Project For Empty Space

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Project For Empty Space Project For Empty Space is creates socially engaging, multidisciplinary art exhibitions and programming that encourage social discourse and systemic change

👏 Thank you to everyone who joined us this past Sunday for our annual Fall OPEN STUDIOS! 👏 For one day only, our norma...
10/15/2026

👏 Thank you to everyone who joined us this past Sunday for our annual Fall OPEN STUDIOS! 👏 For one day only, our normally private artist studios opened to the public, allowing guests to explore 50+ studios and creative spaces across four floors while enjoying brunch and cocktails. 🥐🍸🍾

Scroll ➡️ for some highlights!

Alongside OPEN STUDIOS, Artists In Residence Noelle Lorraine Williams (Noelle Lorraine Williams) and Lina Puerta (Lina Puerta) led exhibition tours.

✨ At 800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Boulevard, Noelle Lorraine Williams’ “Black Revolutionary Women” highlights Black women’s resistance, survival, and freedom-making across the Americas, reframing dominant narratives of the American Revolution.

✨ At 110 Edison Place, Lina Puerta’s “La Sierpe” centers the serpent as an ancient symbol of cyclical time, transformation, and collective renewal. The immersive exhibition explores ancestral knowledge, ecological balance, and collective care.

🎨 Finally, our lower level hosted a Community Quilting Mural Workshop led by Bisa Butler (Bisa Butler)! The City of Newark Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs (City of Newark, NJ - City Hall) has commissioned renowned Newark artist Bisa Butler to create her inaugural large-scale mural, which will be installed in downtown Newark. During OPEN STUDIOS, community members were invited to see the mural in progress, learn about Bisa’s creative process, and help develop it.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on this rainy day! ☔️

📸 Images by Carlos Hernandez (Carlos Hernandez).

Project for Empty Space is proud to announce the brilliant and visionary Co-Chairs of the 2026 Badass Art Woman Awards: ...
10/15/2026

Project for Empty Space is proud to announce the brilliant and visionary Co-Chairs of the 2026 Badass Art Woman Awards: Mickalene Thomas (Mickalene Thomas) and George Wells (George Wells).

On November 17 in NYC, join them in celebrating Jean Cooney (Jean Cooney), Executive Director of Creative Time; Kristina Newman-Scott (Kristina Newman-Scott), Vice President of Arts at Knight Foundation; and Komal Shah (Komal Shah), Founder of Making Their Mark Foundation. These extraordinary honorees are badass women whose brilliance helps others find their way. Together, their leadership, advocacy, and vision illuminate paths for so many others. 💫

BAWA brings together more than 300 philanthropists, museum leaders, curators, collectors, art lovers, artists, cultural workers, and friends of the organization for an evening of celebration, exchange, and shared commitment to the artists and visionaries shaping more expansive futures. 🌟

➡️ Proceeds from the 2026 Badass Art Woman Awards help us support and sustain the 60+ critical exhibitions and public programs we organize each year—serving a community of over 250,000 direct audience members across four exhibition spaces, having exhibited more than 450 artists to date, running an arts residency building with more than 65 artists studios, and having awarded more than half a million dollars in grants and stipends to participating artists.

Can’t attend? You can still join our constellation by making a fully tax-deductible contribution in support of PES’s artists and year-round work. To explore sponsorship opportunities, alternative payment methods, or if you have any questions, please contact Lucia Roldan at [email protected]

Photography of Mickalene Thomas: © Regina Fleming
Permission has been given to use the above image one time and non-exclusively by Mickalene Thomas, LLC to Project for Empty Space for use in the BAWA Newsletter Feature.

This past weekend, current AIR Noelle Lorraine Williams (Noelle Lorraine Williams) hosted several spectacular events in ...
10/14/2026

This past weekend, current AIR Noelle Lorraine Williams (Noelle Lorraine Williams) hosted several spectacular events in her exhibition, “Black Revolutionary Women: 250 Years of a Colony Within a Colony.”

👏 On Saturday, “Community Sing Shout: Songs from the African Diaspora,” led by Goussy Célestin (Goussy Célestin), brought the community together for a free gathering rooted in Gullah/African ring shout, Haitian rara, and other traditions. Through rhythm, call-and-response, improvisation, and movement, participants explored collective strength, ancestral connection, and community healing.

👏 On Sunday, alongside PES’ Fall Open Studios, exhibition tours invited guests to explore “Black Revolutionary Women,” highlighting Black women’s resistance, survival, and freedom-making across the Americas. The exhibition reframes dominant narratives of the American Revolution as the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

✨ Good news! The exhibition has been extended through December 4, 2026. There’s still time to experience this powerful exhibition. Thank you to everyone who joined us this weekend!
📸 Exhibition tour photos by Carlos Hernandez (Carlos Hernandez).

