The 75-foot-long Brontosaurus at the newly opened Yale University Peabody Museum in New Haven, Conn., is the same dinosaur the museum has exhibited since 1931, but it looks different. It's a fresh pose. New front rib. The head position has been changed to a more interesting angle. His four-year renovation of the museum not only updated the nearly 100-year-old building, but also included overhauling fossil specimens that had been found to be inaccurate.
The Peabody update — adding 15,000 square feet to create more spacious galleries and dynamic exhibits — is long overdue. Like other Yale art museums, it is now free and offers more Spanish-language programming, with some exhibits interpreted by students and artists to help visitors understand what they are seeing. By opening the lens on how you respond to others, you're bringing more voices into the conversation. .
“We want to send a signal that there's more than one way to react and interpret what you're seeing,” said museum director David Skelly.
The concept of change that runs through Peabody's 19 galleries is emblematic of what's happening elsewhere in the city. For centuries, New Haven had branches specializing in maritime trade, railroads, industrial manufacturing, and education and medicine as home to Yale University and other institutions of higher learning.
Now one of The Times' 52 Places to Go in 2023, New Haven is entering a chapter driven by creativity and ingenuity. While Yale University continues to lend New Haven a certain prestige, the surrounding city boasts its own cultural capital in areas such as art, food, and music.
open studio, open mic
Yale University's museums have long been out of the spotlight, but energetic new facilities are on the rise. In the largely black and brown Dixwell neighborhood northwest of campus, residents Titus Kafer, a 2006 graduate of the Yale School of Art, and private equity manager Jason Price, Established NXTHVN. The organization was founded to mentor underrepresented artists and curators and focuses on community building and fellowship programs.
There are two low brick buildings that were once manufacturing plants, house artist studios, co-working spaces, and exhibition areas including the current “To Echo a Shadow,” curated by two NXTHVN fellows. There are also events that bring in local talent, such as a recent open mic with Shermont “Influence” Little, New Haven's poet laureate.
There's also a community feel throughout the city. Erector Square (his eight-building complex, which was once a factory that manufactured Erector sets and other toys) features 175 studios for artists, designers, musicians, and other creators, and is open to the public in the fall. will host an ambitious open studio weekend and smaller events. Throughout the year.
Talks, tours, workshops and gatherings are also part of the Ely Center for Contemporary Art. The public gallery hosts six solo and group exhibitions each year, and many of its talents share their work, such as last winter's “Revival: A Spiritual Journey” by Guyanese-born artist Stanwyck Cromwell. It was discovered through a public call for artists to participate.
The purpose of the International Arts & Ideas Festival is to showcase New Haven as a hub for the arts. Held each June, this celebration brings together artists, musicians, chefs, storytellers, and other creators and thinkers. Headliners like Jon Secada, Dolores Huerta, and this year Stockley Williams will take over the city's central greenery, while local artists will perform in six neighborhoods, showcasing the city's diverse culture. It represents heritage.
New Haven is “a city of creative entrepreneurs,” said Shelley Quiara, the festival's executive director. “People like to make things here.”
Back on campus, the Yale University Art Gallery offers more contemporary themes than many of the gallery's impressive collections, including ancient Southeast Asian gold and textiles, Greek and Roman mosaics and sculpture, and mid-19th century European paintings. On display are recent collections focusing on the. Collage of “feeding the nation” etc.” “Untitled (One Day This Kid)” by Kaphar and David Wojnarowicz” She confronts racism and homophobia in beautiful and haunting style.
The art gallery also currently features 25 paintings from the neighborhood across the street. The Yale Center for British Arts, located in the Louis I. Kahn Landmark, will be closed until next spring while parts of the building, including 224 domed plexiglass skylights, are repaired.
Cozy venue with celebrities
Connecticut's contributions to theater are largely unknown unless you know about them. Yale Repertory Theatre, known for its repertoire, counts Meryl Streep, Lupita Nyong'o, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Paul Giamatti among its alumni. Over the years, the 58-year-old theater, housed in a 19th-century Baptist church, has staged more than 100 of his first plays by playwrights such as August Wilson and Caryl Churchill.
Long Wharf Theater has a unique tradition of plays and world premieres, with more than 30 productions in New York. Two years ago, it relinquished its longtime home in the New Haven Food Terminal and now tours, presenting its work in spaces that reinforce the theme. Last year, a one-woman production of Joan Didion's “The Year of Magical Thinking” was performed in a variety of homes and spaces, and last winter, Arthur Miller's “A View from the Bridge” was performed on a canal dock boat in the city's harbor. It premiered at the House.
Before these venues existed, the Shubert Theater was the place for Broadway-bound shows. This theater closed between 1976 and 1983, as the city suffered from population decline and increased crime, but now his performances live in New Haven, including his ballets, are regular. It is being held on.
On the musical side, New Haven is always a great place to see a show. U2, the Rolling Stones, Ziggy Marley and other famous bands took to the stage at Toad's Place, giving legitimacy to the 47-year-old club's tagline: “Where the legends play!”
College Street Music Hall occupies a 2,000-person downtown venue. Westville Music Bowl, located on Yale University's athletics campus, offers an outdoor option during the warmer months. Small-scale jazz, funk, and rockabilly artists also fill spots such as Café His Nine and Jazzies in the stately 9th Square district.
So. many. food.
New Haven's famous pizza (the thin coal-fired style known as “pizza”) is delicious and good value, but there's more to the dining scene than that.
Located on the city's waterfront, you can enjoy seafood while admiring the view. Once home to a thriving oyster industry, City Point's Shell and Bones is a must-see. The spacious dining room, with stunning harbor and sunset views, is the perfect place to sip a martini over a platter of Rhode Island Ninigrette oysters or Milanese swordfish.
Less fancy, but no less delicious, is award-winning chef Emily Mingrone's Fair Haven Oyster House Company. A 28-seat little delight on the Quinnipiac River, it makes good use of its waterfront deck for additional seating and has access to food trucks. From May to October, nearby Hummel Bros. serves lobster rolls and footlong hot dogs. She brings the same finesse to her East Rock restaurant, Tavern on State, to everything from baby butter lettuce with fried oysters to jerk shrimp. An elegant yet unpretentious dish served with stewed flageolet beans.
There is also an exceptional cafe. Founded by Syrian artist Mohammad Hafez (whose sculpture is in Peabody), his two-store Pistachio, like Havenly, run by immigrant and refugee women, brings Middle Eastern flavors to its teas, pastries, and brunch menu. Injecting. Located in the lively Chapel Street Bookstore, Atticus and East Rock Poppy's serves quality soups, sandwiches, and salads. G Cafe produces a large selection of excellent European breads and pastries.
outdoor adventure
New Haven's outdoor outlets are easy to overlook, but it would be a shame to overlook them. East Rock is home to a 425-acre park of the same name, with 16 miles of trails and a 350-foot summit with spectacular views of the city and Long Island Sound. Across town is West Rock Ridge State Park, which stretches nine miles north of the family-friendly Westville neighborhood. It is one of the most ecologically diverse areas in Connecticut, characterized by massive traprock ridges and home to 230 species of birds and rare plants such as pulpit jack and bladdernut. One.
Canal Dock Boathouse debuted on Long Wharf six years ago. Built in homage to Yale University's original 1911 boathouse, this elegant building has a serious mission to connect residents, especially young people, to the harbor. Opportunities for rowing, kayaking, and yoga on the outdoor platform are offered to both members and non-members, making the boathouse perhaps the best example of New Haven doing things right. everyone.
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