Open Access: Opening Reception

​Open Access: Exploring 130 Years of American Design invites five artists and design teams to respond to Van Alen Institute’s archive, comprising thousands of competition boards, jury records, photographs, and correspondence.

​The exhibition positions the archive as living material: something to be questioned, reinterpreted, and held accountable to the present. Works on view include sonic installations that make structurally invisible people present; investigations of assumptions quietly embedded in the language of competition briefs; and physical reckonings with the ground beneath the buildings we celebrate.

​Join us for a festive cocktail reception to toast the exhibition’s artists: Annie Barrett, Daniel Pittman, and Paula Vilaplana de Miguel; Matthew Bohne; Kholisile Dhliwayo; Friends Making Work; and Gillian Waldo.

​Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Graham Foundation.

​​​Notice of Access, Filming, and Photography

​Van Alen is committed to ensuring that all of our events are inclusive and accessible for all participants. Van Alen Institute is on the ground floor and ADA-accessible. If you require accommodations or have any questions about access needs, please email vai@vanalen.org and we will do our best to support your participation.

​When you attend this event, you enter an area where photography, audio, and video recording may occur. By entering the event premises, you consent to such recording media and its release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction.