Act One is set on a series of Sundays in the 1880s, on the island where Seurat is sketching his subjects and in his studio, where he is busy working on the gigantic "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte". The people out strolling in the park comment on the odd artist and the world of 1884 Paris, and become figures in the painting as Seurat sketches them. There is also tension between George and his model/lover Dot. Eventually she leaves him, for a more attentive baker, and moves to America with George's newborn child.

Act Two flashes forward to the 1980s, in modern Chicago, where the anniversary of the painting is being celebrated. An artist named George, possibly the great grandson of Seurat, is struggling to balance his rather eccentric artistic style with the commercial and social demands of a booming capitalist art market. The modern, entirely fictional George shares his ancestor's passion as well as his inability to get close to people because of it. But with the help of his ailing grandmother Marie and the ghost of Dot George is able to reconnect with his past and find inspiration for new works.