Opened in 1967, the Housatonic Museum of Art (HMA) is one of the premier college art collections in the United States. Its collection offers students and the community alike the opportunity to view works that span the history of art from the ancient to the contemporary. Unique to the Connecticut State Community College Housatonic campus, this permanent collection is on continuous display throughout the facility, offering a rare opportunity for both art enthusiasts and casual observers to view and interact with the art on a daily basis. HMA offers a wide range of exhibitions and public programs, on topics ranging from sports photography to inequitable land development. The museum leadership works hard to align topics to the courses on campus, and the museum plays an important professional development role in offering work study positions and internships to students.

The Housatonic Museum of Art is proposing to upgrade the lighting system in the Burt Chernow Galleries to a fully integrated LED system. This project aligns with a campus-wide initiative at Connecticut State Housatonic to fully transition to energy-efficient LED lighting. The Catalyst Grant will allow the museum to install Lightolier 1100 series spec fixtures and track infrastructure plus dimmers. The goal is to upgrade the track lighting to a user-friendly LED lighting system that will create the proper ambiance for our visitors while protecting the artwork and reducing our carbon footprint. The new system will enable the staff to control light levels, temperature, and color—a huge benefit to the conservation of light-sensitive artworks.