The Great Give Fundraiser May 7 & 8th!

GREAT GIVE

Dear Ely Center Family,

I became Gallery Director at Ely Center a little over a year ago, and the experience has been life-changing! Building, supporting, and expanding an arts community motivates everything I do. As ECOCA enters its next decade, more opportunities await, starting with the search for a new space, as our Trumbull Street home concludes over 60 years of service to the arts. We’re sad to leave, but excited to grow.

Besides our quest for a permanent home, your Great Give donation supports ECOCA’s programs, including exhibitions and artists’ talks, workshops for all ages, artist development (like our Keyhole Residencies and Summer Apprenticeships,) and innovative events (including the wildly-popular Weird Music Nights!) Creation space and equipment are also needed, especially during our transition–by giving you’ll be helping capital like our darkroom and Lucy, the vintage camper serving as a unique studio.

Any and every gift helps, and this year we have a great opportunity with a $2,500 challenge gift which is unlocked once we raise $5,000! Won’t you please help me reach my personal goal of $500 during this campaign?

Donate HERE

Sincerely,
Aimée Burg
Gallery Director

DON’T MISS THESE EVENTS

This May 8th, come Meet the NEW emcee of Weird Music Night, A. I. Pacino! Will Pervert Savant ever be back to host? We’re not sure, but any persona of John O’Donnell is a friend of ours!

Featuring the sounds of:

Jayden Barber – An experimental sound artist, composer, and award-winning filmmaker from Providence, Barber conjures immersive walls of sound from tape loops, analog drones, and decaying media. His live sets evoke the spectral beauty of cathedrals while dragging audiences through cleansing distortion and cinematic collapse.

The Broken Robots – For over fifteen years, The Broken Robots have turned chaos into communion. Led by vocalist and performance artist Jack Daniel, their fully improvised performances channel the sacred and the absurd—think punk jazz meets séance, filtered through Waits, Zappa, Talking Heads, and the Buddha.

The Regal Drug – Dreamy distortion meets lo-fi euphoria. The Regal Drug crafts emotional, genre-defying soundscapes with an analog heart and a poetic punch. Their performances are haunted lullabies for a glamorous apocalypse.

A.I. Pacino – A satirical performance persona by artist John O’Donnell, A.I. Pacino is a mobster-masked android who raps over "Terminator-type beats" while channeling the absurdity of simulation culture. Inspired by the Max Headroom signal hack, vintage crime cinema, and the slippery terrain of digital identity, A.I. Pacino flickers between parody and prophecy in a performance you’ll never forget (even if you wish you could).

CURRENTLY ON VIEW

May 4- June 22
Old In Art School: Colleen Coleman, Howard el-Yasin, Sarah Heinemann, Amos Paul Kennedy Jr, Mary Lesser, Susan Luss, Barbara Marks, Barbara Owen, Nell Painter, Gina Palacios, Allison Pasquesi, Carl Patow
Prey Drive: Ashton Philips curated by Something Projects
WAKE: Kasey Ramirez selected works on paper

SUMMER APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM

What is your New Haven Public High School student doing this summer!

We suggest our Summer Apprenticeship Program!

Our Summer Apprenticeship Program’s mentoring artist is the amazing Sarah Zapata!

Applications are live!

UPCOMING

Upcoming @ The Ely Center

May 7 & 8- GREAT GIVE

May 8, 7pm- WEIRD MUSIC NIGHT!

May 24, 7:30pm- Another Night of Art Sounds, curated by Chanelle Allesandre, featuring the artists Virusse (Mid-coast Maine) & Secret Boyfriend (Chapel Hill, NC)

May 25, 1-3pm- Reception for MicroAgressions: Michelle Young Lee & Current Aberations: Fethi Meghelli & Fabiana Comas Rodriguez

June 12, 7pm- WEIRD MUSIC NIGHT

June 18, 1pm- Artist talk with Ashton Phillips

JOIN OUR FRIENDS AND VOLUNTEER FAMILY

SUPPORT ECOCA

M I S S I O N

The Ely Center of Contemporary Art’s mission is to present contemporary art exhibitions and events—challenging, conceptual, and provocative—that are inclusive, diverse and promote dialogue around global and community issues. Our work reaffirms Grace Ely’s testamentary wishes for an art center where artists, arts organizations, and the public assemble, exchange, learn, and engage through exhibitions, performances, and emerging contemporary practice

ECOCA receives support from Avangrid, City of New Haven, Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, Connecticut Office of the Arts, Connecticut Humanities, New Alliance Foundation, Wells Fargo, Yale University, and Friends of the John Slade Ely House of Contemporary Art.