Museums & Galleries in Hartford

It takes three large exhibit hangars and an open-air tarmac to hold New England Air Museum’s large collection of more than 80 civilian and military aircraft. Here you can see one of the remaining Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, one of the most advanced bombers during World War II. The museum also contains the Republic RC-3 Seabee, a single-engine amphibian aircraft. The collection encompasses helicopters, gyrocopters, and gliders. There’s even the Silas Brooks Balloon Basket, a basket circa-1870 that’s thought to be the oldest surviving aircraft in the United States.

A variety of special events run periodically, such as kid-friendly demonstrations that explain of the scientific principles that make flight possible, and the Build and Fly Station, where visitors are encouraged construct and keep their own aircraft.

Stepping Stones Museum for Children encourages kids to learn through play with permanent and traveling exhibits tailored to different age levels and activities designed to develop growing brains. The museum was founded in 2000 in order to give kids a place to let their imaginations soar while participating in an interdisciplinary mix of subjects, such as art, culture, literacy, and string theory. Because children learn best by doing, the museum's interactive activities are perfect for improving cognitive function.

Creativity and problem-solving skills improve in the massive courtyard—a gigantic open-air tent that hosts an oversized checkerboard and big blue-foam building blocks—as well as in the kiln-equipped art studio. A community garden teaches little ones about butterflies and edible plants, and Healthyville employs more than 50 hands-on activities and computer games to educate kids about nutrition, the body, and why you shouldn't eat fake fruit.

For more than a century, the Berkshire Museum has blended history, science, and art into a cohesive whole, drawing inspiration from both the Smithsonian and the American Museum for Natural Science. The museum is packed with wonders ranging from Wally—the fiberglass stegosaurus who guards the museum’s entry—to the John James Audubon display, an impassioned tribute to the very ornithology that prompted Audubon to pen The Birds of America. Other, more playful displays unveil additional wonders, including Alexander Calder's collection of wooden push and pull toys. And inside the vast, salty aquarium, a teeming collection of clownfish, blind cave tetra, and puffer fish swim merrily side-by-side, thankful that they've yet to be cast as members of some trite, underwater calypso band.