition, MoCACT will host a series of special programs, including conversations, performances, and film screenings:

On the Art of Collecting with Sara Vance Waddell | Thursday, November 13, 4:30pm
Opening Reception | Thursday, November 13, 6–8pm
Storyfest: Short films + spoken word performances curated by Dusty McCullough | Saturday, November 22, 6pm
Film Screening: Bloodroot followed by Q+A with Anne Laurie Medonis and book signing with Emily Larned | Tuesday, December 2, 6pm
Adult art workshop: Encaustic collage with Leslie Giuliani – December 4, 12pm
Community Conversation: Gallery talk with Luciana McClure Lewis – January 8, 6pm
Teen art workshop: Mixed media with Peri Pfenninger – January 17, 1–4pm
Community Conversation: Gallery talk with Kathryn Turley-Sonne – January 29, 6pm
Film screening: Eva Hesse followed by a Q+A with Marcie Begleiter – February 6, 6pm

Note: This exhibition contains nude images and addresses sexual relations, reproductive rights and violence.

Ten-Minute Play Festival by A Chronicles
2025-11-19 14:00 - 15:30, 2025-11-19 19:00 - 20:30 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
A Chronicles Presents:
Winners of its Annual 10-Minute Play Festival
Visionary, Absurd, Heartbreaking.
Nine Playwrights on Reproductive Rights
November 19: 2-3:30 PM & 7-8:30 PM
MoCACT Members receive 10% off tickets
General Admission: $25
Student: $25
Tickets Here.

Planet Female Global StoryFest
2025-11-22 18:00 - 22:00 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Register here: $50 general, $40 seniors, $20 students
Connecticut’s female-centered story festival established in 2024, is thrilled to announce it’s second year of storytelling by creators from around the globe at MoCACT. The festival will feature short narrative, documentary, experimental films and series pilots form female and female-identifying creators, as well as spoken word poetry, music video, live narrative storytelling, and stage and screenplay readings. The “Best of Fest” awards will be presented after the final story block.

Film Screening: A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot (2025)
2025-12-02 18:00 - 20:30 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Register here: $10 general, $8 seniors + students, free for members
In conjunction with our fall + winter exhibition, Enough Already: Women Artists from the Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell Collection, join us for a special screening of A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot (2025), a 97 minute feature-length documentary directed by Annie Laurie Medonis.
This intimate film follows Selma Miriam and Noel Furie, two women who left their marriages, became life partners, and co-founded Bloodroot, a feminist bookstore and vegetarian restaurant in Bridgeport, Connecticut. For over forty years, they have nurtured a space for radical thinking, nourishing food, and community care.
This event is part of MoCACT’s ongoing exploration of feminist voices in art, culture, and community through Enough Already. We invite you to share in an evening of thoughtful storytelling and meaningful conversation.
Following the film screening will be a Q+A with Bloodroot co-founder, Noel Furie and the director of the documentary, Annie Laurie Medonis.
There will also be a book signing of Emily Larned’s 40 Years of Bloodroot: Our daily lives have to be a satisfaction in themselves—an award-winning book documenting the legendary feminist vegetarian restaurant and bookstore. The book comprises personal-political essays by founders Selma Miriam and Noel Furie and photographs by Noel.
Annie Laurie Medonis’ Bio:
Annie Laurie Medonis is an award-winning filmmaker whose work spans genres and subjects, from domestic violence to female athletes and cats. Her films, shown at festivals nationwide, aim to uplift and inspire through emotional storytelling. She believes in creating art that motivates others to act: “My intention is for people to be inspired and go out and create something for themselves.”
culinaryuprisingfilm.com
Noel Furie’s Bio:
Noel Furie is a pioneering feminist, photographer, and co-founder of Bloodroot, the 48-year-old radical lesbian vegan restaurant and bookstore in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Through photo essays and creative witnessing, she documented women’s lives, domestic spaces, and acts of resistance. Through her lens, she captured the women who gathered, worked, and visited Bloodroot, chronicling the evolution of feminist culture around them. Currently she is operating and working at Bloodroot and continuing to feed generations.
Bloodroot.com
Emily Larned’s Bio:
Emily Larned has been publishing as an artistic practice since 1993, when as a teenager she published her first zine. Through her imprint Alder & Frankia (est. 2016), she publishes new collaborations from feminist archives, including Our daily lives have to be a satisfaction in themselves: 40 years of Bloodroot, an AIGA 50 Books | 50 covers winner. Her current publication/exhibition from feminist archives, Workshopping at WSW, is installed at Women’s Studio Workshop (Rosendale, NY) through January 2026. She is an Associate Professor of Art in Graphic Design at the University of Connecticut.
emilylarned.com

