Newark, NJ (Monday, June 28th) Four Corners Public Arts and Urban Agriculture Cooperative is thrilled to announce the second iteration of Murals | Market | Music on Saturday, July 10th from 10 am - 5 pm at Treat Place in Newark.
With the support of Mayor Ras J. Baraka, the City of Newark’s Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and Central Ward Councilwoman LaMonica McIver, this immersive market space was developed to create a space for commerce, boosting the visibility of nearby businesses, elevating and empowering local creative initiatives, and bringing residents and returning commuters together to celebrate and activate downtown Newark.
The partnering organizations, artists, and participating vendors all create with the community in mind. From food justice to urban farming, to social justice-focused arts organizations and musicians, this cohort of collaborators seeks to bring a program that is driven by intention and service.
Each event features a partnership with a local arts organization. On Saturday, July 10th ImVisible Newark will present We Are Home. ImVisible Newark is a collective developed to empower the undocumented and immigrant community in Newark through multimedia storytelling and advocacy. It was founded in 2018 as a peer-led initiative between Rutgers University Scholars, faculty, and community-based artists. ImVisible Newark creates safe spaces to explore and heal immigrant narratives through art and open dialogue. We Are Home is an intervention that is the culmination of a year of open community dialogue, the development of a free poster series, and intensive planning for a mural that will be completed in July of 2021. “This intervention demands a safe space to celebrate the culture, arts, and creativity of the intersectional immigrant communities of Newark. Join us in loudly saying WE ARE HOME!” - ImVisible co-founders and local artists Yeimy Gamez Castillo and Layqa Nuna Yawar.
“Being ‘A Fair and Welcoming City’ is an intrinsic part of our history,” said Mayor Baraka. “The City of Newark embraces our immigrant and undocumented communities and the Murals | Market | Music cultural event highlights our diversity as a source of strength. I encourage residents and visitors to come out and enjoy this event, and celebrate being back together again.”
The day will present a robust schedule of events and activities. Artists Adina Farinango, Amrisa Niranjan, Diana Candelejo, and Sally Helmi, who worked in collaboration with designer Nadya Andrianova, will preview posters that will be distributed directly to Newark’s immigrant communities. These artworks emphasize immigrant visibility and resilience, as well as highlight local resources for the migrant and undocumented communities.
The Newark StoryBus will join us for its inaugural outing. Created by Newest Americans, in collaboration with Talking Eyes Media, it will collect portraits and voices of local residents who reveal Newark as a global city. Covered in the vibrant designs of artists Gera Luz and Werc, the bus celebrates our diverse cultural heritage. Visitors can step onboard, have their portraits made, record their stories, and leave with a photographic print.
Alongside these activations, various essential resources and information will be made available. The City of Newark will provide a vaccination station for any residents who seek to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccination or for those who would like to receive a free vaccine onsite.
The marketplace, organized by Urban Agriculture Cooperative, will feature fresh vegetables, fruits, bread, and honey from Newark and New Jersey-based farms. Ironbound Community Corporation’s Down Bottom Farms will join with their Housing Justice team, and Rabbit Hole Farm, an herb and tea-blend purveyor with a vibrant community garden in Newark’s South Ward, will hold an early morning yoga session. Alongside the market, a mutual aid initiative will launch, called Support a Family and a Farmer. This will give visitors the opportunity to extend fresh, locally-grown, healthy food to Newark families-in-need for just $15 a household. “Newark has productive, community-owned farms right within city limits. We are so excited to help share their bounty. These local efforts build our sovereignty and resilience! There's so much more work to be done. Murals | Market | Music gives us a chance to celebrate and honor the work that is happening right now.” - Urban Agriculture Cooperative Co-founder, Jamie Bruno.
Visitors to the market will enjoy a late morning Zumba Workshop hosted by Susan Ramirez. A plethora of artist-made objects and goods will be for sale. Newcomers to the market include artworks by Patricia Patzi Rueda, Diana Candelejo, and Diegumberrto, totes, and handbags by Darlene Brown, fashion and design by The Love Dimension, and handmade basketry by Kelly Villalba, among others. Bilingual reading opportunities and author talks will be led by Source of Knowledge, the Newark Public Library, and Para Kids throughout the day. Para Kids will also host an arts and crafts table for children. Performances and poetry celebrating migration and diaspora will happen throughout the day by Audry Funk, Freewil, Janetza Miranda, Patricia Cortado, Umar Farooq, Cisco Fresco, YEIMY, a DJ set by Shell Spin, and more! Activities will be provided for all ages. A full schedule can be found at fourcornerspublicarts.org.
The July 10th program is made possible by The City of Newark’s Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Central Ward Councilwoman LaMonica McIver, The Four Corners Public Arts Partnership and Sponsors, Urban Agriculture Cooperative, ImVisible Newark, the Newest Americans and Talking Eyes Media, Newark Arts, and the Love Your Block Grant.
About Urban Agriculture Cooperative: Urban Agriculture Cooperative is a Newark-based nonprofit with a mission to heal the local food system through building justice, health, and access. They run The Cooperative Market, an online pre-order and pick-up farmer’s market that aggregates several Newark and New Jersey-based farm products. The Cooperative Market achieves food sovereignty and economic development by prioritizing products supplied by small lot urban growers, historically under-represented and women-owned farm businesses, and family farms with a demonstrated commitment to urban food access. In addition to operating farmer’s markets, Urban Agriculture Cooperative coordinates farm builds, administers a community training reimbursement fund to support growers and food entrepreneurs, and engages in community composting initiatives. Their efforts work towards establishing an inclusive, sustainable, connected, and caring food economy where everyone can come to the table to have wholesome food to cook and eat.
