We sat down with Emily Altman, our Director of Arts Operations, Publications and Exhibits, to discuss Grace Farms’ first long-term exhibit With Every Fiber, which aims to inspire people to understand and care about the materials that make up the built world around us. This immersive and interactive exhibit curated by Chelsea Thatcher, our Founding Creative Director and Chief Strategic Officer, collaborated with 20 preeminent designers, material suppliers, artists, cultural institutions, and construction industry leaders who are featured in the exhibit, including Studio Cooke John Architecture + Design, Pentagram, Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture, Buro Happold, and MillerKnoll.
This first-of-its-kind exhibit is designed by Nina Cooke John, one of the first architects in the U.S. to commit to embarking on a Design for Freedom Pilot Project, which tracked materials for fair labor in a public monument supported by the City of Newark, N.J., called Shadow of a Face. “The exhibit draws Grace Farms visitors – neighbors from across the street and design professionals from around the world – into the space and invites them to contemplate what goes into making our homes, places of work, cultural spaces, and sites for commemoration,” Cooke John said.
With Every Fiber Exhibit, Photo by Dean Kaufman
This exhibit, which also incorporates a virtual component developed by Hayes Davidson and neurodiversity accessibility with the support of Buro Happold, will hopefully invite the art world to contemplate and address the hands that are making the materials that go into exhibits. “Even if just one art institution took the initiative and led the way others could follow suit,” Emily said. Emily has worked for The Museum of Modern Art, Christie’s Auction House, as well as the Katonah Museum of Art. She holds a B.A. from Bucknell University in Art History, and a M.A. from New York University in Visual Arts Administration.
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In terms of the With Every Fiber exhibit installation and fabrication, is this the first time you thought about how materials were made and where they came from?
I have spent a large portion of my career managing exhibition installations at art institutions. Before beginning my role at Grace Farms as Director of Arts Operations, Publications and Exhibits, two of the main objectives that each installation I managed centered upon were: ensuring the safety of the artwork as it is installed and ensuring that materials for the exhibition are delivered on time and quickly so that the installation would run smoothly and stay on schedule.
Prior to joining the team at Grace Farms, I would manage the painting of gallery walls, without thinking about where that paint came from. I worked with contractors and vendors to build gallery walls, pedestals, and plinths for artworks, without thinking about where the wood making up these constructions was sourced from. There are so many materials being used in the exhibition process that could be sourced differently and intentionally.
Emily Altman, our first Director of Arts Operations, Publications and Exhibits. Photo by Jacek Dolata.
What did you learn from the With Every Fiber install and fabrication process?
As I immersed myself in managing the installation of our first Design For Freedom Exhibit, With Every Fiber, I began to understand the important work the Grace Farms team is doing — to collaborate with suppliers, builders and architects from around the world, to stop forced labor and end modern slavery in the building materials supply chain. My initial goals while managing this exhibit were still to ensure all materials needed for the exhibit were delivered on time to the exhibit fabricators to begin construction. I also ensured all content, objects, and art in the exhibit were delivered onsite and installed safely.
Now I have the added insight of working with the suppliers of these materials. We work to trace the materials to the best of our ability to reduce forced labor in the supply chain.
For example, our exhibit fabricator walked me through the construction of some of the exhibit wall panels, that would include wood frames. But where was this wood sourced from? We ensured we could trace the Black Locust wood to its origins, then we could move forward with confidence in the material choices we were making.
You have an extensive background in working for major art institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art. Is there an opportunity for other cultural institutions to follow Grace Farms’ lead?
As I continued to work on tracing materials, I began to consider the question: how can the art world, museums, auction houses and galleries become involved and incorporate Design For Freedom Principles into exhibits? There would be many challenges to getting the art world on board. For one, adding the step of sourcing and tracing materials adds time, and often cost, to a project. Time and cost are often two things with little to no flexibility for art institutions. Exhibitions usually have a very fixed time frame and there is very little room for delays.
The first step that must be done is to raise awareness about the presence of forced labor in our building materials. The next step is education and sharing resources that demonstrate how forced labor directly affects the art world. For example, materials often used in the fabrication of exhibits and artworks, including timber, metal, and paint, are at high risk for forced and child labor.
