Yale’s historic and architecturally distinctive campus will be the venue for an assortment of walking tours during the International Festival of Arts & Ideas.
These tours, scheduled almost every day of the festival, have been organized by the Yale Visitor Center, the Yale Center for British Art, the Yale School of Music Collection of Musical Instruments and the New Haven Preservation Trust.
Tours include a campus overview (3 p.m., June 16); Hillhouse Avenue Historic District (12:30 p.m., June 17); the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity (1 p.m. June 17); the Architecture of James Gamble Rogers, designer of Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library and many other campus buildings (5:30 p.m., June 19); “The Utopian Impulse” exhibit at Sterling Memorial Library (1:30 p.m., June 23); The Collection of Musical Instruments (2 p.m., June 23; admission: $10); Marsh Botanical Gardens (5:30 p.m., June 24); just-opened Kroon Hall, Yale’s greenest building (noon, June 25); the arts complex formed by Paul Rudolph Hall, the Loria Center for the History of Art, and the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library (2 p.m., June 26); and “Paintings from the Reign of Victoria” exhibit at the Yale Center for British Art (noon, June 27). With the exception noted above, all the tours are free. Since space on many tours is limited, reservations are recommended. Call (203) 432-2300.
Yale’s main campus in downtown New Haven extends about two miles, north to south, and includes more than 250 buildings, the oldest completed in 1753 and the newest still under construction. These buildings represent a wide range of architectural styles, from colonial to neo-Gothic to contemporary, and include the works of many of the world’s greatest architects.
In addition to the special festival tours, the Yale Visitor Center offers free tours 352 days a year: weekdays at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.; and weekends at 1:30 p.m. These begin at the center, located in the historic Pierpont House (built 1767), 149 Elm St.