Public MURAL, 2020 - 2021
Edison PL, Newark, NJ
This mural is a dedication to the artists of Newark and their work. It also aims to create a point of access for people interested in learning about the city’s rich artistic history and broad circles of talented artists, of which the project only begins to scratch the surface. As Newark accurately promotes itself as an arts forward city, this project centers the artists, their work, and their stories within that narrative.
Inspired by place, labor, history, and art, this mural (title tbd post - installation) is part of the Four Corners Public Arts partnership, Phase II.
“This phase of the program sought proposals that directly address community building through public art. Each project includes thoughtful and intentional collaboration, engages various audiences, and brings to life narratives that are constructed through open community dialogue. “We are living in a time that demands that public art represents the diversity and dynamism of the communities in which it is made,” says Salamishah Tillet, Director of New Arts Justice. “To meet this moment, Newark artists are collaborating on murals and monuments that reflect who we are and by doing so, are reimagining the vibrant possibilities of who we, as a city and nation, can be.”
FCPA is organized and curated by Rebecca Pauline Jampol, co-director of Project for Empty Space. Projects and accompanying programs will take place in Newark’s Four Corners Historic District and surrounding areas.” - FCPA
Phase II Murals:
Will You Be My Monument by Salamishah Tillet of New Arts Justice at Rutgers University - Newark, designer Chantal Fischzang, and photographer Scheherazade Tillet.
We Are Home, led by Yeimy Gamez Castillo, is a collaboration with the ImVisible project and artist Layqa Nuna Yawar.
FEATURED NAPDP ARTISTS:
João (Juno) Zago
João (Juno) Zago is a queer visual artist working in Newark, NJ. Born in Brazil, Zago came to the US in 2005 and he’s lived in and around Newark since. He obtained his BA in Visual Art from Ramapo College of New Jersey.
He is an artist in residence at Gallery Aferro in Newark, NJ from 2017-present. Before that he curated for Newark Open Doors: Citywide Arts Festival, worked as a gallery assistant at Aljira, a Center for Contemporary, and also worked as artist assistant to Dread Scott in Brooklyn, NY. He’s exhibited at Gallery Aferro, Index Art Center, and Akwaaba Gallery, all in Newark, NJ, as well as Catalyst Gallery in Beacon, NY. He's one of 45 recipients of the 2020 Newark Accelerator Grant.
Zago is also a gallery registrar and collections manager, artist assistant, and has moderated and participated in review panels for the Scholastic Art Awards. He was also glad to be able maintain his ongoing, however impacted, art practice throughout 2020.
paulA neves
paulA neves, a first-generation Luso-American writer, multimedia artist, educator, collaborator, and Newark, NJ native, is the author of the poetry chapbook, capricornucopia: the dream of the goats (Finishing Line Press 2018), the co-author (with Nick Kline) of the poetry/photography collection Shirts & Skins (Shine Portrait Studio Press 2017), and an editor at Red Fez Journal.
Other writing has appeared/is forthcoming in Divine Feminist Anthology, Moving Words, Platform Review, Journal of NJPoets, Newest Americans, City Brink, The Acentos Review, The Abuela Stories Project, Queen Mob’s Teahouse, Writers of the Portuguese Diaspora, and elsewhere.
paulA is the co-founder of Parkway North Productions and produced (with Boris Tsessarsky) the short film Every Alien Pen, a selection at the 2019 NYC Independent Film Festival, and the documentary The Remedy (2021), which profiles two NJ musicians and their creative communities.
As a visual artist, paulA’s work has appeared/is forthcoming in exhibits at Black Box Gallery, The Newark Museum, ArtFront Gallery, Gallery at 14 Maple, Index Art Center and the West Orange Arts Council. A graduate of Rutgers Newark’s MFA in Creative Writing Program, paulA has received various honors, including the 2020 NJ Poets Prize from the Journal of NJ Poets, andfellowships from NYFA, CantoMundo, the Sundress Academy for the Arts, and the Disquiet International Literary Program. paulA's work often focuses on themes of working class identity, family, (dis)placement, eco-justice, genderhood, spirituality, and the immigrant experience. For more information visit paulaneves.net or follow on Instagram at @itinerantmuse and @parkwaynorthproductions.
