Calder Gardens, the new institution in Philadelphia devoted to the acclaimed Modernist artist Alexander Calder (1898-1976), will open to the public in September and has hired Juana Berrío to be its senior director of programmes, its board of trustees announced on Wednesday (15 January). Berrío will start in her new role on 21 January.
“I look forward to working with the team to design rich cross-pollinations between artistic and nonartistic practices, with diverse communities, and between humans, flora and fauna,” Berrío said in a statement. “Calder’s own passion for interdisciplinary collaborations and experimentation at large provides a perfect context for Calder Gardens to become one of the most innovative and forward-thinking spaces for art and culture today.”
Juana Berrío, Calder Gardens' new senior director of programmes Photo: Emma Trim, courtesy of Calder Gardens, Philadelphia
Calder Gardens is currently under construction on Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a major roadway whose cultural attractions also include the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Rodin Museum, the Franklin Institute and the Barnes Foundation (the last of which will lend administrative, operations and education support for Calder Gardens). The project boasts a building by the renowned Swiss design firm Herzog & de Meuron and gardens by the Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf. It will feature rotating exhibits of Calder’s work in a mix of indoor and outdoor spaces. The budget for the project is nearly $58m, and the institution will have an endowment of more than $30m.
“Calder Gardens is an entirely new type of cultural institution focused on nurturing introspection and personal growth through the art and ideas of my grandfather—one of the most influential artists of the modern era,” Alexander S.C. Rower, president of the Calder Foundation and chair of the Calder Gardens curatorial committee, said in a statement. “Juana Berrío’s expertise and wide-ranging interdisciplinary experience—shaped by openness, compassion and curiosity—make her ideal for this essential role at Calder Gardens.”
Parkway Garden rendering, Calder Gardens, 2022 © Herzog & de Meuron
Berrío, who was born in Colombia and has studied and held positions at institutions across the US, comes to her new role from the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program, where she is currently the curatorial and sustainability adviser. Prior to that role, she was the curator of public programmes and associate director of residencies at Amant, a non-profit in Brooklyn. Other past roles have included stints at the Walker Art Center, SFMoMA, the New Museum and the Untitled Art fair. She was also the co-founder and director of Kiria Koula, an independent art space and bookstore in San Francisco that closed in 2015.
Thom Collins, the Barnes Foundation’s executive director and president, said of Berrío’s appointment: “Her expertise and ability to thoughtfully and meaningfully engage the community will be instrumental as we create a place where art and nature merge in a novel and exciting way.”
While Calder spent most of his formative years as a young artist in New York City, and much of the rest of his life living in France, he was born in a suburb of Philadelphia called Lawnton that has since been absorbed into the larger city.
