The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

Exhibitions:in january 2022, The Aldrich opened three new exhibitions, one Aldrich project, and two main street sculpture projects: duane slick: The coyote makes it better; milano chow: prima facie; Aldrich projects: amaryllis dejesus moleski, portal pieces; melvin edwards: asafokra; and david shaw: last steps. Karla knight: navigator, which opened in october 2021, remained on view through may 8, 2022. This exhibition was knight's institutional solo debut and took The form of a focused survey, charting The development of her far-seeing language over a four-decade-long career. It was accompanied by The artist's first Museum publication, a 120-page hard-cover book, which was released in 2022.duane slick: The coyote makes The sunset better was The artist's first solo Museum exhibition, and it brought together over 90 paintings, prints, photographs, and video, all made within The last five years. Prima facie marked milano chow's solo institutional debut, and she unveiled a new body of works on paper spanning two and three dimensions. Amaryllis dejesus moleski: portal pieces was The third installment of Aldrich projects, a single artist series that features a singular work or a focused body of work by an artist every four months on The Museum's campus. Dejesus moleski presented two large-scale works on paper.on june 6, 2022, 52 artists: a feminist milestone opened at The Museum. It remains on view through january 8, 2023. This ambitious exhibition celebrates The fifty-first anniversary of The historic exhibition twenty six Contemporary women artists curated by trailblazer lucy r. lippard and presented at The Aldrich in 1971. 52 artists showcases work by The artists included in The original 1971 exhibition, alongside a new roster of twenty-six female identifying or nonbinary emerging artists, tracking The evolution of feminist Art practices over The past five decades. The exhibition encompasses The entirety of The Museum and its grounds (with three major works sited outdoors) -The first exhibition to do so in The Aldrich's new building which was inaugurated in 2004. The exhibition also included The presentation of two major performances: The recreation of adrian piper's whistleblower catalysis from 1971 and The commissioning of phoebe berglund's dance work, october, 2022.two public artworks were installed as part of The ongoing main street sculpture series. Since its founding in 1964, The Aldrich has activated its grounds with public sculpture and outdoor installations. On april 27, melvin edwards' large-scale sculpture asafokra was installed and remained on view through september 5. Asafokra marks The return of edwards' work to The Museum's sculpture garden after fifty years. On september 9, david shaw's outdoor sculpture last steps (2021-22) was installed, which will be up through august 20, 2023. All three exhibitions that opened in 2022 were accompanied by Museum publications. Duane slick's show was accompanied by an eighty-page catalogue, The first major publication of his work. Milano chow's catalogue was her first ever Museum publication. The 52 artists: a feminist milestone show is accompanied by a major book, 180-pages, and hardcover, co-published with gregory r. miller & co. It included new essays by The curators, as well as rare historical documentation of The original exhibition, images, installation views, and checklists from both The 1971 and 2022 shows. The Aldrich project: amaryllis dejesus moleski was accompanied by an 8-page full color zine created by The artist.

Museum operations: exhibition and public and school programs require a well-maintained, high-functioning facility to house The exhibitions and provide a place for programs. To accomplish this, funds are used for maintenance, security, capital projects, utilities, depreciation, and operations staffing.

Public and school programs:the Aldrich hosted a range of in-person and virtual programming for The public, schools, and individuals served by partner organizations. Every month offered third saturdays on The third saturday of The month, welcoming people to visit The Museum for free and participate in art-making activities called explore! Guides in The studio learning space inside The Museum, a story-time in partnership with The ridgefield library, and a tour of The exhibitions that change monthly. The longstanding camp Aldrich, a day-long program focused on artmaking, returned for four weeks during The summer serving youth in grades 1-6.the Aldrich continued to present adult programs virtually and in-person, including conversations with artists, curators, and scholars. Highlights include talks with artists milano chow, karla knight, david shaw, an introduction to 52 artists: a feminist milestone by chief Aldrich curator amy smith-stewart and independent curator alexandra schwartz, a panel conversation with artist duane slick, native american studies scholar dr. cutcha risling baldy, and biologist dr. jon way, a land acknowledgment workshop led by former forge project director of education heather breugl, a panel conversation with artists aya rodriguez- izumi, kiyan williams, lizania cruz and leilah babirye moderated by The kitchen's chief curator and executive director legacy russell, and finally a book launch for 52 artists, which included cynthia carlson, dona nelson, reeva potoff, lj roberts, loie hollowell, and rachel eulena williams engaged in a special series of intergenerational conversations with each other during The event.may saw The launch of The first Aldrich after hours bi-monthly event which included a book signing by artist karla knight, conversation starters and activities in The studio.in 2022 The Aldrich presented a variety of performances including poetry, music, and dance, many of which were developed in tandem with community partners including ridgefield symphony orchestra, ridgefield library, and wilton's music on The hill. The poetry series, "all of The sky", brought five Contemporary feminist poets to The Museum for consecutive saturday readings in The summer, accompanied by a q&a and book signing. A lauded intergenerational group of poets including eileen myles, mahogany browne, nathalie handal and more joined this series, reading selections from their broad oeuvre of work and discussing The impact of The feminist movement on their personal and professional careers. A major Aldrich performance commission created by artist phoebe berglund titled october, was presented in The sculpture garden. The work was an hour-length performance inspired by The work 4 into 3 by cecile abish, who was also present for The experience. In december, The first of three editions of The Aldrich box was created by dance and theater artist ali kenner-brodsky, who will also be performing a full-length dance/theater work in january 2023.the Aldrich continuing monthly programming for seniors and individuals with early-stage dementia, working with ridgefield station and The alzheimer's association of Connecticut. These programs take place virtually each month and included one in-person visit during The summer for each group.the Aldrich teen fellows, comprised of area teens, met virtually in The spring and created collaborative projects inspired by themes present in The Museum's exhibitions including a 30-page zine, or self-published booklet, focused on making museums and Contemporary Art more accessible and approachable for young people their age. Featuring original artwork, writing, and an interview with artist milano chow, The fellows' zine lives at The front desk for visitors to take out and explore. During The fall semester, The teen fellows worked with artist susan chen on a project that challenged them to connect deeply with a member of The community and create a portrait of that person in any medium. At The end of The semester, The teens created an exhibition in The studio of their work during The semester, where visitors were invited to engage with their project through january 2023.the education team continues to work with area schools on guided visits to The exhibitions as well as in-person professional development workshops for educators. The preschool series, Art onsite, was expanded to serve more schools. A new academic partnership was developed to serve The local alternative high school program for at-risk, area youth. Professional development programs were offered to area public school teachers and tours for private learning communities such as The student survivors of The sandy hook school shooting were added. After two years of virtual programming, The popular program common ground returned with in-person visits by area charter schools. Artist duane slick participated by developing a project themed around identity and heritage, encouraging each student to reflect on their own personal and cultural connections with their upbringing. Students toured The galleries, performed written reflection, learned about different printmaking processes such as gelli plate printing, and created their own series of prints inspired by cultural symbols. Teacher feedback indicated that this was The most engaged they had seen The students in two years, and that they made significant sel progress. Additional in person programming was offered to public and private schools for elementary, middle, and high school students.