There are 23 statues of notable people from Connecticut’s history along the Connecticut State Capitol Building walls. On the west side of the second level of the south portico stands, since 1987, the statue of Ella Grasso, Connecticut’s 83rd governor, the first female governor of Connecticut, and the first elected female governor in the US in her own right. Her statue is the only woman statue outside the Capitol building. Grasso was born and raised in Connecticut. She served at the Connecticut House of Representatives 1952-1957, was the 64th Secretary of the State of Connecticut 1959-1971, and represented Connecticut at the US House of Representatives 1971-1975. On January 8th, 1975, Grasso took office as the 83rd Governor of Connecticut and served in this position till December 31st, 1980, when she resigned after diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Less than two months later, she passed away. The statue is 6′ by 2.5′ by 2′ high, made from marble. Grasso wears a skirt and a jacket, holding a book in her left hand and waving on her right. Read more...

The Women’s Table, located at the heart of the Yale campus, is a sculpture dedicated to women in Yale. It was commissioned in 1989 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of coeducation in the institute. The artist, Maya Lin, a Yale graduate herself, was personally chosen to create this monument. It took her a year to design it, researching the history of women who enrolled at Yale since its inception in 1701. The elliptical table rotates off a rectangular base, made from green granite, with numbers inscribed on it spiraling out. The numbers indicate the number of women enrolled at Yale each year since it was established. For most of its years, it was a man-only college, and the spiral starts with lots of zeros. 1873 was the first year 13 women enrolled in The School of Art. The counting ends in 1993 when the sculpture was completed. During the spring and summer, the fountain is working, and water runs from the middle of the spiral. The sculpture is used spontaneously as a table and bench, gathering place, and sometimes even a protest platform. Read more...

A national historic park dedicated to the life and work of Julian Alden Weir, a landscape painter and one of the founders of the impressionist’s movement in America. The farm is the only national park in America dedicated to painting. Weir, along with other Impressionist painters, lived in the farm and created art inspired by their surroundings. At the time, the farm hosted more than 150 artists at once. After Weir’s death, his daughter, the painter Dorothy Weir Young, preserved the farm, and later on two of the farm’s residences, Sperry and Doris Andrews, turn the farm into an art center and a visitor site. Start your visit at Weir Farm watching a short introduction movie following a tour at the house, were Weir and his family lived, as well as his and other painters’ studios. Stroll the garden’s paths, and if you feel inspired, you can take some paint and create your own art at the site. You can also participate in various special events, such as art and agriculture tours, a guided hike to the Weir pond, and ‘art in the park festival.’ Read more...