(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University—New Brunswick has announced its schedule of free public programs for the fall of 2024, as well as new member experiences. Such favorites as SparkNight, Último Domingo, Art Together, Study Break and artist talks return, with the addition of monthly highlight tours. Events take place at the Zimmerli (71 Hamilton Street) in New Brunswick, unless otherwise noted.

The season kicks off with the Fall Opening Reception on Saturday, September 14, from 4:00pm to 7:00pm, which is free and open to the public. Guests have the opportunity to meet Amanda Cachia, guest curator for this fall’s major exhibition, Smoke & Mirrors, opening on September 4. Cachia selected 14 contemporary artists with disabilities from across the globe who conceptualize access through humor, antagonism, transparency, and invisibility. She developed this unprecedented exhibition to showcase work by artists who are underrepresented in museums, while also encouraging visitors with disabilities and their allies to become active participants in telling their own stories. In addition to the opening, the museum is offering a series of free public programs related to the exhibition:

* Thursday, October 10: SparkNight: Celebrating Disability Awareness Month

* Sunday, October 13: Art Together: Celebrating Differences

* Tuesday, November 5: Virtual roundtable moderated by guest curator Amanda Cachia and featuring artists from the exhibition: Carmen Papalia, Syrus Marcus Ware, Liza Sylvestre and Vanessa Dion Fletcher.

* Thursday, November 21: JJJJJerome Ellis presents a multimedia lecture-performance based on their latest project “Aster of Ceremonies” and videos featured in the exhibition.

* Friday, Decdember 13: Virtual launch for Amanda Cachia’s first book The Agency of Access: Contemporary Disability Art and Institutional Critique, available this fall from Temple University Press.

Visitors are invited to a new series of free Highlights Tours on select Saturdays from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. The public is welcome to drop in on September 21, October 19, November 16 and December 21 to join a tour led by the museum’s student educators, who select works from rotating exhibitions and the permanent collection.

Último Domingo (Last Sunday), the popular bilingual series that launched earlier this year, continues with various campus and community collaborations throughout the fall. On September 29, we celebrate Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month, with Rutgers’ Center of Latino Arts and Culture (CLAC), Latino Student Council (LSC) and Latino Alumni Association (LAARU). On October 27, a Celebration of Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos) welcomes back CLAC, LSC and LAARU, joined by State Theatre New Jersey. The final fall installation, Latinx Identities in the United States: Community Building, takes place on November 24, with CLAC, Lambda Sigma Upsilon and RU Indigenous.

The popular evening social event SparkNight also returns with a series of monthly themes.

On October 10, Celebrating Disability Awareness Month features artists from the exhibition Smoke & Mirrors who are facilitating a drop-in, interactive workshop to create a temporary installation in the museum’s Adi Blum Learning Center. RU Indigenous joins us for Celebrating Native American Heritage Month on November 7 and an end-of-year celebration takes place on December 2. Each SparkNight also includes crowd favorites: photo booths, food trucks, music and hands-on art activities.

The Zimmerli invites families to get creative at Art Together, the museum’s free drop-in workshops, which return on select Sundays, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. The series allows children of all ages to work on thematic projects with adult family members or guardians. Each month spotlights different exhibitions: Smoke & Mirrors and Boundless: Picture Books About Disabilities (October 13); Crossing Borders and Painting to Scale (November 10); and Prints for Pennies: Jose Guadalupe Posada and Popular Prints (December 8). 

Rutgers students have an additional place to prepare for finals during Reading Day on December 12, from noon to 8:00pm, at Study Break. The Zimmerli invites students to spend the final stretch among their favorite works of art, with study tables set up in quiet gallery spaces that offer access to Wi-Fi and electrical outlets. Study break activities include chair yoga, a sound bath, chair massages and a gallery tour. Admission and activities, as well as food and beverages, are provided free of charge. Additional details will be announced during the fall semester.

This summer, the Zimmerli launched a revamped membership program. Special benefits include VIP tours of special exhibitions, members-only pop-up events throughout the year, complimentary museum publications, discounted fees for Summer Art Camp and more! The first “Behind the Frame” membership event takes place on September 21. Guests will celebrate membership at the Zimmerli: mingle with fellow art lovers, while enjoying refreshments and a special VIP experience. Not a member? Join or renew by Labor Day to receive an invitation and start enjoying all the benefits of Zimmerli membership! For more information, visit zimmerli.rutgers.edu/membership.

TJ’s Café reopens on Tuesday, September 3. Open Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm, this convenient location offers the university community and museum visitors an inviting atmosphere to refuel during their busy schedules. The menu features a variety of drinks and baked goods. It is accessible through the Zimmerli’s lobby and Voorhees Hall.

Smoke & Mirrors is made possible by the leadership support of the Ford Foundation.  Additional grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.  Último Domingo (Last Sunday) is part of the Zimmerli’s initiative to become a bilingual museum and created with generous support from Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program. Additional support for October's SparkNight celebrating Disability Awareness Month is made possible by the Ford Foundation. Additional support for Art Together is made possible by the PNC Grow Up Great grant initiative. Study Break is supported by New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO).

The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum houses more than 60,000 works of art, with strengths in the Art of the Americas, Asian Art, European Art, Russian Art & Soviet Nonconformist Art, and Original Illustrations for Children's Literature. The permanent collections include works in all mediums, spanning from antiquity to the present day, providing representative examples of the museum’s research and teaching message at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, which stands among America’s highest-ranked, most diverse public research universities. Founded in 1766, as one of only nine colonial colleges established before the American Revolution, Rutgers is the nation’s eighth-oldest institution of higher learning.

Admission is free to the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers. The museum is located at 71 Hamilton Street (at George Street) on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick. The Zimmerli is a short walk from the NJ Transit train station in New Brunswick, midway between New York City and Philadelphia.

The Zimmerli Art Museum is open Wednesday and Friday, 11:00am to 6:00pm; Thursday, 11:00am to 8:00pm; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5:00pm. The museum is closed Monday and Tuesday, as well as major holidays and the month of August. For the most current information, including parking and accessibility, visit zimmerli.rutgers.edu/visit.

The Zimmerli's operations, exhibitions, and programs are funded in part by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and income from the Avenir Endowment Fund and the Andrew W. Mellon Endowment Fund, among others. The museum’s bilingual initiative is made possible by Art Bridges Foundation / Access for All. Additional support comes from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and the donors, members, and friends of the museum.