The Aldrich, Ridgefield Supply, and Ridgefield Hardware Partner with Habitat for Greater Good

October 2007

Ridgefield (October 2007): Ridgefield Supply Company and Ridgefield Hardware Company donated the hardware and lumber used by Brooklyn artist Chris Doyle to create the structure critical to the blockbuster exhibition 50,000 Beds that debuted at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum last July.

Following closure of the exhibition, The Aldrich donated the materials to Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County Restore—a retail outlet where quality used and surplus building materials are sold at a fraction of normal prices. Proceeds from Restore help local affiliates fund the construction of Habitat houses within the community and offer an environmentally responsible outlet for re-channeling good, usable materials.

For the highly successful and widely reviewed project, Doyle commissioned forty-five different artists to make short videos, each set in a different hotel, motel, or inn across Connecticut. The exhibition focused on the hotel room as a site filled with narrative potential. The spectacular, specially designed "multi-screen" gallery that housed the films was made possible by the donation of materials by these two local businesses.

Ben Genocchio, of The New York Times, said of the installation, "The range of ideas and aesthetics is impressive… Mr. Doyle built elevated wooden ramps snaking around the inside of the spaces. They are a dramatic sight when you enter. But they also create discrete areas for the high and low display of the videos on the wall, and under the ramp. The structure also captures tacitly the sense of anonymity and intimacy of hotel rooms—you are alone, but always aware of being surrounded by others."

Richard Klein, Aldrich exhibitions director, said, "The Museum would like to thank Lou Price (President and CEO, Ridgefield Supply Company), and Jerry Rabin (Owner, Ridgefield Hardware Company) for their generous contributions, as well as Tom Gabrielson (Restore Manager, Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County) for teaming up with the Museum to ensure the utilization of these materials for the greater good."

Caption: Richard Klein (Exhibitions Director, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum), Lou Price (President and CEO, Ridgefield Supply Company), and Tom Gabrielson (Restore Manager, Habitat for Humanity of Costal Fairfield County). Courtesy of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield.