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 open during the Butler-McCook House & Garden’s open tour days as well as during the free Sunset Sounds Concert Series and select other museum programs.
If you are interested in visiting the exhibitions during weekday business hours (Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm), please contact olivia.grella@ctlandmarks.org to schedule a visit as the exhibitions are open during weekdays by appointment only. 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
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 & Cecil Hudson, “Take a Bow, Hartford”
On display August 14–November 1 (Opening Reception: Thursday, August 14, 5 pm–6 pm)
Location: Butler-McCook Aetna Gallery
Photographers Cecil Hudson and Andy Hart will present a joint photography exhibition this August at the Aetna Gallery. The show, “Take a Bow, Hartford,” focuses on the vibrant performing arts in the Capital City, primarily live music and dance.
Cecil Hudson is from the North End of Hartford. He graduated from Holy Cross College and earned an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After working for Coopers & Lybrand, Cecil held various leadership positions at Cigna, Prudential Retirement, and UnitedHealth Group. In the community, Cecil has volunteered for various non-profit boards, has led organizations such as IMPACT of Greater Hartford, and recently joined the Board of Directors for Hands on Hartford. Passionate about helping others, Cecil is launching Coaching & Development Insights (CDI) in late 2025, with a focus on mindset, leadership, and executive coaching. Cecil began his photography career by shooting his kids’ sports teams and went on to capture a wide range of high school and college sports. In 2014, he founded his photography firm, C’Douglas Images, LLC, and currently shoots fitness and bodybuilding competitions. He loves capturing music concerts and has worked notable events such as Farm Aid and the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz. A devoted father of four, he enjoys strength training, traveling, and protecting his peace.
Andy Hart was born and raised in Hartford’s Blue Hills neighborhood. After graduating from Fairfield University with a degree in history and only the vaguest notion of what to do with it, he worked first as a cook at Hartford Golf Club and then as an advertising copywriter at Harland, Tine & White in Downtown Hartford. In 1989, he began his journalism career as a reporter/photographer for the Glastonbury Citizen. Three years later, he moved to the Hartford News, where he now serves as graphic designer and photographer. Over the years, Andy’s photography skills have developed considerably, particularly after he realized taking photos was a lot more fun than writing articles! He has had solo exhibitions of his photos at Hartford Public Library, Real Art Ways, Parkville Art Gallery, and Riverfront Recapture. His photos have also been featured on various Hartford websites and publications and on outdoor banners promoting the city. Andy has lived on Franklin Avenue in Hartford’s South End for over 30 years.
Previous Exhibits
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.
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.
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If you have any questions, please contact jana.colacino@ctlandmarks.org.