Zimmerli Art Museum Releases Program Schedule for April 2015

New Brunswick, NJ - This April, the Zimmerli Art Museum offers new events and installations, in addition to recurring programs. Family favorites include Passport to Art, Music at the Museum, and Rutgers Day, as well as a special all-ages tour and presentation during Art After Hours: First Tuesdays. For adults, the exhibition Through the Looking Glass: Hyperrealism in the Soviet Union is accompanied by a panel discussion and reception, and new installations in the permanent galleries invite visitors to consider different perspectives when exploring the museum. Activities take place at the Zimmerli, located at 71 Hamilton Street in New Brunswick, on the Rutgers University College Avenue campus. Admission to the museum and public programs is free. Registration fees vary for classes and workshops. For more details, visit www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu.

The Zimmerli stays open late on April 7 for Art After Hours: First Tuesdays. The evening kicks off with a curator-led, family-friendly tour, at 6 p.m., of Bugs & Frogs & Toads! Oh My! Original Children's Illustrations by Nancy Winslow Parker. The exhibition includes more than 40 of Parker's original drawings for the books Bugs (1987) and Frogs, Toads, Lizards, and Salamanders (1990). Some drawings are playful and humorous; others are scientifically instructive - but all of them pique the viewer's interest about some of the most diverse species on our planet. The tour is immediately followed by the next selection in the Big Ten: Art series, spotlighting an intriguing work from the Zimmerli's collection. At 6:30, John Cambridge, a PhD candidate in the Rutgers Department of Entomology, presents "A World of Insects." Using an illustrated talk and actual bug specimens, he introduces different types of insects from a beginner's scientific perspective that appeals to all ages. Slide Jam follows at 7:30 with artists Basia Goszczynska and Ken Weathersby discussing their new work. An MFA candidate at Mason Gross, Goszczynska specializes in stop motion animation in which her intricate sculptures come to life. Weathersby brings structural elements to the surface, rearranging viewers' concepts of what is "made to be seen" in his paintings. The Rutgers Scarlet Knight Jazz Trombones, led by Mason Gross professor (and Grammy nominee) Conrad Herwig, return to the museum for an evening of grooves from the university's top student musicians. Art After Hours takes place from 5 to 9 p.m., offering free admission and complimentary refreshments. To learn more, visit bit.ly/ArtAfterHourZTues.

The Zimmerli invites the public to a special program on Thursday, April 9, in conjunction with the new exhibition Through the Looking Glass: Hyperrealism in the Soviet Union. The first thematic exhibition from the Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union to chart the development of this movement during the late 1970s and 1980s spotlights artists who challenged the hegemonic perception of reality, the heroic and idealized subjects that characterized Socialist Realism. The afternoon kicks off with a 2:30 p.m. tour, led by Cristina Morandi, a Dodge Fellow at the Zimmerli and PhD Candidate in the Department of Art History at Rutgers, who organized the exhibition. A panel discussion takes place from 3:30 to 5 p.m., focusing on the perception and construction of reality in art works of the Soviet era, as well as the instrumental role of photography as a medium in conveying reality in the Soviet Union. Participants include Dr. Katherine Hill Reischl (Assistant Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature, Princeton University), Dr. Andres Kurg (Architectural Historian and Researcher, Institute of Art History of Estonia Academy of Arts, Tallinn), and Dr. Jeremy Canwell (independent scholar). The program also features the short animated film Incident with an Artist by director Grigory Kozlov, followed by a reception. The event is free and open to the public.

Registration is now open for upcoming sessions of the Zimmerli's signature art classes for all ages. Passport to Art - the interactive workshop that invites families to spend quality time together while exploring their creativity - features the topic Bugs, Animals, and Nature on Saturday, April 11, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Advance registration is required ($5-10) and children must be accompanied by an adult. Families also can review the options for Summer Art Camp, with weekly classes running between June 29 and July 24 at the Zimmerli Art Museum. Students can choose from a variety of basics (drawing, painting, sculpture) to such special topics as Adventures in Egyptian Art, Comic Book Creations, and Leap into Chinese Culture. Wes Sherman, a 13-year veteran at the museum, returns to lead a faculty of practicing artists and arts educators. He is a successful independent artist and holds an MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts. Advance registration is required for all classes (fees vary). For schedules, fees, and registration information, visit bit.ly/ZAMclasses.

