Every year, the Amos Bull Community Room and Butler-McCook Aetna Gallery are home to featured exhibitions showcasing the amazing work of local artists. Read more about this year’s lineup below! The exhibitions are free and will be open during the Butler-McCook House & Garden’s open tour days as well as during the free Sunset Sounds Concert Series. The exhibitions will also be open during the Make Music Day concert on June 21 and Connecticut’s Historic Gardens Day on June 22. If you are interested in visiting the exhibitions in the Amos Bull Community Room during weekday business hours, please contact olivia.grella@ctlandmarks.org to schedule a visit. If you would like to book a tour of the Butler-McCook House & Garden to accompany your visit, please see the calendar.
Currently on View
Amanda Roy, “Through the Layers”
On display May 3–June 30 (Opening Reception: Thursday, June 12, 5 pm–6 pm)
Location: Amos Bull House Community Room
Amanda Roy is an artist based in Hartford, CT. She is known for her unique process of creating abstract and meditative artworks using handmade inks derived from natural materials. Her painting process allows the symbolic meanings of plants and her connections with music to influence her color palettes and brushstrokes. Her paintings are infused with symbolism and the emotions evoked by the music that is repeated while she creates each piece. Her art incorporates mark-making with various tools and embroidery stitched with threads dyed with her handmade inks.
Outside of creating her own art, Amanda is an advocate for fellow artists of all art forms. She was named a member of the Hartford Business Journal’s (2019) and Connecticut Magazine’s (2020) “40 Under 40” for her work in arts administration and community organizing. Amanda serves on the Board of Directors for both the iQuilt Partnership and the Hartford Business Improvement District. She has served on the Commission on Cultural Affairs for Hartford, CT, chaired the Public Art Commission for Bloomfield, CT, and served on the Arts & Culture Transition Committee for Hartford Mayor, Arunan Arulampalam. She is currently the Interim CEO at the Greater Hartford Arts Council.
Learn more about “Through the Layers” here.
Emma Chadwick, “your hand holding mine”
On display May 3–July 31 (Opening Reception: Thursday, June 12, 5 pm–7:30 pm)
Location: Butler-McCook Aetna Gallery
Emma Chadwick (she/her) is a multimedia artist located in East Hartford, Connecticut. She completed her BFA with a concentration in photography at the University of Connecticut in 2023. She currently is a Makerspace staff member at the Welles Turner Memorial Library in Glastonbury and at East Hartford Raymond Library. The exhibition, your hand holding mine, is a series of black and white 35mm film photograph enlargements and woodblock prints.
Learn more about “your hand holding mine” here.
Upcoming Exhibits
Luis Cotto, “Las caras lindas”
On display July 7–August 31 (Opening Reception: Thursday, July 10, 5 pm–6 pm)
Location: Amos Bull Community Room
Luis Cotto is a cultural worker and photographer with over three decades of experience, based in New England and Cidra, Puerto Rico. Raised in Hartford, his passions range from arts equity to civic engagement at the municipal level. He loves catching live music sets as much as walking empty streets, capturing the ways urban and rural spaces breathe. Cotto has combined his passions by giving talks at universities on placemaking and placekeeping in communities of color. Cotto’s collection draws inspiration from the closing lines of Pedro Pietri’s seminal poem, “Puerto Rican Obituary,” and, like the poem, is a tribute to the melanin-rich, resilient subjects who navigate spaces not always designed for them. Cotto continues the conversation begun by Pietri and the Nuyorican poets, exploring how contemporary life mirrors, redefines and complicates the immigrant experience in today’s world.
Learn more about Luis’ work here.
Frank Poulin
On display September 11, 2025–Spring 2026 (Opening Reception: Thursday, September 11, 5 pm–6 pm)
Location: Amos Bull Community Room
Frank Poulin is a professional photographer based in Windham, CT. He specializes in action photography, documenting sports for several New England colleges and universities. However, capturing portraits of nature is what feeds his soul. He also documents Hartford-area musicians and musical events.
Discover Frank’s work here.
Andy Hart
On display August 1–November 1 (Opening Reception: Thursday, September 11, 5 pm–6 pm)
Location: Butler-McCook Aetna Gallery
Andy Hart is a writer, graphic designer, and photographer at the Hartford News and the Hartford Guide. A Hartford native and resident, he enjoys photographing and documenting the region and especially the many diverse communities in the area—Guyanese, Portuguese, Ukrainians, Jamaicans, Bosnians, Albanians, and many others. In addition to assignments for various publications, he does freelance photography for Riverfront Recapture, Achieve Hartford, Capital Community College, Hartbeat Ensemble and the University of Saint Joseph. His work has been prominently featured on banners and billboards.
View some of Andy’s work on his Facebook page.
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Left image: “Roads” | Natural inks created from: Marigold (grief), Mugwort (letting go), Orange cosmos (forgiveness), Pokeberry (courage), Morning glory (mystery), Purple heart (thrive against odds) | Artist: Amanda Roy | 2024 | Meditation: “Roads” by Portishead | 8″x8″ mixed media on paper| $250, wood panel
If you have any questions, please contact jana.colacino@ctlandmarks.org.