MEANINGFUL MURALISM:
FOUR CORNERS PUBLIC ARTS
NEWARK, NJ
by Rachel Fawn Alban

Since 2019 Four Corners Public Arts has transformed downtown Newark, New Jersey’s disused alleyways and spaces into an open-air gallery featuring twenty permanent art installations and offering a range of public programming.

The art installations include colorful murals by local artists and art collectives, vibrant displays of contemporary photography, and asphalt murals themed around social justice issues as painted by hundreds of local families and individuals. 

In an arts-centric city where public art is thriving, FCPA has created opportunities for artists to collaborate, gather, create, and strengthen neighborhood bonds. The result is meaningful public artwork that connects to the shared stories and values of the community. Some of the examples: Noelle Lorraine Williams’ intervention, To Be Seen features historical photographs of African American women made at photography studios that were located in Newark on Treat Place and on Springfield Avenue. Neighboring murals by Joel Lopez and Armisey Smith honor the lives and stories of Lenni-Lenape people and the indigenous plants used by the original inhabitants of New Jersey. Sacred Water by GERALUZ addresses the drinking water crisis and the necessary community care and collaboration that can emerge at such an urgent time. Latinx aunt and niece art duo CAZORLA + SALEME created their mural and sculptural installation Hope to commemorate our communities’ resilience and create a space for joy.

Will You Be My Monument created by writer Salamishah Tillet, photographer Scheherazade Tillet, and designer Chantal Fischzang addresses issues of representation and visibility of Black girls. The four story installation includes a large-scale photograph of a young girl who was celebrating her eighth birthday on the night of the removal of the Columbus statue in Washington Park, now renamed Harriet Tubman Square. Acrylic mirrored elements reflect the diversity and vibrancy of Newark.

Now, in its fourth year, more public works have been added to the FCPA collection, including a mural by Amanda Thackray and Wendell Jeffrey about coastal climate risk and a community-painted asphalt PRIDE mural, Sound the Rainbow! Artist Eirini Linardaki restored and expanded her 2019 artwork Waves / Passaic (Immigration and History). Sankofa (“go back and get it”), a 4,000 sq. ft. mural was created by Ghanaian artist Mohammad “Moh” Awudu as part of Newark’s Sister Cites program.

To commemorate this exciting moment, four artists reflect on their experiences with this unique public arts program. 

“One thing about the Newark arts scene is that there’s an authenticity in people’s artwork. From mural to mural, from piece to piece, each one is so distinctive,” says Linda Gartrell Street of Pink Dragon Artist Syndicate, a local arts consulting agency. “One doesn’t necessarily look like the others. Styles and subject matter are so different from one to the other. Treat Place has become an embodiment of that uniqueness. This mural program allows artists to stretch and expand and see their work in different ways.”

Street represents and manages the archives of Jerry Gant, the renowned Newark artist who died in November 2018. A prolific multimedia artist and educator, Gant used a tremendous variety of materials and methods: spray painted tags and stencils on the street (“his self-commissioned pieces,” Street says fondly), printed textiles and clothing, assemblages made of broken objects, small-scale wire sculptures, and sculptures made of laser-cut metal. 

For FCPA, Street was deeply involved in organizing and developing The Gantalism Dedication, a mural honoring the beloved artist, designed and painted by Newark-native Manuel Acevedo, an interdisciplinary artist and former collaborator of Gant’s. “I was moved by Manuel being the artist to create this because he and Jerry had so much history - personally and creatively. They were art brothers.” 

Created in November 2019, exactly one year after Gant’s death, The Gantalism Dedication centers the artist’s iconic motto, “Detox the Ghetto,” and features images and symbols sourced from his own art journals and original stencils. “This manifestation of his work is special. It was heavy, deep work to go through his art and things. It gives this mural a different kind of significance for me,” says Street. “I see so many people taking selfies and impromptu photo shoots there! It speaks to the relevance of Jerry’s work, even after his death. People are using the murals as a background for performances and things like that. It’s a fitting way of honoring his legacy in the community.” Street noted that Source of Knowledge, a bookstore adjacent to the mural site, had recently reoriented its main entrance from Broad Street to face Treat Place. “Before the murals, that never would have happened! Let’s just say that Treat was not a place where you would ever want to walk… Now there is foot traffic and customers. It shows the sheer power and attraction of art to enrich businesses. This is the economic aspect that comes out of public art. That’s powerful, you know. It’s a whole transformation in the city that’s occurring around the art.” She continued, “Jerry had always been a supporter of “Source of Knowledge” over the years. This would have made him very happy.” 

