(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University—New Brunswick announced that it has received a $560,000 grant from Art Bridges Foundation's Access for All initiative. Over a three-year period, the Zimmerli will implement new and augment existing efforts to reduce barriers by transforming it into a more fully bilingual museum. The grant funds will support programming and communication—such as signage, gallery labels, promotional materials—presented in English and Spanish. The museum's efforts build upon prior offerings that have been well received by visitors of all ages.
“The Zimmerli has long understood the importance of access. We introduced free admission for all visitors in 2014 and have gradually made public programming free," Zimmerli director Maura Reilly said. “But those were only the first steps. Conceived as an empathetic museum for a beloved community, our mission is to create a welcoming environment that also dismantles invisible barriers traditionally standing between art institutions and the communities they serve. The Zimmerli is in the very diverse city comprised of 46% Latinx people, and with a public school system that reports 92% Latinx students. Our aim is to bridge the gap between our museum and our Spanish-speaking neighbors.”
The first event supported by the grant is SparkNight: Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on Thursday, November 2. Inspired by the popularity of last year's event, the Zimmerli’s upcoming celebration of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) features new programming through partnerships with campus and community organizations that provide performances, art activities, music, and food. Returning partners include Mexican American Student Association (MASA) and Center of Latino Arts and Culture (CLAC), both at Rutgers University, New Brunswick Cultural Center, State Theatre New Jersey, Meraki Face Painting, Mariachi Hidalgo, and Gringos Tacos food truck.
In early 2024, the Zimmerli will launch “Último Domingo,” a monthly Sunday program that will offer an always evolving range of cultural activities, such as artmaking, artist talks, and performances, in Spanish and English.
Throughout the museum, various written materials will be translated into Spanish. Since 2021, labels in the children's gallery and special exhibitions have been in English and Spanish; the grant enables the museum to expand its bilingual museum initiative throughout the building, into additional permanent galleries and smaller rotating exhibitions. Wayfinding and general information museum signage also will be translated. In addition, promotional materials will increasingly include Spanish translations.
Art Bridges Foundation, the national arts nonprofit founded by philanthropist Alice Walton, is providing $40 million in funding to 64 museums—spanning 36 states and Puerto Rico—through Access for All. This initiative aims to increase access to museums across the country, providing museums the opportunity to foster engagement by developing tailored programming specifically for their communities.
Access for All represents a sweeping effort to get people back to museums after COVID-19 brought declines in revenue, staffing and attendance. It aims to restore pre-pandemic levels of attendance and open opportunities for all people to enjoy American art by reducing barriers to access and strengthening community relationships.
The Zimmerli also partnered with Art Bridges Foundation in 2021. Through its Collection Loan Partnership, the Foundation loaned paintings by two prominent Black artists, Jack Whitten and Barkley L. Hendricks, to the museum. This initiative aims to increase works of art by BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and women artists on view and fill in gaps in museum collections.
Art Bridges Foundation is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. The mission of Art Bridges is to expand access to American art in all regions across the United States. Since 2017, Art Bridges has been creating and supporting programs that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage and into communities. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of over 220 museums of all sizes and locations on nearly 700 projects across the nation, impacting over 4.1 million people, to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, loans from the Art Bridges Collection, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local audiences. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to present day and encompasses multiple media and voices.
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.
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 safety protocols, parking, and accessibility, visit zimmerli.rutgers.edu.
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 and the donors, members, and friends of the museum.
