A Tin Can on a String: Conversations from the Collection
May 16 to August 9, 2026
Lyman Allyn Art Museum
New London, Connecticut
www.lymanallyn.org
“A Tin Can on a String” reimagines the Museum’s collection through a contemporary lens, inviting visitors into an intimate exchange between past and present. Working both onsite and within the Museum’s digital archives, Murphy and Johnson engage in a dynamic creative dialogue with historical objects. Drawing inspiration from forms, textures, and narratives found in the collection, the artists translate their discoveries into new works spanning painting, collage, and sculpture. The result is a vibrant body of work that reflects an ongoing conversation, one that bridges time, material, and artistic perspective.
[Images: Left to right: John Audubon and Robert Havell, Zenaida Dove Pl. CLXII, 1833, hand-colored engraving on paper. Gift of Henry Schnakenberg, Newtown, CT, 1952.67A; Heidi Johnson, Audubondance, 2026, oil on canvas.]
