Current Exhibits
Hope on the Horizon
March 5 – April 30, 2026
The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is delighted to present an exhibit featuring original oil paintings of local artist Christopher Straus. “Hope on the Horizon” will be on view at the museum from March 5 through April 30, 2026.
An opening reception for “Chris Straus: Hope on the Horizon” will take place on Thursday, March 5, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society. The community is invited to meet the artist, experience the exhibition, and support both Straus and the museum by purchasing original paintings, gift cards, and limited matted giclée prints available in the museum’s West Hartford Gift Shop.
Straus is deeply rooted in the West Hartford arts community, studying at the West Hartford Art League and regularly painting alongside fellow local artists. Over the past 14 years, he has built a loyal following for his vibrant landscapes, flowers, and sunsets, which radiate a sense of joy and optimism. Drawing from family photographs, he is highly selective about the images he chooses to paint, and he is closely involved in visually editing the compositions he will paint. He hopes guests will visit the exhibit and leave with a smile and refreshed sense of hope. Christopher has surpassed the limits placed on him as an individual with intellectual and motoric special needs.
Straus’s artwork has long resonated with local audiences, including through his popular greeting cards, which are currently regularly sold at Good Cause Gifts at West Hartford & Berlin, CT.
Defining the Dictionary:
The story behind the words
“Look it up in Webster’s.” A work with such brand recognition that it goes simply by the author’s last name, An American Dictionary of the English Language is the topic of a new exhibit at the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society. While Webster did not invent the dictionary, what he did do was no less important. He wrote the first American dictionary for the country he helped to shape. Webster sought to unite the people of the new nation by establishing a common American language. The exhibit looks at Webster’s early work and influences and also explores the relationship with Charles and George Merriam who, after Webster’s death, purchased the rights to An American Dictionary as well as the remaining unsold copies to sell in their shop. Today, Merriam-Webster Incorporated maintains the spirit of Noah Webster and the essence of his life’s work by chronicling the ever-evolving American English language.
