Yendor Productions, Rutgers University, and the City of Newark, in coordination with a host of other community partners are hosting the My Brother, My Friend: Unity and Love Block Party. The block party will unveil a new mural that will celebrate the strength and resilience of young men of color as part of the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative started by President Barack Obama and accepted by Mayor Ras Baraka. The festivities begin on May 11, 2016 at 4:00 PM and will include food, art and music on the lawns of 239 Hawthorne Avenue, Newark, NJ 07102 in Newark’s old South Ward. This event is FREE and open to all the public.
Yendor Productions/Yendor Arts will also introduce their first of many re-purposed lots as part of the Abandoned Lots Art Project.
The Abandoned Lot Arts Project is a multifaceted neighborhood development initiative that partners with the city’s administration, corporations, residents, fire and police companies and other entities with a vested interest to bring about targeted neighborhood revitalization. Through this compound partnership invasive plants can be removed and the area revived with native plants and maintained using sustainable practices. It is the creation of green spaces in an urban setting through Art.
What is so exciting about Abandoned Lots Art Project is the grassroots aspect; neighbors and communities coming together to bring beauty and ecosystem service benefits to these blighted areas. All these efforts, large and small, are making an exciting difference and positively impacting Newark’s urban blight. Productive, beautiful spaces are being created and, in the process, strong, sustainable neighborhoods are on the rise.
