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 New Brunswick, unless otherwise noted. For complete details and updates, visit zimmerli.rutgers.edu/events.

The season kicks off with the Fall Opening Reception on Saturday, September 14 from 4 to 7 p.m., which is free and open to the public. Guests can meet Amanda Cachia, guest curator for this fall’s major exhibition, “Smoke & Mirrors.” 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 including SparkNight: Celebrating Disability Awareness Month on Thursday, October 10; Art Together: Celebrating Differences on Sunday, October 13; and a virtual roundtable on Tuesday, November 5 moderated by Cachia and featuring artists from the exhibition: Carmen Papalia, Syrus Marcus Ware, Liza Sylvestre, and Vanessa Dion Fletcher.

On Thursday, November 21, JJJJJerome Ellis presents a multimedia lecture-performance based on their latest project “Aster of Ceremonies” and videos featured in the exhibition, and Friday, December 13 brings the virtual launch for 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 to 3 p.m. 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 the museum celebrates 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 Zimmerli invites families to get creative at Art Together, the museum’s free drop-in workshops, which return on select Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m. 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).

The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers is located at 71 Hamilton Street in New Brunswick. For more information, visit zimmerli.rutgers.edu.