Our programs center a democratic way of thinking about art, infusing elements of interaction and play that invite our community into the creative process and encourage them to engage with the work in both physical and emotional ways.
We embrace all forms of art, and many of the projects we present are boundary-crossing works that defy easy classification. Our 21,000-square-foot arts center, situated on the site of a former hatchery and designed to honor the town’s industrial past, brings together multiple art forms under one roof to create a lively conversation between different modalities, sparking opportunities for people to have unexpected and illuminating experiences. We seek out inventive, original artists who create new forms, illuminate overlooked narratives, celebrate cultural traditions, and engage in unconventional collaborations.
ArtYard hosts three cycles of major exhibitions each year in our five primary galleries. Our exhibitions feature installation, sculpture, painting, ceramics, photography, video, and emergent technologies, as well as the curation of everyday objects and their stories. We occasionally present works created through extended fabrication residencies for artists working to reshape the boundaries of modern aesthetics. Our Courtyard Gallery showcases work by artists with developmental and intellectual disabilities, often alongside pieces by neurotypical artists, in collaboration with Studio Route 29. Our Very Small Galleries are three miniature installations hidden inside our walls, visible through miniature apertures or peepholes.
We also support the visual arts through our permanent installation, Monuments, featuring five monumental works by Ledelle Moe across four campus locations, and the pop-up exhibition Artist Ancestors by Silky Shoemaker, which brings iconic cultural figures back from the great beyond to inspire our community.
Performing arts are central to ArtYard’s mission to ignite curiosity, foster connection, and celebrate diverse creative expression. Each year, more than 20 weekends are dedicated to an adventurous slate of live events that transform our theater into a place of surprise and shared wonder.
Audiences encounter everything from bold storytelling and raucous political circus to boundary-pushing dance and movement-based performance. Our stages also host an expansive range of musical experiences, including world music, opera, jazz, experimental sound, and more — reflecting ArtYard’s commitment to bringing eclectic, globally minded, and artistically daring work to our community.
ArtYard’s residency program gives musicians the opportunity to stay and develop their work within a supportive and curious community. Resident artists often engage with our community through artist talks, workshops, open rehearsals, and work-in-progress performances. Past artists have included Isabella Rossellini, Yo-Yo Ma, Brian Sanders’ JUNK, composer Samora Pinderhughes, multi-instrumentalist Emily Wells, and vocal sensations The Beatbox House. Works incubated at ArtYard have been exhibited and performed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Museum of Latin American Art, among other nationally recognized venues.
ArtYard works with partners and a consortium of arts and culture organizations to collaboratively support artists on the journey of bringing vital new work to the stage. ArtYard’s artist residency program is by invitation only.
ArtYard hosts regular art-making workshops, educational tours, creative talks, and movement classes, all designed to build community, foster creativity, and increase access to the arts for a wide range of people.
Our recurring programs include: Campus Tours on the first Sunday of the month from May to November, Drawing Nights on Thursday evenings from 5 to 7 PM during our exhibition season, and ArtYard Happy Hours at FiNNBAR on the First Friday of the month. We host three Creative Movement workshop series throughout the year and a Latin Ballroom workshop series. We also co-host a spring break puppet camp with Frenchtown Elementary School.
FESTIVALS
Our signature Hatch and Aqualumina festivals, raucous and exuberant celebrations of creative incubation and community, integrate musical performances and communal artmaking, and are designed to ignite joy, belonging, and community pride, activating multiple spaces or even our entire campus. ArtYard also collaborates with cultural partners, schools, and social service nonprofits to take arts experiences out into the community and reach marginalized populations. In the three-month lead-up to our festivals, we host regular art-making workshops.
Learn more about Aqualumina and Hatch, our biennial spring festivals, below.
Today, ArtYard staff work with partners, including Studio Route 29, The Office Performing Arts + Film, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Pomegranate Arts, and the Sundance Institute, as well as guest curators including Joseph Keckler, to plan our programming, which has helped expand our offerings and attract artists who need a place like ArtYard to take their work to the next level.
Some of ArtYard’s past and current partners include Baryshnikov Arts Center, coLAB Arts, Delaware Valley Regional High School, Del Val Performing Arts Boosters, FiNNBAR, The Frenchtown Bookshop, Frenchtown Borough, Frenchtown Business & Professional Association, Frenchtown Elementary School, Frenchtown Police, Lafayette College Department of Art, Lambertville Library, Milford-Holland EMT, and Soupçon Salon.
