The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum facts for kids
.jpg) |
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Established | November 1964 |
|---|---|
| Location | 258 Main Street, Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States |
| Type | Art museum |
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is a special place in Ridgefield, Connecticut. It is the only museum in Connecticut that focuses only on contemporary art. This means it shows art made in our time, by artists who are alive today or who created art very recently. The museum does not have its own permanent collection of art. Instead, it always shows new and exciting exhibitions. It often features the first big shows for new artists. It also highlights important artists whose work might not be well-known yet. The museum also creates group shows about different topics in art and society.
History of the Museum
The Aldrich Museum was started in 1964 by a man named Larry Aldrich. He wanted it to be one of the first museums in the United States to show only contemporary art. Mr. Aldrich sold his own art collection to get money for the museum. His collection included famous artists like Picasso and Chagall.
He bought an old building from the 1700s called "Old Hundred." This building used to be a church and a general store. Mr. Aldrich turned it into the Larry Aldrich Museum. The "Old Hundred" building was built in 1783 by two lieutenants from the Revolutionary War. Over the years, it has been a grocery store, a hardware store, a home, and a church. Today, it holds the museum's offices.
In 1967, the museum changed its name to The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art. In 1981, the museum's leaders decided to sell its permanent art collection. They wanted the museum to focus only on showing the newest art.
Larry Aldrich stayed involved with the museum until he passed away in 2001. Before he died, the museum's board decided to make big changes. They planned to renovate and expand the building. Construction began in April 2003. The new galleries opened in June 2004. The museum was renamed The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. The new building was designed by architect Charles Mark Hay. It looks like a modern version of old New England buildings. It even won an award for its design.
In June 2022, Amy Smith-Steward became the chief curator of the museum. She is the first woman to hold this important job since the museum started.
In September 2023, the museum shared plans for new outdoor spaces. These plans included adding a secret garden and a walkway with plants that help pollinators. They also planned an amphitheater for outdoor events. This project expands the outdoor exhibit space by 50%. The museum also wants to make the area easier for everyone to access. It also aims to improve how it handles rainwater. This project cost 3.25 million USD. Construction began in the fall of 2024.
Exhibitions and Artists
The Aldrich Museum shows art by artists from all over the world. Many of these artists are just starting their careers or are becoming more well-known. Larry Aldrich once said that many famous American artists showed their work here early on. These artists include Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Frank Stella.
Other important artists who have shown their work at The Aldrich include Lynda Benglis, Jim Dine, Eva Hesse, Ann Hamilton, KAWS, and Olafur Eliasson.
The museum has hosted many interesting exhibitions. Some past shows include Material Witness, Five Decades of Art by Harmony Hammond (2019). Another was The Domestic Plane: New Perspectives on Tabletop Art Objects (2018). The museum also had the first solo museum exhibition of KAWS in 2010.
Education Programs
In 1993, a former director named Harry Philbrick started a program called the Student Docent Program. This program is no longer running. In this program, students from local schools learned to lead their classmates through the museum. They talked about contemporary art and ideas like structure and symbolism. Students also saw how exhibitions were set up. They even met the artists.
Harry Philbrick said that this program helped students think critically. It showed them that real people create art and exhibitions. This helped students connect what they learned to the artworks. Other museums across the United States later used this program idea.
See also
In Spanish: Museo Aldrich de Arte Contemporáneo para niños
