🎨 Newton’s new arts home, in the restored 1890s Brigham House — arts and cultural programming plus community events.
Newton’s newly established Arts & Culture Department finally has a brick-and-mortar home: the Linda Plaut Arts and Culture Center, in the beautifully restored historic Brigham House in Newton Highlands. The Victorian house was built by the Brigham family — of Brigham’s Ice Cream — in 1896, and has served the city as a branch library, a teen center and a temporary senior center before being renovated with Community Preservation Act money and fundraising. It opened June 14, 2026 with a ribbon-cutting during Newton Highlands Village Day, and now hosts arts and cultural programming and community events alongside the department’s offices. The center is named for Linda Plaut, who directed the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs for more than four decades and created many of the city’s signature programs — the Festival of the Arts, Performances in the Park, and Halloween Window Painting among them. Spark Newton has also moved into the building. Check the city’s arts and culture pages for the current program and event calendar.
It is the permanent home of Newton’s Arts & Culture Department, in the restored historic Brigham House at 40 Hartford St in Newton Highlands. It opened June 14, 2026 and hosts arts and cultural programming and community events.
The Victorian house was built in 1896 by the Brigham family, who founded Brigham’s Ice Cream. The city later acquired it and used it as a branch library, then a teen center, then a temporary senior center, before renovating it with Community Preservation Act funds and fundraising.
The center hosts arts and cultural programming and community events for the wider community. Because it is brand new, the schedule is still filling in — check the City of Newton arts and culture pages for the current calendar, and see our Newton art classes listings for weekly options.
Also browse kids art classes near Boston · family activities · Newton after-school programs.