Community Calendar

Hieroglyphs to Hype: The Modern Afterlife of Ancient Egypt will explore the enduring fascination with ancient Egyptian art and culture (dubbed “Egyptomania” by 19th-century Europeans) through a selection of paintings, prints, photographs, and decorative art ranging from the early 19th century through the present day. These objects, from the humble to the refined, from the shamelessly commercial to the Afrofuturist, represent the range of artistic responses to – and misconceptions about – ancient Egyptian visual culture.
Paradoxically, this enthusiasm for Egyptian symbols and motifs contributed to the erasure of the ancient Egyptian people themselves, as their beliefs and customs became exoticized in popular memory. The exhibition will examine how these objects reflect the phenomenon of “Egyptomania” over the last two centuries and will position their oversimplified or stereotypical narratives in conversation with current archaeological understandings of ancient Egyptian culture.
Hieroglyphs to Hype: The Modern Afterlife of Ancient Egypt is curated by Megan Paqua (adjunct instructor of ancient Egyptian archaeology and art history and Fairfield University Art Museum Registrar) and will be on view from September 18 - December 12, 2026 in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries.

Charles-Théodore Frère, Along the Nile, ca. 1870, oil on panel. Fairfield University Art Museum, Gift of Michael T. Vigario’08, 2023, 2023.11.01

This exhibition explores the enduring fascination with ancient Egyptian art and culture (dubbed “Egyptomania” by 19th-century Europeans) through a selection of paintings, prints, photographs, and decorative art from the early 19th century to the present day.

These objects, from the humble to the refined, from the shamelessly commercial to the Afrofuturist, represent the range of artistic responses to – and misconceptions about – ancient Egyptian visual culture.

Paradoxically, this enthusiasm for Egyptian symbols and motifs contributed to the erasure of the ancient Egyptian people themselves, as popular memory exoticized their beliefs and customs. The exhibition will examine how these objects reflect the phenomenon of “Egyptomania” over the last two centuries and will position their oversimplified or stereotypical narratives in conversation with current archaeological understandings of ancient Egyptian culture.

Join us for our family program Getting StARTed, where we offer engaging activities to guide families in looking at art together. The 30-minute sessions focus on a range of works from the collection and build in time for participants to try the month’s activity on their own.

Meet by the couches in the Gallery lobby.

Free with Museum admission

2 PM - 3 PM

Discover the Parrish with a Museum Docent. Docent-led tours offer visitors a focused insight into the Museum and exhibitions on view. Docent tours are free with Museum admission and are offered on the first and third Saturdays of each month.

Drop-in program. Space is limited to a maximum of 20 visitors per docent.

Join us for our family program Getting StARTed, where we offer engaging activities to guide families in looking at art together. The 30-minute sessions focus on a range of works from the collection and build in time for participants to try the month’s activity on their own.

Meet by the couches in the Gallery lobby.

Free with Museum admission

2 PM - 3 PM

Discover the Parrish with a Museum Docent. Docent-led tours offer visitors a focused insight into the Museum and exhibitions on view. Docent tours are free with Museum admission and are offered on the first and third Saturdays of each month.

Drop-in program. Space is limited to a maximum of 20 visitors per docent.

We invite families to join us for folktales, myths, and exciting stories from around the world that highlight objects in the collection and inspire children of all ages to view art in new ways. 

Meet by the couches in the Gallery lobby. 

Join us for our family program Getting StARTed, where we offer engaging activities to guide families in looking at art together. The 30-minute sessions focus on a range of works from the collection and build in time for participants to try the month’s activity on their own.

Meet by the couches in the Gallery lobby.

A group of artists gathers at a lakeside community for a summer holiday. Among them are a famous actress, her lover, a celebrated novelist and her playwright son, desperate to win her approval and the heart of a young woman who has her own sights set on the stage. Yura Kordonsky’s new adaptation of The Seagull––Anton Chekhov’s bittersweet tale of unrequited love and thwarted ambitions––explores the exquisite agony of finding your own voice, the generational tensions between tradition and innovation, and the hopelessly tangled ties that bind.

Free with Museum admission

2 PM - 3 PM

Discover the Parrish with a Museum Docent. Docent-led tours offer visitors a focused insight into the Museum and exhibitions on view. Docent tours are free with Museum admission and are offered on the first and third Saturdays of each month.

Drop-in program. Space is limited to a maximum of 20 visitors per docent.