Newark Arts has announced that the Four Corners Public Arts inaugural phase will commence in Downtown Newark in just under two weeks! The coalition is pleased to announce the contributing artists and organizations: A Womb of Violet (fayemi shakur, Dr. Antoinette Ellis-Williams, Bimpé Fageyinbo, Margie Johnson, Jennifer Mack-Watkins, Jasmine Mans, K Desireé Milwood, Sheikia Norris, and Jillian Rock) in collaboration with Layqa Nuna Yawar (Newark, NJ) and Kelley Prevard (Atlantic City, NJ), Armisey Smith (Newark, NJ), Barat Foundation (Newark, NJ) with featured artist Sue Daly (Atlantic City, NJ), Daniella Puliti (Newark, NJ), Eirini Linardaki (Crete, Paris, and Newark, NJ) in collaboration with Discovery Charter School (Newark, NJ), GERALUZ (Newark, NJ/ New York, NY), HIMED (Mexico), Jo-El Lopez (Newark, NJ), Manuel Acevedo(Newark, NJ/Bronx, NY) in collaboration with the Jerry J. Gant Estate/Pink Dragon Artist Syndicate (East Orange, NJ), Nancy Saleme and Patricia Cazorla (Newark, NJ/New York, NY), Noelle Lorraine Williams (Newark, NJ), and the Rorshach Art Collective (Newark, NJ). This first cohort will execute facade and surface murals on and surrounding Treat Place and Beaver Street in the late Fall of 2019, and Spring of 2020. The first phase was curated by Rebecca Pauline Jampol, co-director of Project for Empty Space and visiting professor at Rutgers University-Newark.
Participating artists are responding to site-specific historic themes. They are retelling stories with intention and integrity, and bringing to the forefront under-acknowledged moments and leaders of our communities. “This is an opportunity to share stories from voices embedded in Newark, to capture them and create permanent space for them. It is so important that public art is used not just as a catalyst in developing cities, but as a tool for representation,” says Jampol. Many of the themes featured in this phase speak to ideas of representation. They are centered around legacy, visibility, and agency.
“I think there is a power in seeing people from the past. We feel their imprint in our everyday lives, in our culture, our language, and community but rarely do we see their faces. In older American cities like Newark, people of African descent are rarely depicted in the 19th century,” says Noelle Lorraine Williams, a local historian and contributing artist, whose mural will speak to Newark’s connection to film and photography, highlighting Black women who were photographed in studios near the mural site. “It is significant that Black women were able to engage this culture, visiting photographers like J.H. Smith and J. Renee Smith, and were photographed with dignity, beauty and strength. This transforms the way we think about African Americans, Newark and history.”
Other contributors pay homage to and highlight the indigenous peoples of Newark; ideas and narratives about migration; freedom and future of Brown and Black families; leaders and builders of the local art scene; and Newark’s legacy of community strength during moments of crisis.
The multi-phase project is driven by the Four Corners Public Arts public-private partnership between real estate developer RBH Group and real estate investment firm Paramount Assets, along with the City of Newark via Invest Newark (formally NCEDC), the Newark Downtown District (NDD) and Newark Arts.
The program is made possible by a generous sponsorship from The Sherwin Williams Company. The Sherwin Williams Company prioritizes initiatives such as this and has dedicated themselves to the Newark community, fueling initiatives such as the 2016 Gateways to Newark mural project. They have donated over 175 gallons of paint to the first phase, as well as product and support. Additional sponsors include Wilber’s Painting(Maplewood, NJ), Jerry’s Artist Outlet (West Orange, NJ), Hanini Group(Newark, NJ) and many local restaurants and organizations that have pledged meals and support for the artists at work.
For more information, visit www.fourcornerspublicarts.org
