Image: Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, New York
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum has opened 'The Aldrich Decennial: I am what is around me,' the debut edition of a recurring survey planned to take place every 10 years. The exhibition runs June 7, 2026, to January 10, 2027, and fills the museum’s galleries and sculpture garden with new work by artists who live and work in Connecticut. According to the museum, none of the featured artists has had a solo museum exhibition in the state, and all of the works were created within the last decade.
The project is led by Diana Bowes Chief Curator Amy Smith-Stewart and Assistant Curator and Publications Manager Caitlin Monachino, who conducted more than 100 studio visits in researching the exhibition. The Aldrich says the survey was conceived as a way to spotlight current artistic practices emerging from Connecticut, using a wide-ranging roster that includes emerging artists as well as rediscoveries. The museum, which identifies itself as the state’s only institution exclusively dedicated to contemporary art, has framed the Decennial as part of its long-standing support for Connecticut artists through solo, group and invitational exhibitions.
The exhibition’s title is drawn from Wallace Stevens’s 1917 poem 'Theory.' Stevens lived in Hartford for 40 years, and the museum notes that his work was shaped by the city. The title also aligns with the exhibition’s focus on place: the museum describes Connecticut as a setting that has long offered artists space to work outside major metropolitan art centers such as New York or Boston. The Aldrich says the first edition of the series was shaped to reflect the diversity and vitality of artists working across the state, with an intergenerational roster spanning photography, sculpture, painting and other forms.
The museum’s exhibition page places the survey within the full footprint of its 8,000-square-foot galleries and its recently renovated three-acre campus and Sculpture Garden. That site-wide scope is central to the project’s format, which the museum says is intended to show the breadth of practices now being made in Connecticut. The exhibition is also accompanied by a publication with an introduction, short texts on each artist, plates and installation views.
Among the participating artists listed by the museum are Faustin Adeniran, Ellen Altfest, Jen Bervin, Lula Mae Blocton, Dominic Chambers, Anindita Dutta, Azza El Siddique, Renee Gladman, Arghavan Khosravi, Tammy Nguyen, Em Rooney, Aki Sasamoto, Felandus Thames and Julia Wachtel, alongside many others. The museum says the selection process was built around artists living and working in the state, and that the exhibition emphasizes breakout debuts and rediscoveries rather than a conventional survey of established names alone.
The Aldrich’s July newsletter also points to related public programming tied to the exhibition. On July 10, the museum is scheduled to host a free 'Sip & Shop Happy Hour' with Em Rooney in the reopened Shop at The Aldrich, including a pewter-pouring demonstration and a look at Rooney’s jewelry line, Clits.r.us. Later in the month, a 'Happy Hour Friday' with A.C.T. of Connecticut is planned for July 31, featuring performances by vocalists and other performers from the organization.
Another event linked to the Decennial is 'Aldrich Artists at the Table,' the museum’s bi-annual farm-to-museum dinner, set for September 26 in the newly renovated Sculpture Garden. The museum says guests will dine alongside exhibiting artists while surrounded by works from 'The Aldrich Decennial: I am what is around me.' The evening will include a cocktail hour with a live-shucking oyster bar by Precious Oysters, a silent auction, and a locally sourced dinner prepared by Herbaceous Catering.
