Express Newark is kicking off its annual theme on October 9 with RHYTHM CHANGES, a series of exhibitions and events. The theme embraces improvisation and the inevitable rhythm of change. The opening event, running from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on October 9, features a fireside chat. Faculty member and renowned jazz musician Stefon Harris will join Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Tonya Smith-Jackson for the discussion.
RHYTHM CHANGES celebrates joy in uncertainty. It also highlights the potential for unity in the rhythm of people’s hearts. Through art, design, digital storytelling, music, and performance, the series explores how rhythm helps communities move together through transitions and flux.
The new season significantly expands Express Newark’s reach. It includes new offerings in music, printmaking, and sculpture fabrication. The center will deepen its community educational programs. It will also present exhibitions in art, design, photography, film, and public art. The season features three Artists-in-Residence, an Organization-in-Residence, and artist-activated happenings.
Featured Exhibitions for the Opening:
Touching the Earth (Lobby): This omnibus features filmworks from Express Newark’s Community Media Center Members. Curated by Yvonne Shirley, the collection holds Newark’s parks as sacred spaces of liberation and healing. It takes its title from a bell hooks essay about loving the earth. On View: October 9 – November 26, 2025.
Reimagining and Uniting Newark’s Downtown Parks (Lobby): This collaboration between the Design Consortium (Rutgers Graphic Design students) and the Newark City Parks Foundation reimagines the Foundation’s visual identity. The resulting campaign demonstrates how design elevates public life. On View: Through July 23, 2026.
PURE JOY (3rd Floor, Paul Robeson Galleries): Curated by Adrienne Wheeler and Cheyenne Allegra Ceasar for Newark Arts, this inaugural group exhibition celebrates Newark Arts Festival 2025. It features over 70 visual artists exploring joy as a creative force and vehicle of community resilience. On View: October 9 – November 26, 2025.
Grounds of Memory: Self-Portraits in Senegal (3rd Floor, SHINE Portrait Studio): Artist Laylah Amatullah Barrayn presents self-portraits made in landscapes shaped by beauty, resistance, and memory. The work reflects on twenty-five years of the artist’s engagement with Senegal. On View: October 9 – November 26, 2025.
Extended Exhibitions:
Subtle Centers (3rd Floor, Box Gallery): This immersive installation by artists Dahlia Elsayed and Andrew Demirjian is extended through July 23, 2026. It meditates on the permeability between interiorities and exteriorities, inviting greater comprehension of the immaterial.
Sacred Rugs: Contemplation, Hope, Resilience (3rd Floor, Windows Gallery): This exhibition, extended through November 26, 2025, showcases new rugs designed by fourteen Rutgers students. Guided by Dahlia Elsayed, the students used the rug as a medium for contemporary meditation and resilience.
PHOTO CREDIT: Ayana V. Jackson, Image # 6, Mary Fields – One of the Freest Souls ever to draw a breath or a thirty-eight, 2023
