Real Wall
Bethani Blake at Real Art Ways

Real Art Ways presents artwork by Bethani Blake  Blake translates a present day world which depicts personal nostalgia, recontextualizing appropriated and personal images. A first generation Black person in an immediate family of white Americans, she grew up surrounded by iconography and other paraphernalia specific to American culture and first-world consumption. Conflicting agency as a consequence of existing between contradictory circumstances, she chooses to acknowledge this connection which drives her to depict an experience in contemporary society with subject matter…

Real Art Ways presents Thin Ice; a solo exhibition by Joseph Smolinski.  Thin Ice, 2020 Digital animation, 6 min. 31 sec. I was born in the 1970’s shortly after the Oil Embargo that brought our country to a halt. The period of 1975-1980 was a missed opportunity to learn from our unsustainable addiction to fossil fuels and embrace innovative new green technologies. In hindsight, this inaction has set us on a course of grave danger all while marketing campaigns from…

Real Art Ways presents Distant Bystander; a solo exhibition by Priya N. Green  Priya N. Green’s work delves into the fragile interplay between sight, perception, and reality. Anchored in the relentless repetition of images from the 24-hour news cycle, Green’s paintings grapple with the tension between agitation and desensitization. This constant barrage of mediated visuals shapes her response: a search for emotional connection amidst the noise. Rooted in large-scale oil paintings, Green’s recent series draws from found images of protests…

Real Art Ways presents a solo exhibition by Christa Whitten.  Cairns have long served as way-finding constructions in terrain where the trail may become unclear. These carefully stacked rock piles act as navigational aids and are trusted to guide the way in critical conditions, such as when dense fog or storms obscure the path. They provide direction in uncertain times. These cairns are offered as places to pause and reflect, reminding us to focus on the waypoints in the storm…

One of 2024’s most decorated documentaries. “It won dozens of awards from critics, juries and audiences on several continents; most of the major international film festivals programmed it; and, now it’s an Oscar nominee for best documentary feature. Its subject — the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — couldn’t be more consequential, and its approach, which includes a directorial team of two Israelis and two Palestinians, feels genuinely daring and bold.” – NYT “Film distributors who care about the future of the medium,…

“It’s one measure of Latin America’s arduous history that it has spawned so many books and movies about dictatorship… What they share is the awareness that history hurts. Few films have shown this with more delicate intelligence than I’m Still Here.” – NPR “Torres’s performance here is a marvel of expressive restraint, every glance merging horrified disbelief and meticulous self-control.” – The New Yorker ““I’m Still Here” is one of the best films I’ve ever seen about the power of…

“If you’re someone who treasures the music of Led Zeppelin more than you’re interested in the legend—or the gossip, or the dirt, or whatever you want to call it—of Led Zeppelin, this movie is absolutely for you.” – RogerEbert.com Interviews, performances and never-before-seen footage provide insight into the origins of Led Zeppelin and their meteoric rise to musical stardom.

Saturday, March 15, at 7 pm – Real Art Ways, in partnership with the Greater Hartford Arts Council, Hartford Jazz Society, Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz, Artists Collective, WWUH, Jackie McLean Institute at The Hartt School, and Hartford Public Library, presents a concert and community celebration featuring the Curtis Brothers & Friends! On February 2, 2025, pianist-composer Zaccai Curtis, along with his bandmates Luques Curtis, Willie Martinez, Camilo Molina and Reinaldo De Jesus, achieved their first-ever GRAMMY® win for Zaccai…

Experience music imagined and created in real-time. This series runs from September 2024 to May 2025. Check out the full schedule here! March 16 Performance: DoYeon Kim-gayageum DoYeon Kim is a traditionally trained Korean artist who plays the gayageum, a traditional Korean string instrument, and has developed a uniquely broad approach to music, incorporating Korean music, jazz, and improvisation, among other influences. Notably, she introduced the gayageum into the improvisational music scene worldwide. Her recent collaborative projects have broadened to include…

Join us Thursday, March 20, from 6 to 9 PM for our Creative Cocktail Hour. Admission is free. We’ll have music, a food truck, custom cocktails, hands-on art-making activities, and exhibitions on view! But most importantly, you’ll be there!   Solo Exhibitions: Thin Ice by Joseph Slominski Distant Bystander by Priya N. Green Shadows Taller Than Our Souls by Christa Whitten On View: Real Wall: Bethani Blake False/Idle by Doug Beattie (2FL 56 Arbor) Live Music: To Be Announced Food: Mama Nena…