NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—On Sunday, the New Brunswick Zimmerli Art Museum unveiled a brand new art exhibit in memory of Tyler Clementi.
The Clementi family was in attendance for the ceremony which featured a variety of speakers including James Clementi, Tyler’s older brother.
The new exhibit is centered on an original piece by Dale Chihuly, who specializes in blown glass.
James Lecesne, the founder of the Trevor Project, the organization responsible for the donation of the piece, spoke “[The Trevor Project] is a way for one generation to reach back to a younger generation and help them in their path to self-discovery.”
The Trevor Project focuses on helping lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth.
Rutgers students and Alumni performed “The letter Q at R.U.” where they wrote letters to their younger selves encouraging hope for the future as well as reflecting on their identity struggle growing up LGBTQ.
Jeffrey Longhofer, Director of the Tyler Clementi Center spoke about the new art piece; he compared the glass making to the struggle of everyday life and humanity.
“Glass should be used to enhance our vision and prevent human censorship, not for destructive purposes. It is these uses of glass that we must shatter.”
He encouraged the art piece to be seen as a way of continual engagement, to focus on making the world a more accepting place for LGBTQ youth.
The Zimmerli Art Museum is open to the public and the exhibit can be seen during normal business hours. As we reported last month, admission is free for students and very affordable for others.
