Following a multi-million dollar refurbishment, the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut—about an hour and a half north of New York City—has unveiled an updated, fully accessible three-acre campus that adds approximately 50 percent more outdoor exhibition space. Observer spoke with director Cybele Maylone on the occasion of the reveal to learn more about what we can expect from this new space and how it will integrate with the museum’s programming.

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Since its founding, the Aldrich has positioned its Sculpture garden as a way to expand its reach and engage the local community and weekend visitors, capitalizing on its unique relationship with the land and its location. This renovation extends the museum’s legacy of exhibiting works in nature since 1964 and responds to the growing demand for outdoor experiences, especially post-COVID.

“This ability to be with art in nature was just part of this foundational vision for the museum about how to make contemporary art accessible to the broadest possible audience,” Maylone said. The importance of the garden became especially clear during the pandemic when the museum safely showcased works by artists like Nari Ward, Radcliffe Bailey and Tom Friedman. The museum extended these loans, recognizing how much the community valued the outdoor........

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