There is a new museum in southern New England that is inspiring both for the art work collected under its roof and the way it came together as a result of the dedication of a husband and wife who made it possible.

The Westerly Museum of American Impressionism is located in Westerly, Rhode Island on Watch Hill Road - on the way to the beach. Westerly is not the first place you would look for an art museum, but it was the obvious choice for Cynthia and Thomas Sculco when they decided to share the works of Impressionist painters they have collected over four decades.

That decision to share is the real inspiration that over-took me as I moved through the galleries.

The one story building, on a cove of the Pawcatuck River, is 20,000 square feet. It has eleven galleries filled with the work of well known Impressionists, like Childe Hassam and John Singer Sargent, and lesser known painters who the Sculcos consider to be talented and deserving of a wider audience.

Thomas Sculco is the surgeon-in-chief emeritus at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and his wife Cynthia is an adjunct associate professor of nursing at New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing. They balance their time between Westerly and New York. They met while attending Westerly High School as teen-agers. Their connection to Rhode Island drove the choice of Westerly as the location for the museum.

The Sculco’s full collection includes over three hundred paintings. They told Rhode Island Monthly that the inspiration for the museum came in part from the fact that they were running out of wall space.

They purchased a former rehabilitation facility in Westerly and hired Centerbrook Architects of Connecticut to re-design the building. The walls that divided the interior into rooms for patients were removed and converted into open volumes to display art and allow the space for visitors to study and think about that art.

The gallery space feels endless, but not overwhelming. There is room for visitors to contemplate the art work without stopping traffic. Well placed windows provide natural light and framed scenes of the building’s surroundings which includes the river that divides Rhode Island and Connecticut. There is a small library and study area and a public space for presentations and gatherings adjacent to the largest gallery. The exterior of the building is simple. The landscaping is its own work of art.

The collection features many scenes from throughout New England(and the world) in each season of the year, but the Impressionists always remind me first of summer and so it was especially warming to visit in January.

The Westerly Museum of American Impressionism opened in October of 2025. It is open Thursday through Sunday from 10a.m.-4p.m. The works of art will transport you to the consistently well-lighted world of the Impressionist school and leave you grateful for the generosity of the Sculcos who have given back in a lasting way to their hometown of Westerly.