MoCACT Presents: Emmet Cohen Trio
2025-12-11 19:00 - 20:30 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Emmet Cohen is one of today’s most exciting jazz pianists—a Jazz at Lincoln Center artist, winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards, and an internet sensation whose YouTube performances have been viewed over 16 million times. His trio delivers performances full of energy, soul, and masterful improvisation, making jazz thrilling for longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to experience live jazz at its very best in MoCACT’s intimate gallery space. Reserve your seats now for an unforgettable night of music.
“…supremely gifted and impassioned artist of the highest order.” – All About Jazz
MoCACT members receive 10% off tickets.
General Admission: $75Senior: $65Student: $50
Tickets Here.

About Emmet Cohen:
Cohen has achieved a comprehensive position in the world of the creative arts that extends beyond keyboard performance; he is devoted to teaching and presenting new concepts to students. Cohen serves as an international clinician, visiting schools and colleges offering master classes, hosting performances, and giving lectures. In years past Cohen has supported developing artists through his
work with Jazz at Lincoln Center and the YoungArts Foundation, of which he is an alumnus. He creates an educational atmosphere which encourages student performers to be responsive to their audiences.
Emmet Cohen was the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards and the Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association; as such he served as Artist-in-Residence at the University of Indianapolis. In 2023 the Jazz Journalists Association named Cohen Pianist of the Year and Live-stream Producer of the Year for “Live From Emmet’s Place.” He won both the 2014 American Jazz Pianists Competition and the 2011 Phillips Piano Competition at the University of West Florida and, as a finalist in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition, he was received in the Oval Office by President Obama.
Cohen has appeared in varied international jazz events, including the Newport, Monterey, Detroit, North Sea, Bern, Edinburgh, and Jerusalem jazz festivals, as well as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. He has also performed at the Village Vanguard, the Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club, Birdland, Jazz Standard, London’s Ronnie Scott’s, Jazzhaus Montmartre in Copenhagen, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall, the Cotton Club in Tokyo, and Washington’s Kennedy Center. For many years he was Hammond B-3 organist-in-residence at Harlem’s SMOKE jazz club.
In addition to leading the “Emmet Cohen Trio,” Cohen has appeared regularly with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Houston Person, Kurt Elling, and Billy Hart, among others, and is a member of Christian McBride’s “Tip City” trio and the “Herlin Riley Quintet.” He is a Mack Avenue recording artist whose premier releases on that label demonstrate his 21st century recalibration of Harlem’s “stride” piano style: “Uptown in Orbit” (2022) showcases trumpeter Sean Jones and saxophonist Patrick Bartley, and “Future Stride” (2021) features Marquis Hill and Melissa Aldana. Cohen’s other recordings include “Vibe Provider” (2024), a tribute to Funmi Onanaiye; “Masters Legacy Series Volume 5: Houston Person” (2023); “Masters Legacy Series Volume 4: George Coleman” (2019); “Masters Legacy Series Volume 3: Benny Golson and Tootie Heath” (2019); “Dirty in Detroit” (2018); “Masters Legacy Series Volume 2: Ron Carter” (2018), a “Downbeat” top-rated album; “Masters Legacy Series Volume 1: Jimmy Cobb” (2017); “Questioned Answer” (2014), co-produced with Brian Lynch; “Infinity” (2013), featuring his Italian trio: and his acclaimed debut CD “In the Element” (2011), with bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Rodney Green.
Cohen holds a Masters Degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelors Degree from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, where he studied with the esteemed pianist and educator Shelly Berg. In his formative years he was tutored in classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music’s Pre-College Division.
A dynamic and charismatic performer, Emmet Cohen possesses wide-ranging talents that are invigorating the contemporary arts world both in the U.S. and abroad and are received enthusiastically worldwide.
Emmet Cohen is a YAMAHA artist.

MoCA/CT Health & Safety Policy
Click here for the most up-to-date health and safety guidelines.
Refund & Weather Policy
Tickets are transferable to another concert of your choice or other individuals. If a concert is cancelled due to weather conditions, tickets will be valid for the rescheduled date. Please consider the price of unused tickets as a donation. No refunds will be issued.