Jamaican-born Shoshanna Weinberger has been living and working in Newark since 2006. Weinberger says, “There’s a lovely cultural diversity here and complexity, and the art movement here is very giving. I think Newark is a giving city. I think especially with the past two mayors, the idea of arts being culturally important to our city and who’s making that art is important.” Weinberger continued, “Another reason why Newark is so appealing to me is how many women-run and LGBTQIA-run businesses, artists incubators, and organizations are here. We are forming this community and supporting each other. ”  

An accomplished studio artist, ceramicist, and printmaker, Weinberger’s FCPA mural Rising Up was her first public art piece and her first painted mural. The artist thought carefully about the messages her work would take on in the public space. “I’ve always thought of myself as a visual anthropologist going through an archaeological dig, sort of picking out the areas of the body that are objectified and portrayed through the male gaze. Thick thighs, high heels, butts, breasts, lips, hair. I had to consider how this imagery would read as public art and think about how some of my imagery could be misinterpreted,” she explained. “Public art shouldn’t be just about artists going big. We must think about the people that live there, people that work there.”

At the mural’s base are four large, stacked squares representing building blocks or earth. Each square is painted in either a horizontal or vertical striped pattern with a specific number of stripes for representing measured time and history: 24 hours; 7 days, 12 months, 13 lunar months and 13 original colonies. “I use stripes throughout my work. For me, stripes are a codifier for skin -- because I’ve been called a zebra growing up. But then also they allude to flags, borders, fences. Stripes are on everything we buy as barcodes,” Weinberger explains. At the top of the mural, like a crown, are braided coils of hair representing our collective consciousness growing from the blocks of time and history.

Most of the FCPA artists live, work, or have deep ties to Newark. “We were Newark kids, born and raised here, with Latin American roots. My family is from El Salvador, and Andre’s is from Ecuador,” says artist Robert Ramone, of the art duo known as Rorshach Collective. “It was nice to be a part of this project in our own city and represent for our culture.” 

Their mural Radiance represents and celebrates generations of unacknowledged women of color. “We tried to hit a home run for people in the city and beautify the neighborhood. We wanted people to understand that we’re serious artists, we’re here to stay, and we’re here to represent our city.” 

Since 2019, when they painted Radiance, Rorshach has become known for their signature style: a blend of figurative realism and abstract expressionist graffiti in bold color combinations such as fuchsia, orange, and turquoise.

“FCPA was a good stepping stone for us, not only because of the pay, but the relationships that were built and opportunities it led to,” says Ramone. “Curators reached out to us because they saw Radiance and loved it. That was our third mural, and it opened the door for us to paint on bigger scale projects.” 

Some of these projects include international mural festivals in Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Miami, inclusion in a group exhibition at the Morris Museum, commissions throughout New Jersey and New York City, and a quarter-mile-long mural along Raymond Blvd. in Newark. Reflecting on what set FCPA apart from some of the other projects they have worked on, Ramone said, “FCPA is an artist-led project– this is artists working with artists. Everyone on this team is very capable and jumps in to help. Like, you’ve got two assistants that are willing to get on the lift and paint with you or help move your lift if you need a hand. It makes the project move so much smoother. The logistics of it were kind of perfect; they all did a really good job. Hopefully, they get more funding, and we get more opportunities to work together.”

Magnitude and Bond, a ten stories high collaborative mural by a Womb of Violet Collective, Layqa Nuna Yawar and Kelley Prevard honors the legacy of two deceased, beloved Newark artists: Gladys Barker Grauer and Breya Knight. A member of Womb of Violet Collective, Kween Moore’s photographs were used as source material for the mural.

As a Newark-based multimedia artist, poet, and educator, Kween Moore describes a powerful connection to the mural. “When I first saw it on the building in 2020, I was eight months pregnant, standing in the middle of Halsey Street… I’m looking for the first time, and I’m seeing my best friend Breya Knight, and I’m seeing my own photography work, and I’m seeing Mrs. Grauer. Now, whenever I do get stuck, or whenever I do lose my way, I climb the stairs to the roof at Project for Empty Space - where I can gaze at the mural and talk to some of the most influential people I have known in my life.” 

In addition to her contributions to Magnitude and Bond, Moore was also involved in many of the public programs organized by FCPA. She helped lead the community asphalt mural painting on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard proclaiming “ABOLISH WHITE SUPREMACY” and “ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER” on Halsey St. Moore also facilitated painting for Resist COVID/ Take 6!19, an artist-driven public awareness campaign by internationally renowned artist Carrie Mae Weems.

“When I think about Four Corners, I visualize it as four pillars that are upholding a community,” says Moore. “FCPA has created opportunities for artists to become professionals, to learn how to work in business, to learn how to advocate for themselves, to create work that represents themselves culturally and demographically. That’s the type of connectivity and collective that I need to be a part of -- or I’m playing myself.” She described a sense of spiritual connection and meaning from these experiences: “I have been involved in countless projects and programs with Four Corners that have seemingly been connected to my life work. My son is at every event almost with me while I’m working. When I look over at him enjoying himself there, it’s the same way I looked over at my parents when they were building houses and just trying to make a way. Creative practices- photography, poetry, writing, dance, filmmaking, building, painting- were passed down to me by my family way before I even trained and went to school for some of these things. Now, my son is watching me just like I watched my parents. I want him to gain the spark and that innate drive for whatever he does. So, believing in what I do and believing what I create is the most important thing.”