Charter Oak Cultural Center is Hartford’s only multi-cultural arts center, hosting cutting-edge, thought-provoking visual and performing arts, including dance, theater, film, concerts, readings, gallery exhibits and much more.  Our overall goal is to give access to the arts to all who hunger for them.  Our key activities fall into four categories:

• Artistic: Charter Oak provides access to diverse visual and performing arts, including dance, theatre, film, concerts, readings, and gallery exhibits. In our three gallery spaces, emerging and established artists from various cultures exhibit their work.  In the course of a year, we present every variety of multi-cultural performing art—dance, film, theatre, concerts.
  

*We present as many performances and events as we can for free, keep our prices as low as possible and never turn anyone away who cannot afford the price of a ticket.

• Cultural: Charter Oak produces events and activities aimed at encouraging the sharing of new ideas and cultural values, and educating the community on commonalities and differences between cultures. This is accomplished through art, films, lectures, drama and other events.  Annually, we present Hartford’s largest Kwanzaa celebration, a multi-cultural Kristallnacht commemoration and SNAP Into Action Against Hunger, a program that raises consciousness about hunger in Hartford and has become a national model.  Charter Oak has also recently launched a newspaper created, designed and sold by individuals experiencing homelessness.

• Educational: Charter Oak offers educational opportunities to children and adults in the surrounding neighborhood, which is one of the poorest in Hartford.  Our Youth Arts Institute serves nearly 1500 inner-city children with completely free before-school, during-school, after-school, weekend and summer arts and literacy-based programming as well as free nutritious meals and snacks.  Our Youth Arts Institute is endorsed by the Hartford Public Schools Superintendent’s office and our programming is specifically designed to supplement school curricula with high quality classes in the arts that reflect a focus on literacy.

• Historic Preservation: Although Charter Oak has no religious affiliation, we are housed in a beautiful historic building built in 1876 as Connecticut’s first synagogue.  A key activity of Charter Oak is to restore, maintain and preserve our building, while ensuring that the facility remains a useful and accessible part of the community. The grounds are landscaped, the building is fully maintained and is a source of pride to the neighborhood and the city as a whole.  It is an example of visionary repurposing, serving now not as a synagogue but as a sanctuary in the midst of the city for all people.

At Charter Oak, we believe that while people certainly need food and shelter and jobs with dignity, they also need to nourish and nurture our spirits and souls, imaginations and creativity. We hold that the arts are not a luxury, but a human right.  Our arts, culture, community-building and social justice initiatives provide opportunities for Greater Hartford residents of every race, religion, class, gender, ability and sexual orientation to find their own voice, claim their own power, give expression to their distinctive cultures, and join with others to create a rich, shared urban experience.

Mission

Charter Oak Cultural Center, a beautiful historic landmark and vibrant arts center, contributes to the revitalization of Hartford by bringing the community together through open and equal access to the arts, with a deep commitment to social justice.

At Charter Oak, we support art that moves the world.