About ImVisible Newark: ImVisible is an art and education-based project that creates healing spaces to center, celebrate, and amplify undocumented and immigrant narratives. ImVisible was founded in 2018, by Yeimy Gamez Castillo, Dr. Jennifer Bucalo, and Layqa Nuna Yawar as a peer initiative supported by Rutgers' alumni, local artists, and community members. ImVisible functions as a public platform for migrant voices in the city of Newark. We address intersectional psycho-social issues utilizing art education and advocacy within our holistic framework. Our purpose is to be conduits for social change and to reclaim our im/migrant narratives from harmful stereotypes as we empower one another. ImVisible projects and events are opportunities for anyone that identifies as an immigrant, a child of immigrants, or an ally to participate in civic engagement, educational programming, and creative disruption that elevates our voices.
About Four Corners Public Arts:
Four Corners Public Arts was initiated in 2019 through a public/private partnership convened to support public arts initiatives in Newark’s Fours Corners Historic District. The partnership includes The City of Newark, Invest Newark, Newark Arts, Newark Downtown District, Paramount Assets and RBH Group.
The partnership evolved out of a common interest to give care to under-acknowledged areas of the City through the arts, with the goal of cultivating creative communal space for everyone. At a time when Newark is undergoing a marked transformation, the partnership believes it is imperative to create opportunities that strengthen the local creative community.
The inaugural effort focused on Treat Place and Beaver Street in the Central Ward of Newark, New Jersey. The first phase of the initiative erected 14 murals, executed by over 100 artists, organizations, and volunteers. Phase II is presently expanding on this work, continuing to improve these spaces for the benefit of all.
About Urban Agriculture Cooperative:
Urban Agriculture Cooperative is a Newark-based nonprofit with a mission to heal the local food system through building justice, health, and access. They run The Cooperative Market, an online pre-order and pick-up farmer’s market that aggregates several Newark and New Jersey-based farm products. The Cooperative Market achieves food sovereignty and economic development by prioritizing products supplied by small lot urban growers, historically under-represented and women-owned farm businesses, and family farms with a demonstrated commitment to urban food access. In addition to operating farmer’s markets, Urban Agriculture Cooperative coordinates farm builds, administers a community training reimbursement fund to support growers and food entrepreneurs, and engages in community composting initiatives. Their efforts work towards establishing an inclusive, sustainable, connected, and caring food economy where everyone can come to the table to have wholesome food to cook and eat.
About New Arts Justice at Express Newark:
New Arts Justice is a studio at Express Newark that is committed to feminist approaches to socially engaged art in Newark and beyond. Founded in 2018 at Rutgers University, Newark by faculty member Salamishah Tillet, New Arts Justice supports the vision of historically underserved artists as well as curates community-based exhibitions, film festivals, and public art installations that explore the themes of racial justice, gender equity, and site-specific art-making. Salamishah Tillet is the Henry Rutgers Professor of African American and African Studies and Creative Writing at Rutgers University-Newark and a Contributing Critic-at-Large at The New York Times. She is the author of “Sites of Slavery: Citizenship and Racial Democracy in the Post-Civil Rights Imagination” and “In Search of The Color Purple: The Story of An American Masterpiece.” Alliyah Allen is the assistant curator and project manager at New Arts Justice, an art critic, and the founding member of the Land Collective, a community of artists and curators in Newark.
About Chantal Fischzang:
Chantal Fischzang is a designer and educator based in NY/NJ. Her research and practice serve a range of multidisciplinary projects focused on design for social impact and her capabilities range from brand identity, print, publication, exhibition to interactive design. Along with her role as Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Rutgers University-Newark, Chantal is a founding member of IntraCollaborative, a team of designers and educators sharing a deep-seated interest in design and its relevance to the social sector. Integrating publicly engaged practice and design education, Chantal is the co-director of both Visual Means and The Design Consortium, two academic programs that model a design-studio working experience in which faculty, students, researchers, and community partners engage in a collaborative design process to create impact in the city of Newark.
About Scheherazade Tillet:
Scheherazade Tillet is an African American and Trinidadian photographer, art therapist, and community organizer. As a photographer, Scheherazade uses site-specific work to explore the themes of black girl subjectivity, social invisibility, and play. In 2019, she became an artist-in-residence at Shine Portrait Studio and New Arts Justice at Express Newark and currently is working on a series on Black Girlhood. In 2003, she founded A Long Walk Home (ALWH), an art organization that empowers young people to end racial and gender-based violence and centers the experiences and leadership of Black women and girls. In 2022, she will have a solo show at Project for Empty Space and curate a group show on black girlhood in Express Newark as part of the Black Portraiture conference on Play and Performance in African Diasporic communities. Her work has been featured in Elle Decor, Gagosian Journal, The Guardian, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
About the Form Design Studio at Express Newark:
Founded by Rutgers University, Newark’s faculty member Keary Rosen in 2017 at Form Design Studio (FDS) is a studio at Express Newark that captures the vision of designers, educators, researchers, manufacturers, amateur inventors, and the overall curious through the use of 3D modeling, scanning, and printing technology. Recognizing the extreme expense and high costs required to bring these ideas to life is often an obstacle to institutions and community residents alike, FDS works to create access to technology that allows for university-community expression through collaboration. Within FDS is Form Design Lab—a secondary classroom and workspace that houses digital fabrication machines, production materials, and specialized tools. The lab boasts state-of-the-art 3D printers, a laser etching machine, and digital scanners available for use year-round.