City of Floating Sounds (Part 1)

The Pearl Route is named for Arts & Ideas celebrating its 30th—their Pearl—anniversary. Along this walking path, you’ll see many of Art & Ideas’ partners and venues over the past 30 years, including  scenic meanderings though both Yale and New Haven architectural pearls. Following this walking path you’ll rediscover fond memories of Festivals past and anticipate programming still to be discovered at this year’s Festival.

• Woolsey Hall
• Yale Repertory Theater
• Shubert Theater
• The University Theater
• The Schwarzman Center

A frequent collaborator with New Haven Symphony Orchestra and International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Yale Schwarzman Center offers a shorter more accessible walking tour on level ground with minimal street traffic, offering plentiful historical experiences including visual art galleries.

Yale University Commons first opened its baronial doors to the public in October of 1901 to commemorate the University’s 200th year anniversary. The cluster of Beaux-Arts style buildings, which strategically occupy the heart of Yale’s campus, aimed to unify a hitherto fragmented academic community between the colleges by Old Campus and the Sheffield Scientific School. Designed by architectural firm Carrère and Hastings, the Bicentennial Buildings were initiated under the administration of President Timothy Dwight (1886-1899), and completed under that of President Arthur Twining Hadley (1899-1921). Spaces include the Commons Dining Hall, the only dining facility not affiliated with one of the residential colleges; Memorial Hall, a domed, colonnaded structure honoring men of Yale who gave their lives in war; Woolsey Hall, an auditorium which holds the Newberry Memorial Organ, one of the largest in the world; and the Hewitt Quadrangle, a space long familiar to student organizing and activism. The interconnected structure stands adjacent to the University’s main administrative building, Woodbridge Hall.

https://schwarzman.yale.edu/schwarzman-center-story

• Woolsey Hall  (NHSO’s concert home since 1901, the Newberry Memorial Organ, murals of the Muses, the “Taft seat”)

• Schwarzman Center (Rotunda War Memorial,  “Shining Light on Truth: Black Lives at Yale & in New Haven” visual art installation, “The View from Here” visual art installation, “Rusununguko” visual art installation)

• Beinecke Plaza (War Memorial, Noguchi Sculpture, Beinecke Library)

The Dixwell Musical Heritage Route features a great deal of New Haven history spanning from the Dixwell neighborhood to downtown. This includes important Black history, notable historical figures, and long-lasting community centers.

• Dixwell Community House: the “Q House” is home to the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, the Stetson branch of the New Haven Free Public Library, the Dixwell/Newhallville Senior Center, and Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership (LEAP).
• Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ: the oldest formally recognized African American Congregational Church in the world. Founded in 1820, its first members and ministers included formerly enslaved people. The Church has a long history of working for social betterment and civil rights. Its music program is a vibrant part of New Haven’s musical heritage and is celebrated today by The Heritage Chorale of New Haven. Most notably, pianist and composer Helen Hagan gave her first public performance at the Church in 1900 at the age of 9. A few years later she was appointed organist and music director of the Church and went on to become the first Black woman to be awarded a bachelor’s degree from Yale when she graduated from the Yale School of Music in 1912.  At that time, the Black churches of the Dixwell neighborhood provided important support to emerging professional Black musicians; they hosted competitions that awarded opportunities for future study and performance, including solo engagements with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.

Other notable churches: Varick Memorial AME Zion Church, Trinity Temple Church of God in Christ, Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church, Mt Gideon Faith Fellowship Church, St. Matthew’s Unison Freewill Baptist Church.

Beginning in Wooster Square Park, this route invites you to take in the park slowly and perhaps discover something you hadn’t seen before. Walking past famed pizzerias and through the bustling Chapel -Orange St corridors, this route highlights the bustling heart of Downtown New Haven.

• Wooster Sq. Park.
• Sally’s Apizza
• Little Dandelion Cafe
• Cita Park
• Tacos Los Gordos
• G Café

Beginning at St. Stanislaus Church, this route traverses tree lined streets and highlights New Haven’s arts district. The landmarks from this route include the many educational and arts areas for children and young adults, including Neighborhood Music School, ACES

• St. Stanislaus Church

• Audubon St. (ACES Educational Center for the Arts, Arts Council of Greater New Haven, New Haven Ballet, Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Creative Arts Workshop, Neighborhood Music School)

• New Haven Promise

• ACES the Little Theater

For those who may wish to take the train into town, or for those who want to check out what’s new in New Haven, this route begins in the iconic great hall of Union Station and follows the new bike path through the burgeoning 9th Square district, This route highlights some of the newest destinations in the Elm City as well as some favorites.

The history of Union Station in New Haven dates back as early as 1848. That first structure, designed by Henry Austin, was opened by the New York and New Haven Railroad. In 1875 The original structure was replaced by a new building which was opened by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. This building was tragically lost in a fire in 1918. Designed by famed American architect Cass Gilbert and after a two-year rebuild, the current station located at 50 Union Avenue opened in 1920 and still serves the public to this day. 

https://unionstationnewhaven.com/union-station-today/history/

• Union Station
• South Orange St.  greenway
• The new Elm City Market
• The new Melting Pot
• Common Grounds Coffee
• Million Asian Market
• New Haven Pride Center
• Bark & Vine Nursery
• C.I.T.A Park