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Arts Venues at Trinity

The Trinity campus is alive with the arts. At large and intimate venues, you can attend music recitals, dance concerts, musical theater productions, small performance works, art exhibitions, and avant-garde cinema. Students and faculty regularly host exhibits and performances.

Austin Arts Center (AAC)

The Austin Arts Center is the hub of artistic life at Trinity. The AAC is named for A. Everett “Chick” Austin, Jr., founder of the Trinity Department of Fine Arts and the nationally recognized former director of Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum—America’s first public art museum—from 1927-1945. The AAC is home to the following arts facilities:

  • The Goodwin Theater – a fully equipped proscenium-style space seating 315 people.
  • Garmany Hall – a retro-fitted “black box” theater adaptable to a variety of configurations and seating 50-85 people.
  • Widener Gallery – Trinity’s main formal exhibition space at approximately 1,200 square feet and home to rotating exhibitions from faculty and visiting artists.
  • The Gruss Music Center – a Music Hall designed to accommodate the teaching, rehearsal, and performance of all genres of music. The center also boasts a state-of-the-art recording studio space, in addition to four practice rooms, each doubling as recording booths connected to the sound recording studio, and an electronic music lab with computer and piano keyboard stations, providing access to software such as ProTools, Logic, and Finale.

Visit the Austin Arts Center page.

Cinestudio

For 40 years, this independent movie theater—founded and still operated by two Trinity alumni—has been Hartford’s premiere destination for art house cinema. Visit the Cinestudio Web site.

Trinity Chapel

The soaring Trinity Chapel is a campus and Hartford landmark and spirit-lifting performance space for choral, carillon, organ, and instrumental recitals.

Hamlin Hall

The site of occasional musical performances, Hamlin Hall doubles during the daytime as a faculty/staff dining hall.

Hallden Hall

Home to the Department of Fine Arts since 1991, Hallden Hall includes Fine Arts faculty offices, studios and classrooms.

Trinity Commons

The home of Trinity’s Theater & Dance department features four dance studios and the Performance Lab, a black-box theater performance space.

66 Vernon Street

Trinity’s newest drawing and design studios are located in this recently renovated space.

Crescent Center for Arts and Neuroscience (CCAN)

CCAN contains an arts and creativity wing with a digital media lab, a film studies studio, performance lab, and gallery space; and common space where students, faculty, and staff can gather and collaborate.

Wiggins Sculpture Studio

This former industrial space has been converted into Trinity’s primary sculpture studio.

The Mill

The Mill is a student-run cultural house that focuses on creativity and the arts. The Mill hosts concerts by students and faculty, plus indie rock and hip-hop artists, art exhibitions, open mic sessions, weekly film series, and readings.

Vernon Social Center

The Vernon Social Center is the site of occasional concerts.

Reese Room/Smith House

The Reese Room in the Smith House, located at the top of Vernon St., hosts readings and other lectures throughout the year.