Once we raise awareness, we can inform art institutions about ways in which to build in a tracing process at the beginning stages of the exhibition planning. We can encourage them to identify which vendors will be used for the construction and fabrication of the exhibit’s infrastructure, before committing to use them for the project. Also, build in time to speak with the companies to learn more about their supply chains. Although these are added steps, it would be possible if it was planned as part of the overall exhibit process.
With Every Fiber, Photo by Dean Kaufman
In getting the art world to start thinking about ethical and sustainable material sourcing, what would you suggest?
Perhaps one goal would be to pick one component of the exhibition, or one material, and use that as a starting point to begin tracing. Then, when approaching the next exhibition, perhaps select two materials to trace. Over time, institutions would become more familiar with the process, and be more willing to embed Design for Freedom in their work.
Even if just one art institution took the initiative and led the way others could follow suit. Over time, as exhibit suppliers and vendors were hiredand confirmed their support for Design for Freedom, perhaps an approved “Design for Freedom” group of exhibit vendors could be formed, so that institutions would have an identifiable pool of vendors to pull from as they begin an exhibition planning process.
How can artists champion Design for Freedom?
Artists themselves can raise awareness and support the movement through their artwork. Grace Farms has done this before, with artist Alyson Shotz, and her sculpture, Temporal Shift. Grace Farms worked with Design for Freedom Working Group members Joe Mizzi and Jay Gorman from Sciame to trace the stainless steel and concrete used in Temporal Shift. 100% of the steel and concrete used in Temporal Shift was ethically sourced.
The sculpture, which was on view at Grace Farms in 2022, is an example of how it is possible for artists themselves to think about where the materials they use for their art is sourced from. With planning and research, it is possible to find ethically sourced materials for art. Nina Cooke John, architect, artist, and United States Artists Fellow, was also an early champion. Besides designing With Every Fiber, Cooke John’s Harriet Tubman Monument in Newark, N.J., was also a Design for Freedom Pilot Project that opened to the public on March 9, 2023.
As Cooke John says, the exhibit invites people to “contemplate what goes into making our homes, places of work, cultural spaces, and sites for commemoration.”
With Every Fiber, Photo by Dean Kaufman
In working with new suppliers, what was their reaction to Design for Freedom?
As I began the fabrication and material selection process for With Every Fiber, although many vendors were already onboard and committed, there were still some new suppliers who were not yet familiar with Design For Freedom and the material tracing process. I was unsure what the response would be when reaching out to these potential new vendors and asking them to provide information to allow myself and colleagues to trace their materials. However, I learned that once informed, many of the vendors were open to tracing, and were interested in learning more about Design for Freedom, and the work Grace Farms is doing to eradicate slave labor in the building materials supply chain. The positive response I received throughout this exhibition installation, leads me to believe that change is possible, and people are willing to learn. This is a hopeful sign. And hope is a theme that permeates throughout With Every Fiber.
What role does the exhibit’s artistic design play in telling the Design for Freedom story?
There were many moving parts of this installation. Upon completion of the install, a day before the exhibit opened to the public, I took a moment to look around and at the different sections of the exhibit: the sections that highlight timber, metal, and concrete; the steel rods climbing to the ceiling, the fabric walls that center you and ground you in the space, the photographs and powerful images showing examples of modern slavery, and the music from the London Philharmonic floating through the room.
This exhibit not only presents to the public the importance of Design for Freedom, but it also beautifully shows how intricately art is already embedded into Design for Freedom. The materials that create art can be traced; and art itself has the power to be a vessel through which the Design for Freedom story is told. There is already an existing link between Design for Freedom and art: it is only a natural step then, after awareness, education, and through common goals, that art institutions and artists themselves can incorporate these principles into their future work.
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About Grace Farms
Grace Farms is a center for culture and collaboration in New Canaan, Connecticut. We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building and Barns on 80 acres of publicly accessible, preserved natural landscape. Our humanitarian work to end modern slavery and foster more grace and peace in our local and global community includes leading the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain.
The SANAA-designed River building is embedded in 80 acres of natural landscape. Grace Farms is free and open to the public six days a week, other than Monday. Photo by Kyle Norton
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