Explore the nation’s first planned city on foot! In recent years, New Haven has been praised for its walkability. Walkscore.com considers the center of the city a “Walkers’ Paradise,” and New Haven is the Best Walking City in Connecticut. Knowledgeable guides will take you through this urban oasis to discover a Farmers’ Market, Art Studios and Galleries, a Botanical Garden, historic churches and cemeteries, acclaimed architecture, charming neighborhoods and more.
For more information call the Yale Visitor Center at (203) 432-2300. Some tours require reservations.
*All other tours are first-come, first-served.* ARTSPACE Presents: Thursday, June 18, 5:45 PM (departs at 6:00 PM)
Downtown Art StudiosJoin Artspace as we explore artist studios and local artspots in
downtown New Haven, visiting sculptors, painters, and everything in between! Studios are located at 39 Church Street, a short walk from Artspace. The artists will be on hand to talk about their work and show off their latest creations.
Meet at Artspace, 50 Orange Street
2 hours, less than ¼ mile distance, some stairs required, suitable for all ages
CitySeed Presents: Saturday, June 27, 10:00 AM
City Farmers’ Market Wooster Square Taste the bounty of the season and meet farmers from the towns surrounding New Haven.
Meet at corner of Chapel Street & DePalma Court, across from Wooster Square Park
1 hour, suitable for all ages
Friends of the Grove Street Cemetery Present:
Wednesday, June 24, 1:30 PM
Grove Street Cemetery tour Tour one of the most historic cemeteries in the U.S. Visit the graves of New Haven’s earliest prominent citizens, including Eli Whitney, Charles Goodyear and Noah Webster.
Meet at Grove Street Cemetery,
Egyptian Revival Gate, 227 Grove Street
1 hour
Wednesday, June 24, 2:45 PM
Grove Street Cemetery film: City of the Dead, City of the Living Grove Street
Cemetery follows a group of elementary school children from New Haven’s Wexler-Grant School on a journey into the past. They begin on the New Haven Green, where the town's cemetery used to be located; then go under Center Church, where part of the cemetery is still preserved; and then head into the famed Grove Street Cemetery itself. Viewers discover how the cemetery was originally created and designed back in the late 18
th century.
Meet at Sterling Memorial Library lecture hall,
128 Wall Street
1 hour
The Arts Council of Greater New Haven Presents:
Friday, June 19, 12:00 PM
Galleries in the Audubon Arts District Highlights include the Creative Arts Workshop Faculty Exhibit, "Status Update" at the Arts Council, and a watercolor exhibit at John Slade Ely House.
Meet at corner of Whitney Avenue and Audubon Street
1 ¼ hours, suitable for teens and adults
Wednesday, June 24, 12:00 PM
Parachute Factory Gallery exhibition tour, White Collar, Blue Collar Pink Slip
Tour current exhibit exploring work and how it shapes our identity. What is the experience of the refugee or immigrant as he/she attempts to gain an economic foothold in our so-called land of opportunity? A collaboration between the Arts Council, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services and the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health (PRCH)
Meet at PRC, 319 Peck Street, Building 1
1 hour, suitable for all ages
The New Haven Preservation Trust Presents:
Wednesday, June 17, 12:30 PM
Hillhouse Avenue Historic District
Stroll along Hillhouse Avenue, one of the country’s first “high-end” Victorian residential developments. Compare today’s streetscape with historic photos from the 19
th century, and consider why Charles Dickens characterized the avenue as the “Most Beautiful Street in America.”
Meet at intersection of Hillhouse Avenue and Sachem Street
1 ½ hours, 2 long blocks, suitable for ages 15 and up
Thursday, June 18, 2:00 PM
The Heritage of Newhallville Discover Newhallville, old and new – visit the historic Winchester Repeating Arms Factory, Science Park, and the turn-of-the-century homes that surround them.
