Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is now offering free admission to all city residents. The program is called the Wadsworth Welcome.
Museum director Tom Loughman said the goal of the museum is to bring art and people together. The free admission program is one more way to do that.
“[It's] a message of welcome to those who live in this city that the atheneum belongs to you," Loughman said. "While the museum matters to a global arts community, while it is the largest public art museum in Connecticut and welcomes everyone with an opportunity for enjoyment and learning and self-discovery, we want to honor this special relationship in a particular way that fits with contemporary life here in Hartford.”
Mayor Luke Bronin praised the move.
“By stepping up to the plate in a big way and saying we are now going to make this historic cultural asset free and open to every resident of the city of Hartford, I think the athenaeum has added a brand new chapter to its long history of partnership with the city of Hartford," Bronin said.
Regular admission for adults is $15, while those under 18 already get in free. The Wadsworth Welcome program will run through June of next year and then be reevaluated. The museum’s corporate sponsor, Aetna, will help market the new program to city residents.