Music at the Museum wraps up its inaugural season on Sunday, April 12, at 2 p.m. The program "Afternoon of Opera and Art Song" features Jenne Carey (soprano), Vincent Granna (baritone), Jihye Park (piano accompanist), and Christopher Kenniff (guitar). Spotlighting the talents of Mason Gross faculty members, this family-friendly weekend concert series is organized by the Mason Gross Extension Division and hosted by the Zimmerli. Admission is free, but seating is limited. For the complete schedule, visit bit.ly/ZAMconcerts.

The Zimmerli is delighted to participate in the annual Rutgers Day on Saturday, April 25, which offers free activities and entertainment across the New Brunswick and Piscataway campuses. Visit the Zimmerli from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for "Be an Art Detective" scavenger hunts (with prizes!), "I Am Art" face painting, "Caricatures: The Funny Side of Art," and a special art activity inspired by Bugs & Frogs & Toads! Oh My! Original Children's Book Illustrations by Nancy Winslow Parker, as well as gallery discovery tours. The Zimmerli also welcomes the Brodsky Center, leading an activity in creating Art Cards, and the Mason Gross Extension Division, presenting performances by the Scarlet Singers, Chorale Chamber Singers, Choristers, and Rutgers Youth Jazz Ensemble Concert. For a complete list of Rutgers Day events, visit rutgersday.rutgers.edu. Follow updates on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersDay) and Twitter (@Rutgersday #Rutgersday). Rutgers Day offers free parking and admission, as well as shuttles among the College Avenue, Cook/Douglass, and Busch campuses. The event is rain or shine.

Curators recently rotated works in the museum's galleries to offer visitors a broader view into the permanent collections. The new Class of 1937 Study Gallery aids students in their research. The current selection of paintings, drawings, and mixed media pieces feature such artists as Joan Miro, Piranesi, Sonia Delaunay, and Faith Ringgold in the same intimate space. Although pieces are requested by faculty to complement specific courses, the general public will find that the arrangement allows them to consider art and artists from new perspectives. In the American galleries, several new gifts from generous donors are on view for the first time. Jasper Cropsey's painting Autumn on the Delaware(1856) is a brilliantly colored view of fall foliage by this first-generation Hudson River School landscape artist. Earl Reiback's interactive piece Through the Looking Glass (1968) is an early prototype of one of the artist's signature "infinity mirrors." Two sculptures by David Wojnarowicz - Untitled (Monkey Shield) and Untitled (Lion's Skull and Baby Doll) - introduce an important period of contemporary art from the 1980s into the Zimmerli's collection. A visual and performance artist, writer, and filmmaker, Wojnarowicz also became an activist, incorporating more political content into his work that exposed the social and legal injustices inherent in the response to the AIDS epidemic.

ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM|RUTGERS

The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum houses more than 60,000 works of art, ranging from ancient to contemporary art. The permanent collection features particularly rich holdings in 19th-century French art; Russian art from icons to the avant-garde; Soviet nonconformist art from the Dodge Collection; and American art with notable holdings of prints. In addition, small groups of antiquities, old master paintings, as well as art inspired by Japan and original illustrations for children's books, provide representative examples of the museum's research and teaching message at Rutgers. One of the largest and most distinguished university-based art museums in the nation, the Zimmerli is located on the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Established in 1766, Rutgers is America's eighth oldest institution of higher learning and a premier public research university.

VISITOR INFORMATION

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 Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., and the first Tuesday of each month (except August), 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and major holidays, as well as the month of August.

Z Café featuring the Food Architects is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a variety of breakfast, lunch, and snack items. The café is closed major holidays, as well as the months of July and August.

For more information, visit the museum's website www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu or call 848.932.7237.

SUPPORT

The Zimmerli's operations, exhibitions, and programs are funded in part by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and income from the Avenir Foundation Endowment and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowment, among others. Additional support comes from the New Jersey State Council of the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; the Estate of Victoria J. Mastrobuono; and donors, members, and friends of the museum.