Meet at the Munson Street Triangle
(Munson and Winchester Streets)
1 hour, five blocks
Friday, June 19, 5:30 PM
Creating Tradition: The Architecture of James Gamble Rogers at Yale Explore James Gamble Rogers’ architectural designs at Yale and how they established the Gothic Revival image of the University that exists today. Buildings to be visited may include Branford College, including Harkness Memorial Tower, Sterling Memorial Library, Sterling Law School, and the Hall of Graduate Studies.
Meet in front of Harkness Memorial Tower,
High Street, between Chapel and Elm
1 ½ hours
Saturday, June 20, 11:00 AM
Churches and Change on the Green's East Rim Explore three historic churches on the New Haven Green – study these sacred spaces and the works of art contained in them. Architectural changes made to accommodate new needs and tastes will be noted.
Meet at front steps of First & Summerfield United Methodist Church, corner of Elm and College Streets.
1 ½ hours, ½ mile
Sunday, June 21, 2:00 PM
Westville: Vaudeville, Bar Brawls and Grindstones Filled with history, loaded with treasures, Westville offers a rich cast of characters from the past and present. Hear the peculiar stories of the village's history, as told by Colin M. Caplan, author of
Westville: Tales from a Connecticut Hamlet.
Meet at Lyric Hall antiques, 827 Whalley Avenue
2 hours, all ages welcome
Thursday, June 25, 5:30 PM
A Very Concrete Tour of New Haven Concrete, cement, mortar – see how these very ordinary materials have been used with ingenuity and artistry in downtown New Haven’s architecture.
Meet in front of Trinity Episcopal Church,
corner of Temple and Chapel Streets.
1 – 1 ½ hours
Yale Center for British Art Presents:
Saturday, June 27, 12:00 PM
Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: The Royal Holloway Collection, London Thomas Holloway (1800-1883), a self-made multi-millionaire, purchased a group of "modern" paintings that were the crowning gift of his generous endowment of a college for women, opened by Queen Victoria in 1886. This exhibition includes sixty works from the Holloway collection that exemplify a range of themes in
mid-Victorian art.
Meet at the Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel Street
1 hour, suitable for all ages
Yale Visitor Center Presents:
Saturday, June 13, 2:00 PM
Sprague Hall: Tour of the Yale School of Music’s primary performance venue Sprague Hall’s renovation in 2003 restored the building to its original splendor. The tour will include Morse Recital Hall, Sprague’s 680-seat auditorium which features a silent heating and air conditioning system, sound-proof windows and digital recording equipment. It is considered one of the nation’s finest concert halls and hosts over 150 concerts each year.
Meet at Yale Visitor Center, 149 Elm Street
1 hour
*Space limited, call for reservations*
Sunday, June 14, 2:00 PM
Yale Sustainable Food Project: The Yale Farm Learn about the Yale Farm and its many varieties of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, as well as the basics of organic agriculture in an urban setting. The Yale Farm is an initiative of the Yale Sustainable Food Project, which leads an
ambitious program to educate students and the community about food choices and policy.
Meet at Yale Farm, Edwards Street,
between Prospect and Whitney
1 hour, suitable for all ages
Tuesday, June 16, 3:00 PM
Yale University Campus Tour Experience the magnificent architectural wonders of the Yale campus, featuring stories of student life and the history of the University.
Meet at the Yale Visitor Center, 149 Elm Street
1 hour, suitable for all ages
Wednesday, June 17, 1:00 PM
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity Rudd Center Director Kelly Brownell, a leading world authority on food policy and obesity issues, will do a presentation and lead a discussion on issues such as obesity, world hunger, and the role modern food practices play in environmental issues such as global warming.
Meet at Rudd Center, 309 Edwards Street
30 minutes
*Space Limited, call for reservations*
Tuesday, June 23, 1:30 PM
The Utopian Impulse, exhibit and lecture at Sterling Memorial Library Features rare materials from Yale’s collections (15th to 18
th centuries): illustrated travel books & utopian tracts, architectural treatises, & maps.
