GRAND GALLERIES

Jesse "Analog" Bird

Project Return

(September 30, 2025 - November 3, 2025)

Rashaan by Jesse "Analog" Bird

Project Return

“Project Return” is a multimedia project highlighting housing insecurity and other critical support gaps faced by recently released prisoners. Shot in and around Wilmington, Delaware, this project aims to expose the human toll of a system that stigmatizes, subjugates, and criminalizes predominantly poor Black and Brown Americans across the nation.

These portraits and interviews aim to individualize those impacted by the criminal justice system while revealing common themes of poverty, trauma, and a lack of support. Each individual featured was separated from their community and held for years, sometimes decades, in conditions never designed to address the circumstances that led to their imprisonment. While incarcerated, they were denied the tools and resources needed to heal and prepare for reentry. The portraits capture them as they are in their return—often optimistic, rarely bitter, stoically facing the odds stacked against them.

Viewers are invited to see each participant and to consider the systems that have shaped their lives: the social forces that breed inequality, the inhumane prisons that exacerbate poverty and trauma, and the endless barriers returning citizens face upon their release to a changed world.

Arden Artisans Collective

125 Years of Art and Craft in the Ardens - Part One: the baby grand: 2D Art Exhibition

(September 30, 2025 - November 3, 2025)

Gild Hall by Janet Williams

Arden Artisans Collective A Living Legacy: 125 Years of Art and Craft in the Ardens
Part One – The Baby Grand: 2D Art Exhibition

As part one of a two-part centennial celebration, A Living Legacy: 125 Years of Art and Craft in the Ardens at the baby grand Gallery pays tribute to the enduring creative spirit of the Ardens through the medium of two-dimensional art. This exhibition, curated by the Arden Artisans Collective (AAC) in association with the Arden Craft Shop Museum, features contemporary works by current Arden artists alongside pieces by artists from generations past. Paintings, drawings, photography, and printmaking come together to tell a visual story of artistic continuity—a legacy passed from neighbor to neighbor, parent to child, mentor to student.

The Ardens—Arden, Ardentown, and Ardencroft—were founded as intentional communities rooted in Georgist principles and the ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement. From their beginnings in 1900 through the present day, these villages have nurtured a vibrant culture where art is not only created but deeply integrated into daily life. This exhibition honors that tradition by spotlighting both historical and living artists whose work reflects the values of craftsmanship, beauty, and community.

Unlike traditional art shows, this exhibition is not simply a presentation of individual talent—it is a conversation across time. It celebrates a place where making is communal, where art is a legacy lived and shared. This fall’s baby grand show serves as a powerful prelude to the second part of the series, a 3D exhibition at the Blue Ball Barn opening in November 2025, which will highlight sculpture, fiber arts, ceramics, and more.

Together, these two exhibitions form A Living Legacy, affirming that the Arden Artisans Collective is not merely preserving tradition—it is actively shaping its next chapter.