New Exhibition Explores Century of Creativity, Growth at Austen Riggs Center

STOCKBRIDGE — For more than 100 years, art has served as a powerful vehicle for self-expression, personal insight, and emotional exploration at the Austen Riggs Center. This summer, the center invites the public to experience that legacy firsthand with “Making Meaning: Growth and Artistic Expression in the Activities Program at the Austen Riggs Center,” a new exhibition opening to the public on Saturday, June 7 at the Corner House Community Exhibition Space, 48 Main St., Stockbridge.

Open Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Oct. 11, the exhibition honors the 75th anniversary of Joan Erikson’s visionary reimagining of the Riggs Activities Program and the founding of the Austen Riggs Nursery School.

Featuring archival materials that tell the story of the Activities Program and artwork by former patients and staff, the exhibition offers a compelling look at how creativity has shaped the experiences of patients and the role they can take up as students while at Riggs. In August, the show will expand to include an alumni art exhibition, presented in collaboration with new works by current patients in the Lavender Door gallery at 37 Main St., Stockbridge.

Visitors are encouraged to stop in during open hours to witness the diverse and deeply personal stories expressed through the creative arts — stories that reflect the enduring value of creativity as a means of exploration and growth. In fact, many former patients have gone on to professional careers in the arts as a direct result of their experiences in the Activities Program.