Image: Akron Art Museum
The Akron Art Museum will open ‘Idea Machine by CHIAOZZA’ on September 23, 2026, introducing the first interactive installation in its new J.M. Smucker Co. Idea Machine space. The exhibition is scheduled to remain on view through July 4, 2028, at the museum in Akron, Ohio.
Rather than asking visitors to encounter art solely through looking, the installation is designed around physical interaction, play and experimentation. The Akron Art Museum describes the Idea Machine as part of an effort to rethink how audiences experience contemporary art, inviting visitors to engage directly with an evolving environment rather than viewing works only on walls, pedestals or behind glass.
CHIAOZZA is the collaborative practice of artists Adam Frezza and Terri Chiao. Their approach to the project treats the Idea Machine as a place where making and thinking take place at the same time, reducing the conventional separation between artist and visitor. “Our practice deals a lot around the idea of play,” Frezza says in the museum’s announcement. “As two people who collaborate, we are always kind of passing ideas back and forth.”
The artists intend for visitors in Akron to touch and interact with elements of the installation and to develop their own imaginative responses. Frezza says the project is meant to “foster a love of art,” while Chiao describes it as a space between imagination and creation. In her account, the installation gives visitors additional time to process an experience and consider how it might connect with their own lives.
The museum presents participation as central to the project. Instead of functioning as a conventional gallery, the Idea Machine is intended to shift according to the energy and interaction visitors bring to it. The institution says the space will be open to visitors of all ages, with play, curiosity and discovery built into the experience.
The J.M. Smucker Co. Idea Machine brings together the Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation Gallery, the Thomas and Lisa Mandel Family Foundation Gallery and a hands-on space supported by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The installation is made possible through support from Summit County and a number of individual and foundation donors. Exhibition support is also provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Mary and Dr. George L. Demetros Charitable Trust, the Kenneth L. Calhoun Charitable Trust and the Ohio Arts Council. ‘Idea Machine by CHIAOZZA’ will be on view at the Akron Art Museum from September 23, 2026, to July 4, 2028.
