Charter Oak Cultural Center
Charter Oak Cultural Center’s mission is to do the work of social justice through the arts in the Hartford metropolitan area and beyond.
Here’s how:
Our City School of the Arts offers audition and tuition-free classes in the arts to Hartford youth ages six through eighteen.
Our Beat of the Street programming provides educational and employment opportunities to the homeless community.
Our professional multicultural performances and exhibits provide access to the arts for everyone because no one is ever turned away due to lack of funds.
We are stewards of the historic building we call home, the first synagogue built in Connecticut, and are dedicated to preserving the building and its inspiring legacy.
Keep in Touch
Please sign up for our e-blasts and be a part of the Charter Oak community! More than just a calendar of our events (although it is an exciting array of performances and exhibits), it contains lots of things to make you think, get your juices going, dance (yes, dance!) and provide you with stimulating ideas to enjoy exploring with family and friends and to fall back on in those awkward social situations we all have when it’s hard to think of what to talk about. We’d love to have you join us.
Supported in part by the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s United Arts Campaign.
Capital Campaign
The Charter Oak Capital Campaign: Building A Campus Dedicated to Social Justice Through the Arts
Charter Oak is creating a beautiful campus on which even more people can enjoy and study the arts. Thus far, we have raised $4.7 million and received a $6.5 million grant for the synagogue from the Community Investment Fund. Charter Oak invites everyone in the community to participate in raising the final $1.5 million of its $12.7 million capital campaign goal. These funds will enable us to complete the renovation and welcome 250 additional young people and their families to our City School of the Arts.
Youth Arts News
Good Vibrations participants Hartford Police Officer Hiram Otero and student Kayke Lopes were honored as part of the White House’s “Champions of Change” program for their work in building trust and improving public safety in communities. “Good Vibrations” pairs Hartford youth with Hartford officers for a 12-week music program in either rap/poetry or guitar.
Charter Oak Cultural Center lives in Connecticut’s oldest synagogue building. The building was home to Congregation Beth Israel as well as several other religious institutions over the years, until it was abandoned in the 1970s.
The innovative programming at Charter Oak Cultural Center is sustained by a diverse community of dedicated supporters. Consider joining the Charter Oak community today.
Latest News
The Importance of Being Foolish
by Rabbi Donna Berman, Ph.D. A sermon given at Fenwick, 2025 In 1894, Oscar Wilde wrote his famous play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Not surprisingly, some great lines came out of that work like, “I never travel without my diary. One should always have...
Virtual Lecture: American Imperialism in the 19th Century with UConn Professor Jerry Phillips
https://youtu.be/HKSG1YJN_1U?si=1mH5LIj6-7xwh3Eg THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EMPIRE IN 19th CENTURY AMERICAN HISTORY with UCONN Professor Jerry Phillips Presented by Charter Oak Cultural Center on August 6, 2026 via Zoom In his famous essay on “the significance of the...
City School of the Arts Brass Band Performs “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Our City School of the Arts summer programs are in full swing and our big brass band is already swinging! Enjoy this performance of "When the Saints Go Marching In" by our youth and teaching artists! Your support of Charter Oak makes this FREE educational program...
City School of the Arts Brass Band Performs “Iko Iko”
Our City School of the Arts summer programs are in full swing and our big brass band is already swinging! Enjoy this performance of "Iko Iko" by our youth and teaching artists! Your support of Charter Oak makes this FREE educational program possible....
BIRDIES FOR CHARITY 2026
Working with the Zachs Family Foundation and their Endow Hartford 21 Initiative, you can help Charter Oak build its endowment, so it can continue its vital work for many generations to come! Each organization that raises money through Birdies for Charity will receive...
Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz Justice Institute Lecture: MUJERISTA ALIVIAR ETHICS
https://youtu.be/BvF8wIXTOZQ?si=AI6rbGsqBHeab6mo Rev. Dr. Kenia Vanessa Mendoza, Esq. will present her theoretical and practical approach to mujerista aliviar ethics, drawing on the foundational pillars of mujerista theology. She will explore the complex dynamics of...
REFRAMING THE AMERICAN IMAGE: The Lost Perceptions of Reconstruction 1864-1878 with Dr. Leslie Wilson
WHY ARE WE AT WAR WITH IRAN? A Virtual Lecture
https://youtu.be/qKwvUGE0I9E?si=uaQ_srmgZGTwT6ch
CHARTER OAK IN CONTEXT: Women’s Activism in the 19th Century with Dr. Dorothy Rogers
https://youtu.be/pRFXnTlCvdg?si=DSckOMQ5-Z1_QY9k