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Guests were able to create memory boxes, where they could decorate it with found objects of all shapes, sizes and textures. Photo by Alice Moreno<\/p>\n
On the second floor, there were teen-led activities such as button-making, in which guests are provided with markers and circle-shaped paper to create whatever their heart desires; coloring book activities; and screen printing tote bags and t-shirts, which were led by AIM artists Skip Brea<\/a>, <\/a>Hedwig Brouckaert<\/a>, <\/a>Ricki Dwyer<\/a>, <\/a>Leekyung Kang<\/a>, <\/a>Juyon Lee<\/a>, lauren mcavoy, <\/a>Piero Penizzotto<\/a>, <\/a>Motohiro Takeda<\/a>,<\/a> and V Yeh.<\/p>\n \u201cThe exhibition is called \u2018Forms of Connection,\u2019 and we chose that name and that curational theme because we were seeing that these artists works were really speaking to the ways that people and institutions connect to one another, or fail to,\u201d said Nell Klugman, co-curator of the 2026 Seventh Aim Biennial.<\/p>\n Another activity for guests was memory box making with AIM artist Kiarita<\/a>. An extension of their practice \u2013as Kiarita\u2019s work focuses on their memories with their found family held inside found furniture\u2013 guests were able to assemble a memory box with different found objects of all shapes, sizes, and textures, to create and hold their own memories.<\/p>\n \u201cI just wanted to bring people into my world of making and exemplify that holding onto and guarding a memory doesn\u2019t have to be a past memory,\u201d Kiarita said. \u201cIt can be a dream, it can be a desire, it can be a manifestation, it can be preparation for a memory you know you\u2019re going to have.\u201d<\/p>\n Kiarita sees the box as a vessel to understand what one holds is sacred. Though everyone thinks and acts differently, they think that everyone is putting the same kind of care and devotion into their work.\u00a0<\/p>\n From 3:30 to 5 p.m., a panel, titled \u201cTender Monuments,\u201d was held. An artist talk featuring AIM Artists Hedwig Brouckaert<\/a>, Jordan Cruz<\/a>, Juyon Lee<\/a>, and Motohiro Takeda<\/a> and moderated by Klugman, the conversation revolved around their similarities in their art, with themes such as personal, communal, and environmental grief. <\/p>\n They discussed a monument \u2013 not exactly a typical monument, but a tender structure, that holds reference but is temporary.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cBecause we\u2019re living in such a grieving time, with so much happening around the world, locally, and in every aspect,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cI think through this conversation, we\u2019ll also get to talk about finding ways [to] hope about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/10-_DSC5535.jpg\")
Kiarita, the artist who held the memory box-making activity, had an example of the memory box she created. Photo by Alice Moreno<\/p>\n