New England Artists Occupy The DeCordova

The DeCordova Biennial — the largest group show dedicated to fresh artwork created all over New England — premieres at the sculpture park and museum in Lincoln Sunday.

Every two years the contemporary art institution shines a spotlight on emerging artists from six northeastern states.

Now through mid-April the survey will occupy the entire museum, according Dina Deitsch.

"We actually got to finally use the bathroom this year which I’m really excited about!" she said as she helped a few artists install their pieces in a gallery. "But you have to make sure everybody fits and is shown to their best capacity — so that’s always a giant jigsaw puzzle."

Deitsch and guest curator Abigail Ross Goodman (formerly of the Rotenberg Gallery on Newbury Street) visited hundreds of studios to find the artists and collaboratives included in the exhibition.

After much debate, with many advisers, they settled on 23.

That number makes this year's deCordova Biennial the largest to date in the museum's history.