Topic: ART NEWS
Over the last three months, the Zimmerli Art Museum’s special exhibition galleries have filled up with nearly 1,400 photographs, as part of the HereNow: Rutgers 250 initiative to celebrate the university’s milestone anniversary. Photos submitted by students, faculty, alumni, and visitors have fondly highlighted iconic scenes of student life and campus sights, uncovered hidden nooks, and captured treasured moments. Together, these images celebrate the Rutgers experience and create a dynamic, once-in-a-lifetime collage. As the final submission deadline for the museum’s first ever crowdsourced exhibition approaches on May 15, we invite the global Rutgers community to share their photos, and support our vision to capture the past, present, and future of our university. Images can be submitted via the microsite herenow250.rutgers.edu, which launched last November, and will be added to the growing exhibition.
As part of the culmination of the initiative, following the final submission deadline, all of the images will be reviewed by a panel of arts professionals, and 250 will be chosen to be featured in a full-color art book that will be available prior to Charter Day, November 10, 2016. We encourage you not to miss the opportunity to participate, and encapsulate your Rutgers moments for future generations.
“The photos represent the broad range of people who interact with Rutgers and their individual experiences,” says Donna Gustafson, Curator of American Art and Mellon Director for Academic Programs at the Zimmerli. “Some general themes have emerged, but there is no one subject that dominates the project.”
Most photographs have been taken on campus in New Brunswick, Piscataway, Camden, and Newark; but university and club events held around the state and nation, as well as in study abroad locations, also appear. The collage features selfies and photos of football games and classroom scenes, but also unique abstracts of familiar places and images of singular extracurricular activities such as those from the Rutgers Equestrian Team. The collage is vibrant, lively, and, most importantly, like the university, diverse.
Gustafson adds, “Of course, with the semester winding down, we look forward to receiving photos of spring semester classes, students outside, Alumni Weekend, and Rutgers Day, as well as Commencement in May.”
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
- Anyone can submit images for the initiative
- Images can be uploaded to herenow250.rutgers.edu
- Images are loosely categorized into Academics, Campus Life, Arts, Athletics, and Global Experiences
- Images must reflect the experience of Rutgers-affiliated individuals and be dated between January 1, 2015 and May 15, 2016, to be considered for inclusion in the book
- Use #RUHERENOW250 to share images on social media
- Come by the museum often to see the exhibition grow and change.
Rutgers 250 is a yearlong celebration marking Rutgers University's founding in 1766, honoring the university’s past, present, and future with a series of events, programs, and gatherings. The history of Rutgers begins on November 10, 1766, when William Franklin, the last Colonial governor of New Jersey, signed the charter that brought Queen’s College into existence. In 1825, the school was renamed to honor Colonel Henry Rutgers, a Revolutionary War veteran. In 2015, poised to celebrate 250 years, Rutgers is one of the most highly regarded institutions of higher education in the nation, with more than 65,000 students and 24,400 faculty and staff in New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden, and at locations throughout the state. Complete information and a list of related events can be found at 250.rutgers.edu.
The exhibition HereNow: Rutgers 250 is supported by the Estate of Ralph Voorhees, and donors to the Zimmerli's Major Exhibition Fund: James and Kathrin Bergin, Alvin and Joyce Glasgold, Charles and Caryl Sills, Voorhees Family Endowment, and the Jerome A. Yavitz Charitable Foundation, Inc.--Stephen Cyphen, President. Related public programs are supported by the Friends of the Zimmerli Endowment Fund.
The book HereNow: Rutgers 250 is supported by the Class of 1937 Publications Endowment Fund.
