2026 Summer Exhibition Opening
Cost
Where
Maxon Mills
37 Furnace Bank Road
Wassaic, NY 12592
When
Saturday, May 16, 2026
3–6 PM
Who
Save the date for the opening of Because, now is the time of monsters, our 2026 Summer Exhibition! The show features 39 artists in and around Maxon Mills throughout the summer.
Schedule
at Maxon Mills
12–6 PM: Gallery hours
12–6 PM: Art Nest hours
4–6 PM: Life's a Game, Boy, an end of-year exhibition by our JV and Varsity Art Clubs
4:30–6 PM: Ace Lehner's Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure performance
8–10 PM: Nate King's When I Was Younger And Now That I'm Older projection on the side of Maxon Mills
Details
Ace Lehner's Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure
Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure is an installation and social practice performance piece that takes the motif of the barbershop and queers it, creating a space for queer world-making. Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure embraces the ethos of queer failure (a concept developed by queer theorist Jack Halberstam) as a productive way of proposing alternatives rather than adhering to barbershop norms which under the guise of giving haircuts often reinforce notions about heteropatriarchal masculinity. Haircuts are given first come-first served, by the artist, Ace Lehner, who is not a trained barber but who has been cutting hair outside of sanctioned barber channels for over two decades; hence part of the ethos of queer failure. In exchange for a haircut, participants agree to engage in an act of queer world-making before their haircut grows out. The act associated with the haircut is negotiated during one’s haircut.
Nate King's When I Was Younger And Now That I'm Older
When I Was Younger And Now That I'm Older will be at Wassaic Project the evening of May 16th as part of their 2026 Summer Exhibition Because Now Is The Time Of Monsters. The work imitates the structure of a puzzle box, using Wassaic's Maxon Mills to frame and shift geometric patterns, revealing childhood photographs beneath. It is a meditation on time as a riddle of in-between-ness, both looking back and looking forward.
"I am exactly half the age of my father, which only happens once, and it feels a bit like some planetary alignment. He and I are very different people, but if I were to live another 37 years I would be where he's at now. I feel older than I've ever been, but I'm sure when I'm 74 I will think 37 was quite young." — Nate King
Life's a Game, Boy, an end-of-year exhibition by our JV and Varsity Art Clubs
Please join us from 4-6pm for the show reception in the old Art Nest of Maxon Mills! The Art Clubs are free afterschool art clubs for exceptional art students from around our region in grades 5–12. They work on a series of collaborative and individual projects inspired by Wassaic Project artists, the students' interests and curiosities, and the world at present. On display will be 2D, 3D, and multimedia student work, and from 4:30-5:30pm, students will present from their original narrative art book, Game Boy.
Featuring
· · ·
Event Details
2026 Summer Exhibition Opening
Cost
Where
Maxon Mills
37 Furnace Bank Road
Wassaic, NY 12592
When
Saturday, May 16, 2026
3–6 PM
Who
Save the date for the opening of Because, now is the time of monsters, our 2026 Summer Exhibition! The show features 39 artists in and around Maxon Mills throughout the summer.
Schedule
at Maxon Mills
12–6 PM: Gallery hours
12–6 PM: Art Nest hours
4–6 PM: Life's a Game, Boy, an end of-year exhibition by our JV and Varsity Art Clubs
4:30–6 PM: Ace Lehner's Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure performance
8–10 PM: Nate King's When I Was Younger And Now That I'm Older projection on the side of Maxon Mills
Details
Ace Lehner's Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure
Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure is an installation and social practice performance piece that takes the motif of the barbershop and queers it, creating a space for queer world-making. Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure embraces the ethos of queer failure (a concept developed by queer theorist Jack Halberstam) as a productive way of proposing alternatives rather than adhering to barbershop norms which under the guise of giving haircuts often reinforce notions about heteropatriarchal masculinity. Haircuts are given first come-first served, by the artist, Ace Lehner, who is not a trained barber but who has been cutting hair outside of sanctioned barber channels for over two decades; hence part of the ethos of queer failure. In exchange for a haircut, participants agree to engage in an act of queer world-making before their haircut grows out. The act associated with the haircut is negotiated during one’s haircut.
Nate King's When I Was Younger And Now That I'm Older
When I Was Younger And Now That I'm Older will be at Wassaic Project the evening of May 16th as part of their 2026 Summer Exhibition Because Now Is The Time Of Monsters. The work imitates the structure of a puzzle box, using Wassaic's Maxon Mills to frame and shift geometric patterns, revealing childhood photographs beneath. It is a meditation on time as a riddle of in-between-ness, both looking back and looking forward.
"I am exactly half the age of my father, which only happens once, and it feels a bit like some planetary alignment. He and I are very different people, but if I were to live another 37 years I would be where he's at now. I feel older than I've ever been, but I'm sure when I'm 74 I will think 37 was quite young." — Nate King
Life's a Game, Boy, an end-of-year exhibition by our JV and Varsity Art Clubs
Please join us from 4-6pm for the show reception in the old Art Nest of Maxon Mills! The Art Clubs are free afterschool art clubs for exceptional art students from around our region in grades 5–12. They work on a series of collaborative and individual projects inspired by Wassaic Project artists, the students' interests and curiosities, and the world at present. On display will be 2D, 3D, and multimedia student work, and from 4:30-5:30pm, students will present from their original narrative art book, Game Boy.
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