The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is thrilled with the progress of its ongoing renovations to the Sculpture Garden and surrounding grounds. This week saw the planting of trees in the garden, while the amphitheater and additional garden features are starting to take shape. As the museum approaches its 60th anniversary, it is thoughtfully uniting its state-of-the-art 2004 building with the three-acre property through a comprehensive renovation of the campus and Sculpture Garden.
This project not only expands the museum’s outdoor exhibition space but also creates a significant new public area for the Ridgefield community, complementing the town’s central corridor and Ballard Park. The renovations will be unveiled in November 2024 with a special exhibition titled A Garden of Promise and Dissent, which will span both the grounds and the ground-floor galleries.
In partnership with the Cambridge-based landscape architecture firm STIMSON, The Aldrich is creating a universally accessible, native landscape designed to enhance community engagement with art in Ridgefield. The plans feature an amphitheater and a fully ADA-accessible path from Main Street through the Sculpture Garden, expanding the space available to artists and visitors by roughly 50%. The renovation emphasizes sustainability by removing invasive species, managing stormwater, and planting native species, with Summerhill Associates overseeing construction as the General Contractor.
Learn more about this project, and make a donation in support of this work.
**To learn more and to view additional photos, visit The Aldrich online here.
Read The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum’s Q&A with STIMSON’s Eddie Marshall here.