Art Adventures
2026-01-03 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-01-10 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-01-17 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-01-24 12:00 - 13:30 | MoCA Westport, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, CT, 06880, United States
Your child can join us every Saturday for a relaxed and inspiring drop-in art class at the museum!
MoCA/CT Art Studio Classroom – entrance in back
$25.00/per child
Ages 4+
Book Now: https://checkout.mocact.org/EventAvailability?EventId=401

Community Conversation: Luciana McClure Lewis on The Language of Feminist Resistance
2026-01-08 18:00 - 19:30 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Register here: $10 general, $8 seniors + students, free for members
What does resistance look like in art?
Join us for an exploration of The Language of Feminist Resistance, an informal gallery talk unpacking the power, nuance, and defiance behind the exhibition Enough Already: Women Artists from the Sara M. And Michelle Vance Waddell Collection. Whether or not these women artists identified as feminists, these artists challenged dominant narratives, subverted expectations, and carved out space for new ways of thinking about what it means to be a woman in the world.
Through themes of the body, domesticity, and quiet refusal, we’ll examine how art becomes a tool of resistance, and why this language still speaks urgently today.
Luciana McClure Lewis’ Bio:
Luciana McClure Lewis is a Visiting Instructor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at University of Connecticut (UConn) in the Department of Social and Critical Inquiry. She is also the lead founder and organizer of the Feminist collective Nasty Women Connecticut. She received her master’s degree from Southern Connecticut State University’s department of Women’s and Gender Studies (SCSU), and her bachelor’s degree from Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) in Studio Art with a concentration in Photography. She is past recipient of awards from the Connecticut Office of the Arts and the Arts Council of the Greater New Haven. She recently chaired a day-long symposium during College Art Association (CAA) Annual Conference under The Feminist Art Project, titled: A New Era: Art, Activism and Abortion in Post Roe America.

Community Conversation with Kathryn Turley-Sonne
2026-01-29 18:00 - 19:30 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Register Here: $10 general, $8 for seniors + students
Join MoCACT for a dynamic panel discussion that considers both the exhibition Enough Already: Women Artists from the Sara M. + Michelle Vance Waddell Collection and the groundbreaking work of Carolee Schneemann featured within it. Moderated by Kathryn Turley-Sonne (PhD), professor, writer, and an organizer of the exhibition, the conversation will situate Schneemann’s practice within the broader context of the exhibition’s 80-plus works by modern and contemporary women artists who challenge conventions around gender, identity, and social change. Joining Turley-Sonne is Rachel Churner, art critic, editor, and director of the Carolee Schneemann Foundation.
The talk will highlight three Schneemann works currently on loan and on view at MoCACT: Interior Scroll (1974/1975), photographs documenting her influential 1975 performance, and The Message (1974), a drawing that extends the visual and conceptual vocabulary of her performance practice. These works will serve as a lens through which the panel explores themes central to Enough Already, including the body, agency, and the politics of representation in feminist art.
This program takes place on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 6pm at MoCACT, in conjunction with the exhibition’s run through February 15, 2026. Attendees are invited to experience the exhibition before the program and to join an engaging conversation about Schneemann’s legacy and the ongoing impact of women artists in shaping contemporary visual culture.

Art Adventures
2026-01-31 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-02-07 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-02-14 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-02-21 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-02-28 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-03-07 12:00 - 13:30 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Book Now: https://checkout.mocact.org/EventAvailability?EventId=401
Your child can join us every Saturday for a relaxed and inspiring drop-in art class at the museum!
MoCA/CT Art Studio Classroom – entrance in back
$25.00/per child
Ages 4+

Westport Writers Workshop at MoCACT
2026-02-05 18:00 - 20:00 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Join us for an inspired evening of art and writing. We’ll use MoCACT’s current exhibition “Enough Already” as a portal into our own creativity. In this workshop we’ll identify the elements of the exhibited art that most capture our imagination and use this as a jumping-off point. We’ll linger in the unfamiliar space and write from there. Following individual and collaborative exercises, we’ll share our writing with each other and give positive feedback. For those who wish to take this a step further, we’ll share tools for how to transform these ideas and musings into stories and essays.
Book Now: https://checkout.mocact.org/EventAvailability?EventId=15201

Studio Visit with Artist Constance Old (Members Only)
2026-02-10 15:00 - 16:30
MoCACT Members Only – FREE
Go behind the scenes at the New Canaan studio of local artist Constance Old, whose upcycled, immersive works featured at MoCACT examine consumer culture through material, process, and collection. Learn about her creative process, including the story behind her bold wallpaper featured in the lobby outside the Enough Already exhibition. 60-90 minutes. (Limited to 12 attendees. Transportation not included. Location to be sent after registration.)
Book now: https://checkout.mocact.org/EventAvailability?EventId=15601

