The Lyman Allyn Art Museum, located just past the southern tip of Conn’s campus is a quiet little gem.
At Conn, the kinds of external cultural experiences the students here cultivate are on a smaller, more intimate scale. This has always been special to me and The Lyman Allyn is a perfect example of this. The museum was donated to the City of New London by Harriet Allyn, the daughter of Captain Lyman Allyn. The family were long-time New London residents, and Harriet donated the museum in her father’s memory. Everything about this story is New London-esque, and it speaks well to our region of Connecticut: a richly historical area with prominent nods to the sea. 

Last weekend, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I met my boyfriend at the Lyman Allyn and we wandered around for a good hour. We saw the museum’s permanent collection, which features rich details about the history of the region. One of the new exhibits focused on coral sculptures and the museum's newest exhibit was on Prohibition and the Roaring ’20s. To be able to walk to a museum that sits on the edge of campus–and get the nice discounted student rate of $0–felt like a breath of fresh air. Though smaller and more suburban than city museums, the Lyman Allyn acts as a good illustration of the diversity and richness of New London.