Next week, the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, Connecticut will launch the inaugural Aldrich Decennial, an exhibition in the style of other recurring surveys intended to run every 10 years. Aldrich has long been famous for his taste in the avant-garde, offering many important artists the opportunity to stage major shows, and the first Decennial seeks to do so on a larger scale. Titled “I am what is around me,” the show emerged from over 100 studio visits by the chief curator. Amy Smith-Stewart and curatorial and publications manager Caitlin Monachino. We met Director Aldrich Cybele Maylone to hear more about the exhibition and how it fits into the institution’s wider program and ethos.
We are used to institutions being organized around biennials and triennials. What does a ten-year framework allow you to see that a two- or three-year cycle does not?
The Aldrich Decennial is the brainchild of the Museum’s Diana Bowes Chief Curator, Amy Smith-Stewart. Amy has worked in Greater New York during her time as curator at MoMA PS1, so she is really attuned to the idea of iterative site-based surveys. As a result, I think Amy knew when she conceived the show that a two- or three-year cycle wouldn’t make sense for an exhibit of this type, which examines the cultural community in a much smaller country and one that doesn’t have the same kind of population change that a city does. Connecticut is very much the land of stable habits, so choosing the 10-year cycle made more sense.
You’ve been at Aldrich long enough to leave your mark on it. How would you say it has changed the most in your eight years at the helm?
We’ve really expanded the Museum community during my tenure, and that’s something I’m extremely proud of. We have significantly grown our Board of Trustees and also doubled our membership. It has been truly gratifying to see how much enthusiasm and support there is for the Museum from individuals of all walks of life, from serious collectors to young families in our community. In addition, we renovated our Sculpture Garden to create a more inclusive and accessible space for art and the public, which opened in late 2024. This was a big project for everyone at the Museum, from our Board to our staff, and we created a free public space for art and nature for all our visitors.
The art world spent years on a rewarding scale: bigger attendance figures, bigger capital projects, bigger global visibility. What are the advantages of a smaller institution?
We’re very lucky, because being small is built into The Aldrich’s DNA. The original Museum building—now home to our offices—had small galleries, and the idea was that visitors could come to The Aldrich and have intimate, personal experiences with the artworks. When our new building opened in 2004, domestically scaled galleries were key to the new design so that intimate experiences remain central to viewing art at The Aldrich. My older daughter went to Paris last summer and came back with a picture that I assume everyone does at the Louvre – 50 people standing between her and the Mona Lisa. This is not Aldrich’s experience.
Aldrich has maintained a reputation for experimentation while becoming more institutionally established over the past decade, two things that don’t always coexist smoothly. How have you maintained this balance?
Again, it goes back to that basic commitment. While The Aldrich was built to create intimate experiences with artwork, it was also designed to take risks and give emerging and unknown artists meaningful first opportunities. I am always motivated by our founder Larry Aldrich‘s vision to place such a visionary museum dedicated to contemporary art on Main Street in small New England town. We have a history of showcasing artists long before their work was widely known—Eva Hesse, Jeffrey Gibson, Elizabeth Peyton AND Huma Bhabha all had early career presentations at the Museum. That said, we certainly want our work to be recognized in a wider conversation, which is driven by a desire to build a larger audience, consideration and awareness of the artists in our program.
Many institutions talk about “community” in ways that can feel abstract and performative. Aldrich is located in a small town, so the community probably feels pretty close. What can you tell me about that community and how it has evolved over the past 8 years?
The town of Ridgefield is central to who Aldrich is. I return to Lonnie BunchSecretary of the Smithsonian, who said that museums should not be community centers, but community centers. Sure, there are things we could do that 100 percent of the people in town would love (free ice cream!), but we’re committed to our mission of risk while also taking the necessary steps to make our community feel welcome. our Sculpture Garden Project was driven by that in many ways—it was a gesture and an invitation to our local audience to join us, and I think it had the desired impact. Besides, this is a small town and I live here. I have worked in establishments in New York City where a certain important segment of the audience is international tourists. Not so at The Aldrich! Our audience includes my child’s teacher, and they will tell me what they think of the new sculpture we installed on Main Street.
Additionally, Ridgefield, and Connecticut as a whole, changed significantly during and after the pandemic with a large influx of new residents. This is something Amy really understood when she conceived Decennial. The new energy in the state is sure to be reflected in the exhibition and is definitely a part of The Aldrich’s growth over the past few years.
You spent most of your career before Aldrich in New York City. What might surprise New Yorkers in Connecticut’s art scene?
That it exists! I grew up outside of Chicago in Evanston, IL and lived in New York for many years—Connecticut was not a place I knew very well. So it’s been incredible to learn about the state and realize not only how rich the artist community is here now, but how important it has been for centuries. While the Decennial will allow us to shine a light on how vibrant the landscape is here today, we’re also trying to put the exhibition into a larger context about its condition over time. There is a long list of important artists who have called Connecticut home.
Aldrich is well known for giving artists their first institutional solo shows. Do you ever feel the weight of that responsibility? You have the potential to change an artist’s career overnight.
Absolutely. Artists trust the Museum so much when we work together. I know Amy feels that responsibility deeply and cares deeply about the artists we work with, and that commitment is shared by everyone on our team. That said, I think our focus is to support artists and encourage them to take risks and try new things, as opposed to thinking about what a show will do for their “career.” We are truly honored when an artist commits to working with The Aldrich, and we want to do everything we can to make the experience positive and meaningful.
Looking back, are there decisions you made that felt relatively small at the time, but ended up changing the direction of the museum forever?
Perhaps decisions related to employment? I’ve promoted some great people during my time at The Aldrich and I’ve also been lucky enough to lure a former City colleague to join our staff, but with new hires and people you already know stepping into new roles, it can feel like a roll of the dice and it’s hard to gauge how significant their impact will be. Thankfully, these decisions have really paid off and the excellent team of people currently working together at The Aldrich have really helped to change the Museum for the better.
What do you hope audiences take away from Decennial?
As with all exhibitions at The Aldrich, I hope our audience leaves the Museum with a sense of discovery. Amy and Caitlin Monachino, who co-hosts Decennial with Amy, made over 100 studio visits while putting together the show. The participating artists range in age from 30-80 years old and a number of them are appearing in a museum for the first time. In addition, they live and work in places around the state, and about a quarter were born outside the United States. So in addition to discovering the artists, I hope the show will expand our audience’s understanding of Connecticut as a place.
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