Art Library Exhibitions Spaces and Special Events

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – This spring the Rutgers Art Library (71 Hamilton St, New Brunswick, NJ 08901) will host a free public exhibit of artwork created by students in the Rutgers School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) Honors Program.  The physical exhibition will be on display from April 13, 2022, through December. 1, 2022.  To view the virtual exhibition and learn more about this project visit https://go.rutgers.edu/sasbelovedexhibit.

“Images of a Beloved Community” is an exhibition of works created by students from the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program as part of their mission course, Honors Colloquium, in Spring 2022. Throughout this project 125 SAS Honors students and the colloquium facilitators learned about making art, visual literacy, storytelling, and how to curate an exhibit, and they reflected on what it means to be part of the Rutgers Beloved Community. 

By exploring how images have been used to depict communities and their values students were challenged to consider how some groups of individuals feel excluded from common depictions and discourse around “community”. Lauren Johnson (Class of ‘24; major in Political Science; minors in Religion and Critical Intelligence Studies) commented, 

“This Beloved Community project has challenged our notion of an easily definable community and forced us to work through our differences to discover what we all have in common!”

With support from the Committee to Advance our Common Purposes’ Beloved Community Initiative, this project has invited students to articulate their appreciation of diverse backgrounds and perspectives, and to connect with institutional values and goals. It has also empowered them to share their views of our beloved community in ways that blend personal and scholarly perspectives. As Sharia Ajmal (Class of ‘24; major in Journalism and Media Studies) notes,

"While scholarship and creativity are generally juxtaposed, this project allowed students to channel both disciplines in a way that was mutually complementary.”

This exhibition invites members of the university community to see how students experience the rich tapestry of Rutgers and would not have been possible without the School of Arts & Sciences Honors program, The Rutgers University Libraries, and The Rutgers University Office of Equity & Inclusion Beloved Community Initiative who funded this project. 

In conjunction with this exhibit, the SAS Honors Program’s Artist Collective also has work on exhibit at the Art Library. Learn more at: https://go.rutgers.edu/Artistcollective

Have feedback about these exhibits? Please visit the following link: 

https://go.rutgers.edu/sasbelovedcommunityexhibit

Have questions about this exhibit or need help with scholarly research in the Arts?  Contact Megan Lotts, Art Librarian at megan.lotts@rutgers.edu. 

ABOUT THE RUTGERS ART LIBRARY 

The Rutgers Art Library, located on Rutgers University–New Brunswick’s College Avenue Campus, was established in 1966 and supports research and teaching in art & design, art history, photography, architecture, and landscape architecture. It holds over 90,000 volumes and provides access to a host of print and electronic journals related to the arts.  It serves as a venue for events and exhibitions with a particular emphasis on Rutgers’s students, faculty, and local artists.  Visit the Art Library online at libraries.rutgers.edu/art. 

*Please note at this time masks must be worn within the Rutgers University Libraries and all visitors must present an active campus ID. To learn more about Rutgers COVID protocol please visit the following website: https://coronavirus.rutgers.edu/.  

ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES (SAS) HONORS PROGRAM 

The Rutgers–New Brunswick SAS Honors Program serves students in the School of Arts and Sciences and Rutgers Business School. We encourage creative, talented, and motivated students to take advantage of all that Rutgers has to offer, while fostering a strong sense of community and leadership among our Honors Scholars. We offer a variety of opportunities on each campus of Rutgers University–New Brunswick, and a wide range of cultural, social, and co-curricular activities. Learn more online at sashonors.rutgers.edu.