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Matthew Larson

@mdlars

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nutmegger, global citizen, historic preservationist, 🏳️‍🌈
📍 Hartford, CT

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Gaetano Donizetti: L’elisir d’amore
I think my dream job, based solely on the uniform, is to be an usher at La Scala. taken in Teatro alla Scala by @mdlars

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25 days ago

Is it aperitivo hour yet? 🥃

🟩🟪🟧🟥🟦 taken in Camparino in Galleria by @mdlars

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a month ago

For some reason I feel like this tree belongs in a Hudson River School painting. taken in West End by @mdlars

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2 months ago

Vermont: Come for the soapstone countertops, stay for the hand-blown glassware, leave with a truckload of vintage furniture. taken in Woodstock, Vermont by @mdlars

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2 months ago

A gorgeous day on the water with even better company! @malloryaoconnell, @mattydubs86, @houliorganist 🇺🇸 🗽 taken in Statue of Liberty National Monument by @mdlars

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2 months ago

🖼️ Founded by Daniel Wadsworth in 1842, the Wadsworth Atheneum was envisioned as a place where art, history, literature, and science could inspire and educate the public, reflecting the belief that culture is essential to a thriving democracy. The nation’s oldest continually operating public art museum stands on the site of the Wadsworth family home, where General George Washington was welcomed during his visits to Hartford.

Today, the Wadsworth continues to masterfully tell the American story through its meticulously curated collections—from the historical paintings of John Trumbull and the sweeping landscapes of Frederic Edwin Church to the works of Childe Hassam, Jacob Lawrence, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Kehinde Wiley (among countless others). This year’s Framing American Democracy exhibitions—Radical Roots, Contemporary Artists Reflect, and Rebel | Revolt | Resist —along with the museum’s remarkable American Decorative Arts galleries, remind us that art has always been central to our nation’s ongoing conversation about identity, freedom, and democracy. 🇺🇸

@thewadsworth @amistadcenter @longweekendhartford @america250ct #America250 #Hartford #americanartweek taken in Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art by @mdlars

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3 months ago

🏛️ Completed in 1796, the Connecticut Old State House was designed by Charles Bulfinch, America’s first professionally trained architect. As his first public building, it marked the beginning of a career that would later include the Massachusetts State House and work on the United States Capitol. His early federal design reflected the confidence of a young republic finding its architectural voice.

This building stands on the site of Connecticut’s previous State House, where General George Washington and French General Rochambeau met in 1781 to help plan the Yorktown Campaign—a pivotal step toward securing American independence.

Over the decades, the Old State House became the stage for defining moments in the nation’s ongoing pursuit of liberty and justice. It was here that the legal battle of the Amistad captives first unfolded in Connecticut, and where Prudence Crandall’s challenge to educational segregation advanced the cause of equal rights decades before the Civil War.

Today, the Old State House displays one of only four original full-length portraits of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart—an early piece of propaganda picturing the Head of State as a seemingly ordinary man, pointedly lacking regal vestments or regalia. 🇺🇸

@ctoldstatehouse @longweekendhartford @america250ct #america250 #hartford #americanartweek taken in Connecticut's Old State House by @mdlars

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3 months ago

📜 Founded in 1636 by Reverend Thomas Hooker, the First Church of Christ—better known today as Center Church—was the spiritual and civic heart of a young colony where revolutionary ideas about government took shape.

On May 31, 1638, Hooker preached that "the foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the people," arguing that governments derive their legitimacy from those they govern and that the people have the right to establish limits on political power. Those principles helped inspire the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, adopted in 1639 and widely regarded as the first written constitution establishing a framework for self-government in what would become the United States. It is because of this legacy that Connecticut is known as The Constitution State.

As Hartford celebrates the country’s sesquicentennial this weekend, it's worth remembering that long before Philadelphia or Washington became synonymous with American democracy, the seeds of constitutional government were being planted here in Hartford. 🇺🇸

In addition to the five Tiffany windows in the sanctuary, I’ve heard the Church House has a beautiful library - if anyone knows if it’s ever open to the public would appreciate the tip! 📚

@centerchurchhartford @1636heritage @longweekendhartford @america250ct #america250 #hartford #americanartweek taken in Center Church by @mdlars

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3 months ago

Poet James Merrill and his partner, David Jackson, purchased this former 19th-century Stonington Borough drugstore and residence in 1954, and spent their summers here for more than four decades. The house inspired some of Merrill’s most celebrated work, including The Changing Light at Sandover, an epic poem rooted in the pair’s Ouija board sessions held in the Greek-inspired turret dining room upstairs.

What makes the house especially remarkable is that it remains much as Merrill left after passing from complications due to HIV/AIDS in 1995, with his books, artwork, and personal collections carefully preserved. Today, the apartment continues its literary legacy through a writer-in-residence program, offering writers and scholars a place to live and work while contributing to the cultural life of this tight-knit community.

#ctvisit #openhouseday taken in James Merrill House by @mdlars

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4 months ago

15 years later. A collection of campus corners and memories.

It was wonderful to be back — and a reminder that one afternoon is nowhere near enough time to catch up on 15 years.

One panel in the main reading room of Dinand is inscribed: haec studia adulescentum alunt, senectutem oblectant (“These studies nourish youth and delight old age”).

It felt especially fitting this time around. 💜 taken in College of the Holy Cross by @mdlars

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4 months ago

Пётр Ильич Чайковский: Евгений Онегин.

A heartfelt thank you to @bobbausmith and Jill Peters-Gee for a truly special day at the @metopera! taken in The Metropolitan Opera by @mdlars

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5 months ago

Tonight’s @twhartford production of Circus Fire brought to life the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire, still the deadliest single-day tragedy in the history of the Insurance Capital of the World (photos 1-3). The performance was held in the Governor’s Foot Guard Armory, a building I first explored during a @leadership_greater_hartford event a few weeks ago (photos 4-6). The final image shows the Circus Fire Memorial in Hartford’s North End. 🎪

P.S. I would be remiss in my duties as a @connecticutlandmarks board member not to point out the @isham_terryhouse in the first photo. 😉 taken in First Company Governors Footguard Armory by @mdlars

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5 months ago