the Informer

SPENCER ALLAN BROOKS

Like many other University of Hartford students, I too am guilty of turning a blind eye to the vast array of possibilities that our very own city has to offer.

I often find myself dreaming of living in a city of magnitude, a city filled with art, culture, entertainment and extravagance simply forgetting that Hartford has all of those things, it’s just a matter of where one looks.

Over the past three years I have come across some of the greatest and most fascinating places that Hartford has to offer. Several of these findings occurred with the help of University programs and class assignments but nonetheless I discovered the unique side of Hartford. A side filled with culture and art, which only seems to expand as years go by.

Upon my arrival at the university, a professor instructed our class to attend a production by the Hartford Stage Company. While I was expecting a classic interpretation of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ what played out was a completely fascinating and unique rendition. The experience was just as if I had taken the three-hour drive to New York City to see a Broadway show but right around the corner.

Just a short drive downtown is The Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art, the oldest public art museum in the United States. With a collection of nearly 50,000 works, the museum was founded by Daniel Wadsworth in 1842. The impressive collection includes works by Andy Warhol, Salvador Dalí, Frederic Church, Monet and Renoir to name a few. An added benefit is that University of Hartford students can explore the museum for free.

Hartford even caters to sports enthusiasts of several varieties. The XL Center located in center of Hartford hosts the CT Whale, Hartford’s very own hockey team. The XL Center also acts as University of Connecticut’s 2011 national champion men’s basketball team’s home away from home.

Located right around the corner from campus, Elizabeth Park provides a quiet ambience that most students strive to find at some point during their college career. Hartford is chocked full of parks and recreational areas that are so underutilized by UHa students. Bushnell Park, located in the heart of city, was the first municipal park in the nation to be conceived, built and paid for by citizens through a popular vote. While proposing the park in 1853, Rev. Horace Bushnell expressed that the park would be a place “where rich and poor will exchange looks and make acquaintance through the eyes…a place of life and motion that will make us more completely conscious of being one people.”

To think of living in a city for four-years and not experience everything it has to offer seems like a waste. Perhaps instead of using the peak hours of the weekend as recovery time from the night prior, students should take advantage of the intellectually stimulating prospects that are so readily available and right around the corner. -cc