Upcoming events this week at Ely Center

ON VIEW

Installation View: where is the human in this place
photo by Peter Brown

where is the human in this place
Jayden Ashely, Jacob Cullers, Ode, Amy Yoshitsu, curated by Maria Markham
Dark Dey
Mahsa Attaran
centering
Matin Malikzada
Portals of Holding
Asma Waheed
Chaos with a side of Spaghetti
Project Space show: John Dickinson, Hannah Hanski, Yi Shan Li, Lucas Moran, Don Porcella, Liz Rodda, Jenna Rothstein, Ryan Scails, Emily Silver, Paul Theriault, Mark Van Wagner, Lexa Walsh curated by Emily Weiskopf
Etched in the Ether
New DIGITAL GRACE show curated by Alexzandria Robin

PRESS: Artists Whirl Into Chaos

MUSIC & EXPERIMENTATION THIS WEEK

Events this coming week:

Thursday May 21, 6:30-8:30 pm
SPONTENTION -- intentionality spontaneous
Free and open to all
Featuring the New London Drone Orchestra, a group that collectively improvises sustained, layered, gradually evolving, timeless sound that can be an accompaniment to any poetry or performance of the evening should that be welcome.
Open mic and collective improvisation is prompted from this ethos.
Please bring nonperishable items for the CT Food Bank.
This night is inspired and in dialogue with the ongoing show “Chaos with a Chaos with a side of spaghetti curated by Emily Weiskopf.

Friday May 22, 7 pm
WEIRD MUSIC NIGHT
Free and open to all
Kit Young "live Audio Visual performance"
DJ BIRD TURGLER "Safe For Work"
City of Meriden - "'the Brown Jug Liquor Band" + visuals by Krem on wool
Austin Engelhardt "percussive improvisational guitar playing with expansive atmosphere."
Nahadoth "Melancholy, orchestral, wintry tones from the realms of the fettered mind"

Saturday May 23, 7pm
MUSIC SHOW- Curated by Austin Larkin
suggested donation $20
Featuring:
Ka Baird
Taralie Peterson/Marcia Bassett
Tongue Depressor/Austin Larkin

ONE MORE WEEK TO APPLY

The applications have been rolling in!

But there is still time for your New Haven Public High School Teen Artist to apply for our Summer Apprenticeship Program!

Applications are open April 9 - May 25, 2026
Notification of acceptance will be May 30, 2026
SAP runs from July 6- July 24, 2026, 1-4pm (with an option to stay until 5pm)

SAP begins with an orientation, an opportunity for the students and staff to get to know each other. The Lead artist, Kat Wiese, makes a presentation about her work and career path, and how these relate to the project ahead. This is followed by field trips to search for source material and inspiration. The Beinecke Library holds several original copies of the Green Book and will host the students for one of these field trips! In the second week, the emphasis shifts to production and execution. Students plan the course of the work and together decide how they will complete it. Each day includes supervised studio/making time and optional extended day hours at ECOCA. During these first two weeks, the students will also interact with visiting citizen-historian/Fair Haven educator Ian Dudley and deepen their knowledge of the immediate blocks surrounding City Seed. Dudley will help craft some of the interpretive materials that will accompany the exhibition. In the last week, students install and finish the work, and are given the opportunity to discuss their work with the press and young audiences. In the evening of July 26th, we hold a graduation ceremony and reception in our new space at City Seed in Fair Haven. The students will each receive their work stipend and recognition (Last year the awards were presented by the New Haven Public Schools Arts Chair Holly Maxson). The reception will feature local poet Yex presenting a new commissioned poem inspired by The Green Book.

On August 15, the students and mentors will represent the project at a Resource Booth at Black Wall Street on the Green. The legacy of the Green Book's as a driver of economic power for Black people will be showcased by the students through their own books and paper products.

We cannot wait to see you here this summer!

Watch an extended video to learn more about Kat Wiese HERE!

DIGITAL GRACE

Etched in the Ether explores the temporality of life within an increasingly immaterial, technologically mediated world. Bringing together artists who confront mortality and ambiguity, the exhibition considers what slips away and what remains. Through digital and hybrid processes, the works engage the sacred, the psychological, and the human through acts of meditation and transformation.

Curated by Alexzandria Robin

Sam Lindsay Anderson, Constance Brady, Leah Caroline, danielle fisher, Soumiya Lakshmi Krishnaswamy, Ethan Newman, TAKAYUKI OCHIISHI, Ziliä Qansurá, Deanne Row, Kiki Serna, Rebecca Wasilewski

Click on an image- it will pop open, when your curser hovers over the image, the work information appears. Learn more from the artists HERE on our Digital Grace

HOURS

Gallery Hours: We, Th, Su 12-5pm or by appointment- to book an off hours visit please email aburg@elycenter.org

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 the City of New Haven, Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, Connecticut Office of the Arts, Connecticut Humanities, New Alliance Foundation, Wells Fargo and Friends of the John Slade Ely House of Contemporary Art.