Virtually all Connecticut residents engage in the arts, culture and humanities, either formally or informally, a recent survey found. But attendance rates at many cultural organizations haven’t quite returned to pre-pandemic levels.

This hour, we get the latest from Connecticut Humanities executive director Jason Mancini, and hear about a recent push for a “roadmap” that would better fund and link the arts, culture and tourism in the state. We also check in with the Maritime Aquarium, and the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, formerly the Connecticut Historical Society.

Have you taken advantage of Connecticut’s Summer at the Museum? Listeners this hour shouted out locations like the New England Air Museum, the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum, and more.

Plus, we preview early plans to highlight the state’s revolutionary history in 2026, the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. Former Secretary of State Denise Merrill spoke about the creation of the Connecticut Semiquincentennial Commission in advance of “America 250.”

We also revisit a recent conversation on Connecticut Public’s Disrupted with Maisa Tisdale, CEO and President of the Mary and Eliza Freeman Center for History and Community. The homes in Bridgeport are some of the last remaining structures of Little Liberia, one of the earliest settlements of free people of color in pre-Civil War Connecticut.

GUESTS:

• Dr. Jason Mancini: Executive Director, Connecticut Humanities
• Cyndi Tolosa: Development Director, Connecticut Humanities
• Denise Merrill: Former Connecticut Secretary of State
• Jason Patlis: President and CEO, Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk
• Robert Kret: CEO, Connecticut Museum of Culture and History

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