The Springfield Museums’ monthly tours and lecture schedule kicks off in September with the return of the popular Thursday Museums à la Carte lectures, held weekly at 12:15 pm in the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts. Admission is $4 ($2 for members of the Springfield Museums); visitors are invited to bring lunch (cookies and coffee are provided). The programs are sponsored by Big Y World Class Market.

This month's lectures:

• September 12 – Behind the Scenes of The Garden of Martyrs Opera. A peek behind the curtain at the preparations for the orchestral premiere of Eric Sawyer’s new opera by Kevin Rhodes, Music Director/Conductor, Springfield Symphony Orchestra.
• September 19 – The Garden of Martyrs, with Dr. Michael C. White, author of the novel that inspired the new opera of the same name. Michael is program director MFA in Creative Writing, Fairfield University.
• September 26 – Art in Our Lives, Then and Now. What we need to know about artists, presented by Richard Muhlberger, former director of the Springfield Art Museums, adjunct professor of art and architectural history, Western New England University, author of 16 books and numerous publications on art and artists.

Also scheduled in September are informal half-hour “mini-tours” every Sunday at 1 PM by volunteer docent educators. The tours highlight a different element of the unique collections of one of the four museums, and are free with Museum admission (check the Museums’ website or with the Welcome Center staff for an updated schedule of mini-tours). Topics for September are:

• September 1 – Fuller Gallery 18th Century Elite: Face to Face, Betty Romer, D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts. Using art to trace our country’s journey from colony to independence.
• September 8 – The Historical Monument of the American Republic, Deena Maniscalchi, DMFA. Erastus Salisbury Field’s vision of America at its Centennial Museum.
• September 15 – French Art before Impressionism, Amy Dane, DMFA. What did French art look like before Monet? 
• September 22 – Sculpture Ancient and Less Ancient, Richard O’Brien, George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum. Exploring the many unique sculptures of the “George Walter.”
• September 29 – Everett Barney and his Role in Forest Park, John Weiss, Wood Museum of Springfield History. The inventor and philanthropist whose generosity led to the establishment of our city’s finest park.  

Monthly Walking Tours are presented in collaboration with the Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association (AQCA). On September 14 from 10:30 a.m. – noon, Park Ranger Jennifer Zazo from the Springfield Armory will present “Restoring the Springfield Armory’s Historic Viewscape,” highlighting the efforts of park staff to restore the historic site back to its magnificence of the 1940s. Walking tours are free for Springfield Museums and AQCA members, $5 nonmembers, and start at the Museums’ Welcome Center.