History
The Aldrich was founded in 1964 by Larry Aldrich (1906–2001) with the purpose of being one of the first truly contemporary art museums in the United States. Using money he raised from selling his own art collection (which included works by Picasso, Miró, Chagall, Paul Klee, and others), Mr. Aldrich bought an eighteenth-century former church and general store known as “Old Hundred” and converted it into the Larry Aldrich Museum.
The Museum, whose original Board of Trustees included Alfred Barr, Joseph Hirshhorn, Philip Johnson, and Vera List, was renamed The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in 1967. To better focus on its founding mission to exhibit only the very newest art, the Museum's Board voted in 1981 to deaccession the Museum's permanent collection.
Mr. Aldrich stayed active and involved with the Museum until his death in 2001, shortly prior to which The Aldrich's Board of Trustees, with their chairman emeritus in attendance, had voted to proceed with a major renovation and expansion. Groundbreaking took place in April 2003, and the galleries reopened to the public in June 2004 with a new name, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. The new building received a design award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Read more about this topic: Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
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