Families and children of all ages gathered on the second floor of the Bronx Museum of the Arts, where they were presented with tables filled with different art making forms. On April 18, the Bronx Museum of the Arts hosted their Seventh AIM Biennial Open House. The free event served as a combination of a program to celebrate the biennial, and a family day.
The Seventh AIM Biennial Open House – which has been running for 45 years and has been on view since January 23 – featured some of the artists displayed in the exhibit, helping guests create different forms of art, ranging from button making, to print-making, to memory box making.
“This event is unique in the sense that it combines our educator-led activities; the exhibition; a scavenger hunt […] with additional activities led by the artists who are exhibiting in the Biennial,” said Patrick Rowe, co-curator of the 2026 Seventh Aim Biennial and Director of Education and Public Engagement.
The open house began with a critique and feedback session with artist V Yeh from 1-3 p.m.
On the second floor, there were teen-led activities such as button-making, in which guests are provided with markers and circle-shaped paper to create whatever their heart desires; coloring book activities; and screen printing tote bags and t-shirts, which were led by AIM artists Skip Brea, Hedwig Brouckaert, Ricki Dwyer, Leekyung Kang, Juyon Lee, lauren mcavoy, Piero Penizzotto, Motohiro Takeda, and V Yeh.
“The exhibition is called ‘Forms of Connection,’ and we chose that name and that curational theme because we were seeing that these artists works were really speaking to the ways that people and institutions connect to one another, or fail to,” said Nell Klugman, co-curator of the 2026 Seventh Aim Biennial.
Another activity for guests was memory box making with AIM artist Kiarita. An extension of their practice –as Kiarita’s work focuses on their memories with their found family held inside found furniture– guests were able to assemble a memory box with different found objects of all shapes, sizes, and textures, to create and hold their own memories.
“I just wanted to bring people into my world of making and exemplify that holding onto and guarding a memory doesn’t have to be a past memory,” Kiarita said. “It can be a dream, it can be a desire, it can be a manifestation, it can be preparation for a memory you know you’re going to have.”
Kiarita sees the box as a vessel to understand what one holds is sacred. Though everyone thinks and acts differently, they think that everyone is putting the same kind of care and devotion into their work.
From 3:30 to 5 p.m., a panel, titled “Tender Monuments,” was held. An artist talk featuring AIM Artists Hedwig Brouckaert, Jordan Cruz, Juyon Lee, and Motohiro Takeda and moderated by Klugman, the conversation revolved around their similarities in their art, with themes such as personal, communal, and environmental grief.
They discussed a monument – not exactly a typical monument, but a tender structure, that holds reference but is temporary.
“Because we’re living in such a grieving time, with so much happening around the world, locally, and in every aspect,” Cruz said. “I think through this conversation, we’ll also get to talk about finding ways [to] hope about the future.”
To view more about the Seventh Aim Biennial at Bronx Museum of the Arts, visit https://bronxmuseum.org/exhibition/seventh-aim-biennial/.
