Bridgeport Art Trail 2024 Schedule

Thursday, November 7 
8:30 AM - 7:00 PM | On Display: Reimagining Little Liberia - Restoration & Reunion 

Connecticut’s African American legacies are rich, layered. From land to sea, countryside to cityscape, African and Native Americans contributed to the development of this region – only to have their own stories omitted from official histories. Bridgeport’s “Little Liberia” (1821-1899) was even ignored on maps. Art, artifacts and scholarship tell this story. Little Liberia, deeply connected to a Black Atlantic network, created opportunities for CT’s Black and Native Americans beyond the denigration of slavery and servitude.

1:00 PM - 7:00 PM | On Display: The Hypogean Tip - What Lies Beneath the Surface? 

The Hypogean Tip by sculptor Rachel Owens (Chair of the Sculpture Department at SUNY Purchase) features shimmering glass porches and newly added coal sculptures and exhibition elements. Developed in partnership between the Freeman Center and the Housatonic Museum of Art (HMA), the Hypogean Tip was showcased at the Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art & Storytelling in Harlem. It explores themes of environmental justice, power, and agency and commemorates Bridgeport's Little Liberia - an 1821 settlement of Free People of Color in Bridgeport’s South End. This exhibition also features painted works and photography by artists Gary Judkins, Jack Lardis, and Aisha Nailah.