The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is pleased to announce a renovation to the Museum’s 3-acre campus and Sculpture Garden and create a universally accessible, native landscape for art and the public in the heart of historic Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Groundbreaking is scheduled for the fall of 2023 and the Museum anticipates opening the newly redesigned space in the fall of 2024 with a group exhibition that will span the Museum’s indoor galleries and Sculpture Garden.
A public fundraising campaign will be launched this fall to support this important project.
Since the Museum’s founding in 1964, The Aldrich’s campus has included a Sculpture Garden and public art installed throughout its grounds. While the Museum’s campus has always been free and open to the public seven days a week from dawn until dusk, the renovations will improve accessibility with pedestrian pathways to link Main Street and the Sculpture Garden, add an accessible ramp from the Museum’s building to the Garden, and create amphitheater seating. In addition, these renovations will improve storm water management, protect wetland health, and add approximately 40 trees to the property.
Executive Director Cybele Maylone shared: “Since the Museum’s founding, the Sculpture Garden has been an essential part of the Museum experience. With this project, The Aldrich will dramatically improve our campus, providing a better experience for artists and for Museum’s entire community.”
Museum stakeholders identified the following goals for the new Sculpture Garden design outlined in a Master Plan: accessibility and inclusion for all; to expand the platform for artists with flexibility for exhibitions, events, programming, and community use; and environmental stewardship.
Board Chair Diana Bowes shared: “The Aldrich’s Sculpture Garden Master Plan is an ambitious and significant renovation of the Museum’s exterior campus. Our improved Sculpture Garden will greatly enhance The Aldrich’s ability to support artists and engage the public. It’s a natural culmination of all the work we’ve put behind expanding opportunities for Aldrich artists and connecting to the community. It will allow The Aldrich to reach its full potential. Once you’ve seen the plans, it’s hard to turn back. It just makes sense. And what a gift to
the community!”
The Master Plan will make approximately 50% more space available to artists and the community, including a Secret Garden, Pollinator Pathway, and Boardwalk.
Chief Curator Amy Smith-Stewart shared: “Art out in the world is seen by visitors on their terms under an open sky for free. The museum has a long history of showing public art on its campus. Our new and improved grounds will provide better accessibility to more communities while also enhancing visitor experience through the creation of pathways, seating, and green areas for education, exploration, and collective participation that improves well-being and advances equity. With additional spaces to exhibit outdoor work and an amphitheater to increase interdisciplinary programming, artists will have greater opportunities to grow and broaden their vision while reaching a larger more diverse audience. With more for visitors to encounter and more space for artists to create, our campus will become a more inclusive, imaginative, and holistic place for art, community, and nature to be together.”
The new Master Plan was designed by STIMSON. Based in a Cambridge, Massachusetts, STIMSON was named firm of the year by the Association of Landscape Architects in 2021. Recent projects include the Florence Griswold Museum, Hackley School, and Brown University, along with private residences throughout New England.
The Aldrich is currently raising the $3.25 million needed to complete the project. The Museum was awarded a $500,000 Good to Great grant from the State of Connecticut for this project this spring. More details on the groundbreaking will be released in the coming weeks.
More information on the project and fundraising opportunities can be found on our website here.
Editor’s note:
Do you want to be part of history and the preservation of community? Donations towards to Sculpture Garden can be made on The Aldrich website here, where donors may choose “Sculpture Garden” as the focus of their gift.
