The Bronx Museum of the Arts hosted its Seventh AIM Biennial Open House on April 18, a free family day that combined hands-on art-making activities with the ongoing biennial exhibition. Visitors participated in button-making, print-making, screen printing, and memory box creation, led by AIM artists including Skip Brea, Hedwig Brouckaert, Ricki Dwyer, Leekyung Kang, Juyon Lee, lauren mcavoy, Piero Penizzotto, Motohiro Takeda, and V Yeh. The day also featured a critique session with artist V Yeh and a panel discussion titled “Tender Monuments,” moderated by co-curator Nell Klugman, exploring themes of personal, communal, and environmental grief.
The event matters because it exemplifies how museums can engage local communities through accessible, participatory programming that bridges exhibition viewing and creative practice. The biennial, titled “Forms of Connection,” has run for 45 years and highlights the role of artist-led education in fostering meaningful connections between institutions and the public. In a time of widespread grief and social division, the open house offered a space for collective reflection and hope, reinforcing the Bronx Museum’s mission as a community anchor.