seasons greetings from the aldrich 2012

Seasons Greetings from The Aldrich

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Eleven artists from around the world took their inspiration from salvaged materials, reclaimed objects, and appropriated ideas; many of them celebrated their first major museum exhibition as their work was introduced to the community during our Found and FOUND Outside series.

Eleven artists from around the world took their inspiration from salvaged materials, reclaimed objects, and appropriated ideas; many of them celebrated their first major museum exhibition as their work was introduced to the community during our Found and FOUND Outside series.


Artist James Grashow touched us with his Corrugated Fountain. An accessible concept and material resulted in an emotional, popular, and monumental project, that patrons visited time and time again to make wishes as the work deteriorated outdoors on the Museums terrace.


The curators reintroduced a call for artists proposals and took the countrys pulse at the height of an intense election season by mounting the united states series of exhibitions. Nineteen projects that approached both the nature of the United States as a country and united states as the alliance of separate forms, entities, or conditions of being addressed hot-button issues from immigration to conflict to cooperation.


Wendell Castle: Wandering FormsWorks from 19591979 celebrated the iconic sculptural furniture designer at a moment when the creative disciplines of art, design, and craft have converged to establish a trend. A beautifully designed gallery environment showcased objects from renowned private collections and earned critical acclaim.


The Aldrich hit the road! Shimon Atties topical exhibition Metro.PAL.IS was seen by students in UConns William Benton Museum of Art; it now moves to the Wexner Center for the Arts at a time when his multi-channel video approach to the Mid-East conflict is supremely relevant. Jessica Stockholders Hollow Places Court in Ash-Tree Wood, made from The Aldrichs ailing ash tree, is making an international tour to France and Spain.


The Aldrich co-published two important illustrated monographs in conjunction with exhibitionsErik Parker: Colorful Resistance, from Skira Rizzoli, and Wendell Castle: Wandering Forms, from Gregory R. Miller & Co. These books were acknowledged by prestigious periodicals, including BOOKFORUM, The New York Times, Departures, and TIME.


Social calendar highlights included Trespass, an evening of illicit artistic action where emerging artists took creative license by graffiti tagging new cars.At Aldrich Undercover veteran artists combined forces to host a secret art sale and sculpture garden soire. Both fundraisers benefited the Museums exhibition and education programs.


Makers Market, a tented open-air marketplace, featured a curated selection of skillfully crafted products. The fairs Connecticut debut came when foliage was at its peak, and an unseasonable downpour was unable to daunt the spirits of the exhibiting design luminaries and the many new visitors drawn to the Museum.


Draw On!, the Museums community drawing festival, continued to build, involving more school groups and institutional collaborators.


The Aldrich partnered with Ridgefield Library to host a successful two-day Creativity Conference on imagination and innovation. Thought leaders across disciplines, from education to business to technology to art, pondered a variety of inspiring idea-driven lectures, panels, conversations, performances, and participatory workshops.

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum258 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877Tel 203.438.4519, Fax 203.438.0198, aldrichart.org


After looking back on the accomplishments of 2012, it is time to look to the future, and we need your support in order for the Museum to remain vital in 2013. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to The Annual Fund.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year from your friends at The Aldrich.