Central students get a close-up look at ‘Living Art’ in new Connecticut Public documentary

A summer visit to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art turned into an unexpected on-screen experience for a group of Central Connecticut State University students.

During a July visit to the Hartford museum, Central’s TRiO Scholars and Success Central peer mentors were filmed as part of a Connecticut Public documentary about the art of conservation. All of the students featured in the footage are Central students. 

The students can be seen touring the museum and, at one point, listening as Wadsworth Head Conservator Allen Kosanovich discusses several paintings with the group. 

The segment offers viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the work of preserving historic works of art. Kosanovich describes conservation as a kind of detective work, explaining how conservators study a painting’s materials, techniques, and condition to understand its history and preserve the artist’s original intent.

He also invites the students to look closely at a 1750s painting that was once titled “A Woman and Her Servant Picking Fruit.” Closer examination of the figures, including their clothing, jewelry, and interaction, led museum staff to reconsider that interpretation. The painting is now titled “Portrait of Two Women” as researchers work to identify the subjects.

The segment, titled “Living Art,” is part of Connecticut Public’s Mini Docs short-form documentary series on the people, places and events across Connecticut that contribute to the unique fabric of this state and its identity as a whole.

View “Living Art" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f_hT4zETj8/.