‘Making Meaning’ Exhibition Returns to Austen Riggs Center

STOCKBRIDGE — For more than a century, artmaking has played a vital role in life and treatment at the Austen Riggs Center, offering patients a way to explore experience, build competence, and express what can be difficult to put into words. This summer, that history and ongoing creative work are on view for the public in “Making Meaning: Growth and Artistic Expression in the Activities Program,” a free exhibition at the Corner House Community Exhibition Space in Stockbridge.

The exhibition is open Thursdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through mid-October at 48 Main St., Stockbridge. Admission is free and open to the public.

First presented in 2025, “Making Meaning” returns for 2026 with new works added by current and former patients, as well as Activities Program staff members Chalice Mitchell, Michael McCarthy, Jim Markham, Jill Gibbons, Kevin Coleman, and Jen Morse. The exhibition also includes new pieces by Leo Garel, whose long association with the center helped shape the visual and creative life of Riggs.

Through artwork, archival materials, and historical context, “Making Meaning” traces the evolution of the Activities Program, established under the direction of Joan Erikson, and its continuing importance in the therapeutic community at Riggs. The exhibition also highlights the Activities Program’s connection to the Austen Riggs Center Nursery School and the broader role of creativity, craft, and meaningful activity in the center’s treatment approach.

“Art, crafts, drama, intellectual pursuits, involvement in the nursery school or greenhouse program are productive for personal growth and development in any individual,” Erikson wrote. “These activities … promote change in a positive direction, support competence, and enhance the dignity and identity of the person involved.”