The Museum That Taught Her How to See

Many years ago, Roxanne, Co-Founder of Museo, would frequent the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, without really seeing it.

That may sound strange about a co-founder of Museo, a global art tourism app built to help travelers discover art around the world, but it's true.

Back then, the Wadsworth was simply part of her lunch routine. She and her friends would meet there on certain Thursdays of the month to take advantage of the museum's free admission opportunities so that they could access the museum’s well-rated restaurant and enjoy a special lunch experience. The museum was beautiful, but she moved through the galleries quickly. The paintings seemed to belong to a world that wasn't hers. They were important to somebody, but she wasn't quite sure why.

She wasn't intimidated. She just wasn't connected. She was on a mission to get to lunch and get back to her desk. 

So, she simply hurried past rooms filled with masterpieces.

Back then, she had no idea how much that would change.

Everything shifted when she signed up for an Art History elective. She wasn't looking to become an art expert. She simply wanted to learn something new. What she didn't realize was that Art History would give her a completely different way of looking at the world.

Suddenly those paintings she had rushed past started to mean something.

She began recognizing artists whose names had once sounded unfamiliar. She learned about periods, movements, symbolism, patronage, religion, and technique. She discovered that a painting wasn't just a picture. It was part of a story that stretched across centuries. She found that a sculpture wasn’t just a carved rock or formed metal. It was life hewn out of marble or emotion cast in bronze. Fine sculptural details could take her breath away and amaze her at the same time!

The Wadsworth became her first art classroom.

One of the artists she remembers studying was Caravaggio. At the time, she could appreciate that he was important, but she didn't fully understand why art lovers became so excited when they encountered one of his works. Today, she absolutely does.

Now, when she discovers a Caravaggio in a museum, it's a treasured event.

The same thing happened with religious art. Before Art History, she couldn't have told you the difference between an altarpiece, a triptych, or a devotional painting. Afterward, she found herself fascinated by these three-panel religious works, by the stories they told, and by the role they played in churches and communities throughout Europe.

The galleries she had once rushed through became places where she lingered.

The museum hadn't changed.

She had.

The more she learned, the more her curiosity expanded beyond the walls of Hartford's museum. Art became connected to architecture. Architecture became connected to history. History became connected to travel.

And travel became connected to dreams.

One artwork in particular captured her imagination: Michelangelo's La Pietà.

She became determined to see it for herself.

Not someday.

Actually and soon.

She even opened a separate bank account and named it "Roam Rome." Every month, automatic deposits went into that account. Little by little, she saved for a trip that seemed impossibly far away at the time.

Then, some years later, that dream became reality.

In 2013, she finally stood in St. Peter's Basilica and saw Michelangelo's La Pietà with her very own eyes. The moment was almost everything she had hoped for, if only the viewing hadn’t felt far too short. Fortunately, she had a second opportunity in 2018, proving once again that some works of art are worth traveling across oceans to experience more than once.

Looking back, one can see that the seeds of Museo were being planted long before Museo existed.

At the time, she had no idea that Emily, our co-founder and Museo's inventor, would follow her own path into the art world. Roxanne certainly didn't imagine that years later Emily would come to her with the idea of building a crowdsourced global art map to help travelers discover works of art wherever their journeys took them.

Yet now, the connection feels obvious or meant to be.

Museo exists because art changes how we experience travel.

And travel changes how we experience art.

Today, Roxanne can walk into a gallery with thirty oil paintings and identify the ones that matter most in the broader story of art, not as an expert but as someone who has spent years learning from museums. The styles of many master artists are now much more familiar.

But back when she was having lunch at the Wadsworth, she wasn't that person yet.

Back then, she hurried past rooms filled with masterpieces because she didn't think they had anything to do with her.

The difference isn't that museums changed.

She learned how to see.

The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is located at 600 Main Street in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. The museum continues its popular First Thursdays program, offering free admission during themed evening events that often include gallery access, live music, activities, snacks, and a cash bar. Advance registration is encouraged. [thewadsworth.org]

Parking

The museum recommends:

• Front Street South Garage, one block from the museum, with discounted validated parking for museum visitors. [thewadsworth.org]
• Connecticut Convention Center Garage, also offering validated museum visitor parking. [thewadsworth.org]
• Metered street parking is available throughout downtown Hartford. [thewadsworth.org]  (Roxanne prefers the metered parking on the street behind this museum!)

Admission

The museum has reasonable General Admission along with reduced and free admission opportunities. [thewadsworth.org]

Food & Refreshments

The museum hosts refreshments and a cash bar during First Thursday events. The Wadsworth also operates on-site visitor dining services during museum hours, though visitors should check the museum website before traveling for current restaurant and café schedules. [thewadsworth.org]

-The Museo Team