Zimmerli to Sponsor Manhattan Trip to Two Museums

Visit the National Museum of the American Indian and Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan on Thursday, April 4, with the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers. 

The bus departs at 8:30 a.m. from the Sears parking lot on Route 1 in New Brunswick and returns by 7 p.m. The cost of the trip, which includes transportation, lunch, admission, and tours, is $135 for members and $155 for nonmembers. To register, contact the Membership Department at membership@zimmerli.rutgers.edu or (848) 932-6771 by Feb. 21.

The day begins at the National Museum of the American Indian, a component of the Smithsonian Institution, which has one of the most extensive collections of Native American arts and artifacts in the world: 825,000 items representing some 12,000 years of history and more than 1,200 indigenous cultures throughout the Americas. Ranging from ancient Paleo-Indian points to contemporary fine arts, the collections include works of aesthetic, religious, and historical significance, as well as articles produced for everyday use. The group follows a docent-led tour of collection highlights.

Donna Gustafson, the Zimmerli’s Andrew W. Mellon Liaison for Academic Programs and Curator, will provide additional insight on this tour.

Stop for lunch at 2 West, inside the Ritz Carlton, Battery Park. This modern American bistro features expertly prepared dishes. The talented culinary team, led by Chef James Dangler, uses fresh regional ingredients and award-winning pastry chef Laurent Richard creates tempting and delicious desserts.

The afternoon continues at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, with a collection that contains more than 25,000 items about modern Jewish history and the Holocaust. Comprising photographs, documents, textiles, Judaica, toys, musical instruments, posters, and other artifacts, the collection also includes approximately 4,000 audio and video testimonies by Holocaust survivors, liberators, rescuers, Jews who served in the Allied Armies during World War II, and many others.

Special exhibitions include “Through Soviet Jewish Eyes: Photography, War, and the Holocaust” and “Hava Nagila: A Song for the People.” The tour is self-guided.

The final trip of the 2012-13 schedule visits the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, on Wednesday, June 12.

The Zimmerli Art Museum is located at 71 Hamilton St. 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.

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

Admission is $6 for adults; $5 for 65 and over; and free for museum members, children under 18, and Rutgers students, faculty, and staff (with ID). Admission is free on the first Sunday of every month. For more information, call (848) 932-7237 or visit the museum’s website: www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu