For Immediate Release: July 21, 2003 (return to press releases)

HMA Downtown ArtSeen

Contact: Robbin Zella or Hillel Arnold (203) 338-8373

BRIDGEPORT – The Housatonic Museum of Art will be holding “Downtown Art Seen,” a series of guided tours of their permanent art collection free and open to the public. The tours, scheduled for July 29th, 30th and 31st at noon, will highlight new hallway installations, recent acquisitions and important pieces from the collection.

“ Educating the public about art and allowing them to interpret and contextualize it is an essential part of our mission,” says HMA Director Robbin Zella, noting that the museum provides the students and the larger community with exceptional access to great works of art on a daily basis since its inception in 1968.

“ I hope that Downtown Art Seen will help people become better interpreters, appreciators and caretakers of the artwork that has been entrusted to us,” Zella says.

The tours will begin promptly at 12 noon and last approximately 45 minutes, in order that the wider community, as well as HCC students, faculty and staff may attend. “I hope the convenient lunchtime schedule will allow many people to attend,” says Zella, adding that local businesses and institutions will be informed of the tours.

Those wishing to participate in the interactive tours should meet near the Information Desk in the main atrium of Housatonic Community College.

The tours will be led by Hillel Arnold, HMA gallery assistant.

The HMA’s four-thousand-plus piece permanent collection is housed at Housatonic Community College. Containing works by important artists such as Renior, Matisse, Picasso, Chagall, Rauschenberg, Christo and Cartier-Bresson, the HMA has the largest collection of any two-year school in the country.

Tours for schools and other groups can be scheduled throughout the year, says Zella. Materials such as activity booklets and collection guides are also available to provide self-guided tours for families, providing a glossary of terms, games and questions, among other activities.