Connolly participated in the Maine College of Art Baie Ste. Marie residency program in New Edinburg, Nova Scotia. He was juried in to the 2011 Portland Museum of Art Biennial Exhibition, and the 2010 Center for Maine Contemporary Art Biennial Exhibition. He is the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and the Sheldon Bergh Award. Connolly’s work expresses a strong sense of mood through subtle use of color adding a richness to the subjects he chooses to paint.