The exhibition, The Merritt: Masterwork of Design and Planning, opens in New Canaan Library’s Lightburn Gallery on April 1^st, 2026 to honor America 250. The show also marks the 25th anniversary of the Merritt Parkway Conservancy, which has been working in partnership with the CT Department of Transportation to protect, revitalize, and steward Connecticut’s iconic landmark for the enjoyment of future generations. The Merritt Parkway, one of 20^th-century America’s most significant achievements in public architecture, planning, engineering, and landscape design, was conceived and built during the heyday of American motoring. The exhibition highlights the significance of the roadway’s complex design and remarkable ingenuity—from its artistry and cultural context, to its ecological and industrial innovation—that led to its listing on the National Register for Historic Places and status as a National Scenic Byway.

Most Connecticut residents and daily commuters exhale deeply once they hit the Merritt—and that’s by design. 

Built during the devastating Great Depression and the onset of World War II, it is the product of visionaries who conceived a way to address the need for a roadway to parallel the congested Route 1 while simultaneously employing thousands of workers as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). 

The State of Connecticut and the Department of Transportation could easily have constructed a straight super-highway that disregarded the natural environment. Instead, they embraced two inspired minds—an architect and a landscape designer—whose distinctive parkway continues to delight travelers with its artistic and natural beauty.  

This exhibition, together with related programs and learning opportunities programmed throughout its run at New Canaan Library, will educate and entertain the community with information on this national treasure and Connecticut’s unique historic asset. It will also build awareness about the necessity to preserve this “road within a park.” The show features historic photographs and watercolors by WPA artist Howard Heath documenting the construction of the Merritt, early photographs of the completed roadway by the photojournalist Marion Post Wolcott, a sculpture of a road paver by Saul Baizerman, 1930s Art Deco car hood ornaments, a toolbox by one of the craftsmen who worked on the bridge decorations, bridge designs by architect George Dunkelberger, and contemporary artworks by Nate Gibbons and Cynthia Mullins.

The exhibition was co-curated by Arianne Kolb, Executive Director of the Merritt Parkway Conservancy, and Tom Berntsen, who also served as Exhibition Designer. The Merritt: Masterwork of Design and Planning, is on view in New Canaan Library’s Lightburn Gallery from April 1^st, 2026 and will run through September 30^th, 2026. The Gallery is open during Library hours; to plan your visit please check New Canaan Library’s website at www.newcanaanlibrary.org.