Meet at the Yale Visitor Center, 149 Elm Street
1 hour, primarily for adults and older children; some discussion of sexuality and gender
*Space limited, call for reservations*
Wednesday, June 24, 5:30 PM
Marsh Botanical Gardens, featuring exotic plants and live music A tour of the gardens and glass houses including tropical collections of
carnivorous plants, a large desert collection and other rare and interesting plants. Highlights include citrus, coffee and chocolate trees. Enjoy the gardens while listening to live music by a Klezmer string band.
Meet at Marsh Botanical Garden, 227 Mansfield Street,
also accessible from 360
Prospect Street
1 hour tour, suitable for all ages
Thursday, June 25, 12:00 PM
Kroon Hall, Yale’s Greenest Building Mark Simon, FAIA founding partner of Centerbrook Architects and Planners, of Kroon Hall’s multi-national design team, will give a tour of Yale’s new building for the School of Forestry and Environment, slated to be LEED Platinum and carbon neutral. This building is the flagship for Yale’s efforts to remake its campus into a sustainable community. The building uses many sustainable techniques and systems rarely seen in this country and is one of the greenest buildings in America.
1 ½ hours, tour better suited for adults
Meet on Prospect Street in the plaza in front of Kroon Hall, 195 Prospect Street
*Space Limited, call for reservations*
Friday, June 26, 2:00 PM
Paul Rudolph Hall and the Jeffrey H. Loria Center for the History of Art and the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library The tour will include Paul Rudolph's renowned and iconic Art + Architecture Building, formally rededicated as Paul Rudolph Hall. This spatially complex building was restored in 2008 and is now adjacent to the newly constructed Jefrrey H. Loria Center for the History of Art. The library unites services and collections of the Drama Library, the Visual Resources Collection, and the Arts of the Book Collection, as well as the Art + Architecture Library. The design and construction were undertaken by the firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, LLC under the direction of Charles Gwathmey.
Meet at Rudolph Hall, 180 York Street
1 hour, tour better suited for adults
*Space limited, call for reservations*
Yale School of Music Presents:
Tuesday, June 23, 2:00 PM
Yale School of Music Collection of Musical Instruments
15 Hillhouse Avenue (between Trumbull and Grove Streets)
One of the leading resources of its kind, the Collection includes nearly one thousand musical instruments from antiquity to the present, from both Western and non-Western traditions.
$10. To buy tickets: 203.562.5666
www.artidea.org 
June 11, 2009, 11:16 am
Tirza Akkerman wrote:
when and where is the tour “gardens and gorgoyles”?
Thanks for your help
Tirza
June 11, 2009, 11:30 am
admin wrote:
The “Gardens & Gargoyles” theme for the Walking Tours encompasses the Festival’s relationship with Yale and the Yale spaces that are featured on the tours. Here is the link to the page on walking tours for your perusal: http://artidea.org/event.php?id=208
Thank you for your interest!
June 11, 2009, 3:25 pm
cbw wrote:
I had the same question as Tirza. Too bad it’s not a real tour of its own, PR is a bit misleading.
June 14, 2009, 11:08 am
bob wrote:
What are the dates and times for the Yale University campus tours?
June 15, 2009, 2:22 pm
MBG wrote:
I agree with the other comments. I was really excited for a “gardens and gargoyles” tour – the billboard expressly says exactly that. I am unhappy to learn that there isn’t one.
June 22, 2009, 12:19 am
Sofy Solomon wrote:
While living on Yale’s Old Campus for one year and walking through this quad for the past four years, I never noticed the range of architectural styles amongst the fortress of buildings. But after taking the “Churches and Change on the Green’s East Rim” walking tour, my eyes have been open, and I am able to appreciate the physical proof of the amount of change that has occurred within this campus and city in the past 300 years. God knows how much will change in the next.