The Springfield Museums’ October tour and lecture schedule features a wide range of speakers and topics, including a special lecture on Sunday, October 25 by Scott Schweigert, curator of art and civilization at the Reading Public Museum. His talk, American Impressionism through the Lens of the Artists’ Colonies, explores the effect of the art colony movement on the resident artists’ creative expression. The lecture takes place at 3 pm at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, and is free with museum admission.

The popular Museums à la Carte lectures take place each Thursday at 12:15 p.m. in the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts. Admission is $4 ($2 for members of the Springfield Museums); visitors are invited to bring a bag lunch (cookies and coffee are provided). For more information about Museums à la Carte, call 413.263.6800, ext. 488. This month’s lectures include:

• Oct. 1 – The Cycling Craze of the 1890s: A Story of Race, Gender, Sport and Society. Lorenz J. Finison, PhD, examines how the bicycle exploded in popularity in the late 19th century, with clubs popping up all across the Pioneer Valley.
• Oct. 8 – Paleontological Insights from Southern New England. Patrick Getty, PhD, Visiting Asst. Professor, UConn Center for Integrated Geosciences, discusses Paleozoic and Mesozoic-era fossils of southern New England, including footprints and trackways, and what they tell us about the animals that lived here.
• Oct.15  – Interregional Exchange and Ceremonialism Two Millennia Before the Fur Trade: Insights from the Champlain and Connecticut River Valleys. Jess Robinson, Vermont State Archaeologist will analyze archeological evidence of trade networks and funeral rites of our region’s early inhabitants.
• Oct. 22 – Independence and Modernity: French Impressionism. Gloria Russell, art history writer, professor, and retired art critic, will use works in the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts to trace the achievements and innovative techniques of artists such as Monet, Renoir and Degas.
• Oct.29  – Art in the Face of Mortality: Art Found on Early New England Gravestones. Al McKee, M.D., will discuss how early gravestone design was influenced by stone selection, by the artisan’s skill and imagination, and by contemporary thoughts about life, mortality and death.

Following the lectures on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, museum docents will be leading guided gallery discussions for museum members titled “Continuing Conversations” starting at 1:30 PM. Science docent Steve Hall will lead the October 8 Conversation on Paleontological Insights from Southern New England at the Springfield Science Museum, while art docent Betty Romer will lead the October 22 Conversation on French Impressionism at the D’Amour Museum.

Monthly Walking Tours are presented on second Saturdays in collaboration with the Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association (AQCA). This year’s tours will revisit Springfield street locations that were photographed by the WPA 75 years ago. On October 10, city planner Susan Heller will lead a tour of nearby Edwards St. Walking tours are free for Springfield Museums and AQCA members, $5 nonmembers, and start at the Museums’ Welcome Center.