between the river and Route 9
Home · Visiting Wesleyan
Visiting Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT
By Erik Hernal, founder & editor
The best free things to do at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT are walking historic High Street and College Row (on the Wesleyan campus, walk-up anytime), the Davison Art Center galleries (301 High Street), a Space Night at Van Vleck Observatory (96 Foss Hill Drive), and public shows at the Center for the Arts (283 Washington Terrace). You don't need to be a prospective student to enjoy any of it, and a lot of the best stuff is free. The Wesleyan University campus sits right above downtown Middletown, Connecticut, and the Connecticut River, so you can pair any of it with lunch on Main Street. It's the easiest free campus visit in the area. Here's what's worth seeing if you want to explore Wesleyan, all open to the public and checked this month.
| What | Free? | Where | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Street & College Row | yes | High St, Wesleyan campus | anytime, walk-up |
| Davison Art Center galleries | yes | 301 High St | Tue to Sun, noon to 4pm |
| Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery | yes | Center for the Arts | exhibition days |
| Van Vleck Observatory Space Nights | yes | 96 Foss Hill Dr | Wed evenings, in session |
| Center for the Arts events | many free | 283 Washington Terrace | year-round |
Check your inbox for a welcome, hit reply with a quick "Yes" so it lands in Primary. First issue Thursday morning.
Walk High Street and College Row
High Street is the spine of the Wesleyan campus and the prettiest stretch in Middletown, lined with 19th-century brownstone and the original College Row buildings where the university was founded in 1831 as a Methodist college. It's the historic core of Wesleyan's 316-acre New England campus, and you can walk it anytime, no tour needed. The historic landmarks to look for are the Wesleyan University Memorial Chapel (221 High Street), the 1828 Greek Revival Russell House, and Olin Memorial Library (252 Church Street) just off it. Cut up to Foss Hill for the best view on campus, where the whole student body sprawls out on the grass on the first warm day of spring.
The free art galleries
Wesleyan's art galleries are free and open to the public, and most people in Middletown have never been inside. The Davison Art Center (301 High Street) holds one of the finest university print collections in the country, more than 24,000 works on paper, and shows rotating exhibitions Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 4pm. The Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, in the Center for the Arts, is the contemporary one, rotating shows of work by living artists. The newer Pruzan Art Center and its Goldrach Gallery (238 Church Street) are also free, and the College of East Asian Studies keeps a small free gallery of Asian art at the Mansfield Freeman Center (343 Washington Terrace). Hours shift with exhibition schedules and the academic calendar, so check before a special trip.
Stargaze at Van Vleck Observatory
Van Vleck Observatory (96 Foss Hill Drive) opens its dome to the public for free, and it's one of the best-kept secrets in town. During the academic year the astronomy department runs Space Nights, usually Wednesday evenings at 8pm: a short talk on something happening in the sky, then a look through the telescopes if it's clear, with no registration required. The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford also hosts monthly Saturday observing sessions on the historic 20-inch refracting telescope. Schedules follow the school calendar (the fall lineup posts in mid-August), so check the observatory events page before you head over.
Free and cheap shows at the Center for the Arts
The Center for the Arts (283 Washington Terrace) is a stark concrete complex of theaters and galleries, and it runs a steady stream of public events: student and faculty concerts in Crowell Concert Hall, dance and theater in the CFA Theater, gallery openings, and world-music performances. A lot of it is free, and the ticketed shows are cheap. Wesleyan also runs Middletown Mondays, a long-running town-gown series that brings residents onto campus. Check the CFA calendar for what's on the week you visit Wesleyan University.
Common questions about visiting Wesleyan
Can you visit Wesleyan without a tour? Yes. High Street, College Row, Foss Hill, and the galleries are open to the public on your own. Formal campus tours (for prospective students) need advance registration, but you don't need one to walk the campus.
Are the Wesleyan art galleries free? Yes, all of them: the Davison Art Center, the Zilkha Gallery, the Pruzan/Goldrach Gallery, and the East Asian Studies gallery are free to the public.
When can the public use the observatory? At free Space Nights, usually Wednesday evenings at 8pm during the school year, plus monthly Saturday sessions with the Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford. Check the schedule for current dates.
Where do you park to visit Wesleyan? There are visitor lots on campus plus street parking on and around High Street, and the Usdan University Center is a good place to get oriented. Downtown Middletown's Main Street is a short walk for food after.
While you're on this side of town, here are the local guides to free things to do in Greater Middletown, things to do with kids, the best coffee shops, and a perfect weekend itinerary. See what's on this week on our events page, browse past issues, or subscribe above for the Thursday rundown.