Noelle Lorraine Williams
Noelle Lorraine Williams lives and works in Newark, NJ. She is a graduate of the New School for Social Research and Rutgers University Newark. As a public humanities specialist, artist, researcher and curator, her work examines the ways African Americans utilize culture to re-imagine liberation in the United States.
She has exhibited and lectured at the Newark Museum, The African American Museum in Philadelphia, Jersey City Museum, Skylight Gallery in Brooklyn and Cue Art in Manhattan. Her work as an artist and curator has been reviewed in the Star-Ledger as a part of their profile on “The Newark School”, New York Times, ArtNews, and other publications.
Last year, the exhibition she curated at The Newark Public Library “Radical Women” was the recipient of the Giles R. Wright Award for contributions to African American History in NJ. She recently received the Creative Catalyst Grant from the City of Newark administered by Newark Arts. She is also a recipient of the 2021 Individual Artist Fellowship Award for Crafts from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She currently continues to make art, curate, teach and write about history, African American women’s lives and liberated communities in the United States.
“As a public humanities professional, I am a multimedia artist, researcher and curator. I use the visual realm to engage audiences in conversations about history and social justice.
Specifically, I activate women's craft, photography/video, and expressive culture to communicate stories of African American movements and rebellion. I present Black women's stories to illuminate what it means to be American today.
My work is public facing whether it is an exhibit in a gallery, museum or exhibition space or online it promotes conversations about our shared history.
My life's work is where history, spirituality, culture, and rebellion meet at the crossroads. Both of the meditations that are included in this collection are from my current multimedia virtual exhibition “Black Power! 19th Century: Newark’s First African American Rebellion” please visit it at: www.blackpower19thcentury.com”
Bisa Washington
Bisa Washington is a sculptor, printmaker, and writer. Issues in her work focus around her heritage and identity as an African American woman. She was a Geraldine R. Dodge Resident and Women’s Studio Workshop alumna. There she created a suite of handmade paper and mixed media prints inspired by the secrets kept by the women in her family for generations, resulting in the artist’s book, Promise Not to Tell (2007). She lives and works in Newark, NJ.
Nell Painter
Nell Painter lives and works in Newark making art that is manual + digital. She earned a BFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, both in painting. Her art is in public collections that include the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Smith College Museum of Art, the Newark Museum, and the Minneapolis Institute of Contemporary Art. Her published works include books of history and memoir and columns in The New York Times, The New Yorker, the Washington Post, and the Paris Review.
“I'm delighted to be part of the Newark Artists Photo Documentary Project, a unique and most valuable index of Newark art and artists. Newark's place in the art world(s) becomes increasingly significant as we claim our place in art history.”
Cesar Melgar
Cesar Melgar was born in Newark, NJ and raised in the Ironbound section, a working class neighborhood. This upbringing as a child of first generation immigrants from Colombia and Peru influences his eye as he turns his lens onto his community that has faced environmental injustice, disinvestment, and now the force of gentrification. His photos capture the poetic nuances of daily life in a city that is often misunderstood by New Jersey’s suburbs and beyond, and especially the media.
In 2015, Cesar Melgar was introduced to the world via an interview by the Design Observer, a prestigious magazine devoted to a range of design topics such as urbanism and social innovation. Cesar has exhibited his work in most of the major galleries and institutions in Newark, New Jersey. He is a contributing photographer for the International Society of Biourbanism based in Rome, Italy. His photographs are showcased in his debut photo book, Street Views, designed by John Foster in 2018.
As of 2019, he completed his first residency in Artena, Italy, immersing himself in the community and making images of its people. In 2020, he self published a zine containing photos he made of Newark during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic which was included in a New York Times article featuring Newark’s creative community. He was a Scholastic Awards National Art Juror in New York City which highlights the work of talented young photographers. Cesar has also been a guest speaker for multiple colleges. His work is in the collection of Throckmorton Fine Art, New York City, one of the foremost sources for important Latin American Contemporary and Vintage Photography
www.cesarmelgarphotography.com
“Colleen has created a powerful snapshot of Newark's creative community during a very crucial and pivotal time. I took her to a location which no longer looks the same due to renewed corporate interests. This is exactly why her selfless work is important, it preserves a crucial transitional period in Newark's history. Colleen saw the vibrancy in our community a long time before the businesses and the media did.”