Newark Museum of Art plans ambitious fall of events and exhibitions

NEWARK, NJ — This fall, the Newark Museum of Art will debut a series of new exhibitions and offer a robust schedule of events for museum members and visitors. The lineup includes an art installation by nationally recognized light artist and architect Phillip K. Smith III, an exhibition highlighting a series of new works and site-specific installations by celebrated New York artist Saya Woolfalk, a look at rare endangered animal species with “Endangered!” and the museum’s annual fall luncheon.

“It has been a busy summer for the Newark Museum of Art, as we presented our first ever ‘Arts in the Garden’ series, in partnership with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. This leads into a full fall schedule highlighting the work of some of the country’s most dynamic contemporary artists, our always popular fall luncheon and an innovative reimagining of our earth sciences galleries,” museum Director and CEO Linda C. Harrison said. “We are extremely proud that these initiatives will showcase the many different talents on our staff when it comes to enhancing the visitor experience and exposing them to new and unique perspectives on the art world.”

On Oct. 9, the museum unveiled a long-term installation by Smith. The piece will illuminate the museum’s iconic Beaux-Arts facade of the main building, and will serve as a beacon for the Washington Park neighborhood and Broad Street corridor. The museum aims to bring renewed vibrancy to the downtown arts district with Smith’s unique, eye-catching installation, which will brighten the streets nightly from afar.

Smith is recognized for his large-scale installations that live at the intersection of architecture and light. Responding to the geometries of the museum’s historic architecture, the piece, “Three Half Lozenges,” activates the facade with a slowly changing program of LED lights that emerge over time beginning at dusk. 

As an artist in residence at the museum since 2019, Woolfalk has immersed herself in the museum’s American art and natural science collections. She spent extended time on-site, studying the museum’s historical landscape paintings and medicinal plant specimens in the collection. Considering issues of representation and her own relationship to the American landscape, Woolfalk has created a bold new body of work that will premiere this fall, including two related exhibitions — “Field Notes from the Empathic Universe” and “Tumbling Into Landscape” — that will remain on view for more than 14 months. A publication documenting the exhibitions and related programming will be published by the museum in June 2022. 

On Nov. 9, the museum will host its annual fall fundraising luncheon to celebrate 112 years of the Newark Museum of Art. This year’s theme, “Artist as Global Citizen,” celebrates the diverse audience and global network the museum has collaborated with in its history. The 75-minute virtual program will feature an in-depth conversation with four leading contemporary artists: Marela Zacarias, Victoria-Indongesit Udondian, Nadia Liz Estela and Kenseth Armstead. The museum’s curator of American art, Tricia Laughlin Bloom, and Deborah Willis, chairperson of Tisch School of the Arts’ Department of Photography and Imaging and the director of NYU’s Center for Black Visual Culture, will moderate.

“Endangered!” will run from Nov. 12 to April 24, 2022, and looks at the threats animals face in this ever-changing world. This exhibition explores the stories behind some extinct, threatened and lower risk species, as well as how human behaviors affect animals and their habitats. Through the guided study of works of art depicting animals and specimens from the museum’s science collection, visitors will learn what it means to be an endangered species, some of the factors that have led to the extinction of animal groups and what people can do to help reverse or slow the process. “Endangered!” also includes “Lost World: The Audubon Immersive Experience.” This digital recreation focuses on three areas and the currently endangered and extinct species that once called them home. 

Admission to the museum is charged. Tickets must be reserved online. Information can be found at newarkmuseumart.org.

  Newark Museum of Art