Opening Reception: Art, Jazz + The Blues with WestPAC
2026-02-26 18:00 - 20:00 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Register Here For the Opening Reception.
Art, Jazz + the Blues is a collaboration between the Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC) + MoCACT.
This exhibit, curated by Anne Boberski, Ive Covaci and the WestPAC Committee—explores the powerful intersections between visual art and music, drawing from the rich holdings of the Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC).
The exhibition centers on Giants of the Blues, a sweeping series of seven group portraits by Westport native Eric von Schmidt (1931–2007) honoring blues, jazz, and folk musicians from the 1920s to the 1960s. Complementing von Schmidt’s paintings are approximately forty artworks from the WestPAC collection depicting musicians, inspired by musical themes, or exploring the resonances between musical and visual forms. A selection of important loans from galleries, museums, artists and private collections deepen the conversation, and a screening room features historic performance footage of musicians portrayed in von Schmidt’s paintings. As the jazz great Charlie Parker once said, the show invites visitors to “hear with your eyes and see with your ears.”
Westport has long been home to a thriving community of artists and musicians. Since the early 20th century, the town has attracted generations of illustrators, painters, performers, composers, and cultural innovators, and this exhibition highlights the interconnections between artists in our own community and their relationship to broader national and international movements. Today, music and the visual arts remain a vital part of Westport’s identity, nurtured through its many performing arts venues, public art collection, schools awarded for excellence in music and arts education, and creative networks. Art, Jazz + the Blues celebrates this legacy while looking forward to its vibrant future.
Eric von Schmidt’s deep connection to blues and folk music traces back to his youth in Westport, where he often painted alongside his father, esteemed illustrator Harold von Schmidt (1893–1982). He fell in love with the blues when he heard Leadbelly on the radio, and early exposure to the Smithsonian’s music archives ignited a lifelong passion. After graduating from Staples High School and studying at the Art Students League and in Italy on a Fulbright, von Schmidt moved to Cambridge, MA, where he became a central figure in the American folk revival. A prolific artist, performer, and mentor to musicians like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, von Schmidt also designed album covers and authored prize-winning books on music. Dylan once described him as “a man who can sing the bird off the wire and the rubber off a tire.”
MoCACT is grateful to the generous support of Art, Jazz + the Blues sponsors Conlon Amendola, Attorneys at Law + Design Within Reach + The Ellis Family + Bill and Jodi Felton + Hofstetter Baron Group + Honda of Westport + KMS Team at COMPASS + Cynthia and Carl Muller + Joyce Pauker + Russell Insurance + Sabina and Harlan Stone + The Joyce Thompson Art Fund
MoCACT is also grateful to the generous support of Art, Jazz + the Blues partners A&S Fine Foods + Chocolatieree/ Laureen “Ree” Haynes + Imageworks + Westport Journal + Dan Woog/ 06880 + WPKN + WSHU

Film Screening and Conversation: Gordon Parks’ Leadbelly (1976)
2026-02-28 16:00 - 19:00 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Register here: $10 general, $8 seniors + students, free for members
Join us for a special screening of Leadbelly (1976), photographer and director Gordon Parks’ powerful semi-biographical film about the life and music of Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, the legendary blues musician, songwriter, and cultural icon.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with Prof. Sheila Curran Bernard, author of Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies (2024). An Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker with credits on nearly 50 hours of programming, mostly in prime time on PBS (including Slavery by Another Name and Eyes on the Prize), she is the Glen Trotiner Professor of Visual Storytelling in the Department of History at the University at Albany, SUNY, and director of its Graduate Program in Public History.
She will share her thoughts on the film and her book’s insights into Lead Belly’s complex story, while highlighting the local connections of this giant of American music whose songs and spirit continue to shape our music today.
This screening is in conjunction with Westport Public Art Collections—Art, Jazz + the Blues on view through April 26.

Prof. Sheila Curran Bernard + her book Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies (2024).

Gallery Talk with the Curators of Art, Jazz + the Blues
2026-03-05 17:30 - 19:30 | MoCACT, 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport, 06880, United States
Register here: $10 general, $8 seniors + students, free for members
WestPAC curators of Art, Jazz + the Blues, Anne Boberski and Ive Covaci will lead a guided tour through the exhibition, emphasizing the local connections of the artists, artworks, and musicians in the show. This conversation will begin with a guitar performance with Tim Cole at 5:30pm.
