Verso University Presents: A Guided Art Tour of MoCA\CT's 'Art, Jazz, + the Blues'

Art Tour Details

Join us for a guided tour of MoCA\CT’s Art, Jazz, + the Blues art exhibit with Ive Covaci, one of the show’s co-curators. Explore stunning and thought-provoking works from the Westport Public Art Collections and enjoy a relaxed experience with fellow art lovers.

Meet at MoCA\CT: 19 Newtown Turnpike, Westport 

About the Exhibit

This exhibition explores the intersections between visual art, jazz, and the blues, musical forms deeply rooted in African American traditions,  drawing from the rich holdings of the Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC).

The exhibition centers on Giants of the Blues, a sweeping series of seven group portraits by Westport native Eric von Schmidt (1931–2007) honoring blues, jazz, and folk musicians from the 1920s to the 1960s. Complementing von Schmidt’s paintings are approximately over fifty artworks from the WestPAC collection depicting musicians, inspired by musical themes, or exploring the resonances between musical and visual forms. A selection of important loans from ACA Galleries, The Brubeck Collection at Wilton Library, Fairfield University Art Museum, Housatonic Museum of Art, artists, and private collections deepen the conversation. As the jazz great Charlie Parker once said, the show invites visitors to “hear with your eyes and see with your ears.”

Westport has long been home to a thriving community of artists and musicians. Since the early 20th century, the town has attracted generations of illustrators, painters, performers, composers, and cultural innovators, and this exhibition highlights the interconnections between artists in our own community and their relationship to broader national and international movements. Today, music and the visual arts remain a vital part of Westport’s identity, nurtured through its many performing arts venues, public art collection, schools awarded for excellence in music and arts education, and creative networks. Art, Jazz + the Blues celebrates this legacy while looking forward to its vibrant future.

Eric von Schmidt’s deep connection to blues and folk music traces back to his youth in Westport, where he often painted alongside his father, esteemed illustrator Harold von Schmidt (1893–1982). He fell in love with the blues when he heard Leadbelly on the radio, and early exposure to the Smithsonian’s music archives ignited a lifelong passion. After graduating from Staples High School and studying at the Art Students League and in Italy on a Fulbright, von Schmidt moved to Cambridge, MA, where he became a central figure in the American folk revival. A prolific artist, performer, and mentor to musicians like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, von Schmidt also designed album covers and authored prize-winning books on music. Dylan once described him as “a man who can sing the bird off the wire and the rubber off a tire.”

This exhibition includes works by Pierre Alechinsky, Vincent Baldassano, Robert Baxter, Romare Bearden, Ilya Bolotowsky, Ann Chernow, Eric Chiang, Ed Colker, Arnold Copeland, Michael Cummings, Charles Michael Daugherty, James Daugherty, Lisa Daugherty, Gene Davis, Paul Decker, Stevan Dohanos, Seymour Fogel, Sam Francis, Elsie Freund, Frances Gershwin Godowsky, Sam Gilliam, Sidney Gordin, Richard Hunt, Roberto Lugo, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Tudor Maier, Suzanne McCullough, Joan Miró, László Moholy-Nagy, Robert Natkin, John Nichols, A. R. Penck, Walter Quirt, Paul Rand, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Risko, Alex Ross, Arnold Roth, Barbara Rothenberg, Eric von Schmidt, Larry Silver, Frank Smith, Tracy Sugarman, and Jack Whitten.

Art, Jazz + the Blues is a collaboration between the Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC) + MoCA\CT. The exhibit is curated by Anne Boberski, Ive Covaci, and the WestPAC Committee.

About WestPAC

The Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC) include nearly 2,000 works in diverse media — from paintings and prints to photographs, sculpture, and murals — by major American and international artists. Most were donated by artists, heirs, and collectors and are displayed throughout Westport’s municipal buildings and public schools. The town-appointed WestPAC Committee cares for the collection and uses original art to inspire and educate students, residents, and the broader community.

About WAAC

The Westport Arts Advisory Committee (WAAC) provides oversight of the Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC), initiates ways to increase the visibility of the arts in our community and advises the First Selectman on the preservation of Westport’s legacy as an arts community.

About the Tour Guide & Co-Curator

Ive Covaci is an art historian, curator, and specialist in Japanese art. She has been teaching Asian art and global introductory art history courses at Fairfield University since 2010, and received the 2023 Excellence in Teaching Award for Undergraduate Adjunct Faculty. She holds a PhD in art history from Yale University, and an MA in East Asian studies and BA in art history from Stanford University. She is passionate about teaching and learning with original works of art.

Ive has curated and co-curated numerous exhibitions, including Kamakura: Realism and Spirituality in the Sculpture of Japan (Asia Society Museum, New York, 2016), Gifts of Gold: Japanese Lacquer Boxes (Fairfield University Art Museum, 2020), and Ink/Stone (Fairfield University Art Museum, 2022). A resident of Westport for 14 years, Ive is currently co-chair of the Westport Public Art Collections Committee, with whom she has organized the two most recent annual WestPAC exhibitions at MoCA CT: Sixties MOD (2024) and ON FIRE: Energy, Climate, Infrastructure (2025).

Important Information About Verso University Classes

• Classes are usually structured as a consecutive series.
• Class size is often limited.
• Each series has a one-time fee registration fee covering all classes in the series.
• Registration is mandatory.
• The Westport Library wants to ensure that all interested students are able to participate in Verso University courses. If the registration fee is a barrier to entry for you, please contact [email protected].

Verso University is the Library’s lifelong learning and education initiative, serving up year-round offerings of classes, workshops, and lectures designed to further education and learning. Offerings run the gamut of educational opportunities, ranging from one-time lectures to ongoing courses to classes that meet weekly or perhaps monthly.

Verso University programs are made possible by the generous support of the Nancy J. Beard Lifelong Learning and Education Fund.