➡️ Visit the exhibition Tuesday–Friday, 11 AM–6 PM, at 800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Blvd, Newark, NJ 07102. Plan your visit at projectforemptyspace.org/planyourvisit.

🌷🌿🌼 Thank you to everyone who joined us this past Saturday at Riverbank Park for “Community Care: A Mural Painting Works...
10/14/2026

🌷🌿🌼 Thank you to everyone who joined us this past Saturday at Riverbank Park for “Community Care: A Mural Painting Workshop” with Karena Bravo (KARENA©️💫) and Mike Maka (Mike Maka)! We loved seeing community members of all ages come together to paint and contribute to a new piece of public art for Newark’s Ironbound.

👏 A huge thank-you to Karena Bravo and Mike Maka for leading the afternoon, and to RWJBarnabas Health (RWJBarnabas Health), Saint James Health (Saint James Health - Newark’s #1 Healthcare Center), and Ironbound Community Corporation (Ironbound Community Corporation) for making this workshop possible.

🎨 The mural is taking shape at 604 Market St., alongside the development of a new clinic by RWJBarnabas Health and Saint James Health. Artwork created during the workshop will be incorporated into the final composition, including hand-painted plants and flowers with medicinal properties. This program was hosted as part of our citywide arts festival (Newark Arts Council).

➡️ Join PES Studios on Sunday, October 11, from 1–5 PM at📍800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Blvd., Newark, NJ, for our annual ...
10/09/2026

➡️ Join PES Studios on Sunday, October 11, from 1–5 PM at📍800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Blvd., Newark, NJ, for our annual FALL OPEN STUDIOS! Explore four floors of 50+ artist studios and community workshop spaces while enjoying a warm brunch and breakfast cocktails. RSVP via 🔗 link in bio!

Visit the studio of Floyd! Floyd | Studio 306 ✨

Jessica Floyd (b.1996, Jacksonville, FL) is a Newark-based artist. She received her BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art in 2020 and studied at Malmö art academy in 2017. Recently, Floyd received a 2026 Individual Artist Fellowship award from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Floyd has curated with Glassroots (2026), performed at Vox Populi (Philadelphia, PA; 2023), and exhibited with OUTPOST (Copenhagen, DK; 2022) and Thorvaldsens Museum (Copenhagen, DK; 2021). Floyd’s practice conjoins painting with sculpture, writing, and performance. Alongside her studio practice, Floyd is an organizer and advisor of exhibitions and public programming throughout New York and New Jersey. She has collaborated with nonprofit organizations such as Glassroots, The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, and Brooklyn Public Library.

Learn more about the artist at 📲 Floydk.com or in person on Oct. 11th!

🌟 PES STUDIOS, part of Project for Empty Space, is a nonprofit arts initiative creating safe and equitable spaces for social dialogue. We support socially engaged artists by amplifying narratives often erased, while holding space for reflection and imagining new futures.

This event is held in conjunction with the Newark Arts Festival ().

📸 Carlos Hernandez (Carlos Hernandez)

In 2024, we launched the Newark Grounds Cultural Corridor Newark Grounds with the City of Newark City of Newark, NJ - Ci...
10/08/2026

In 2024, we launched the Newark Grounds Cultural Corridor Newark Grounds with the City of Newark City of Newark, NJ - City Hall, Newark City Parks Foundation Newark City Parks Foundation, Inc., and many partners to bring public art and cultural programming beyond our walls and into the neighborhoods, streets, and parks of Downtown Newark. At the heart of this work is a simple idea: art is for everyone. ✨

Tomorrow, Friday, October 9, from 5:00–9:00 PM, we’re bringing Newark Grounds NIGHT FEST back to Mulberry Commons for its fourth edition, this year as part of the Newark Arts Festival. Newark Arts Council

RSVP via link in bio 🔗⬆️

Join us for an evening of community, food, music, and making. Throughout the night, local artists and arts organizations will lead free, hands-on creative activities for all ages. Drop in, try something new, experiment with different materials, and leave with something you made yourself. 🎃🎶🎨

A glimpse of what you’ll find:
* Air-Dry Clay
* Bead Mosaics
* Button Making
* Letterpress Printing
* Live Music
* Monotype Printing
* Mural Painting
* Postcard Design
* Pumpkin Decorating
* Stencil & Tote Design
* Textile Arts
* Zine Coloring
* & more!

While you’re there, don’t miss the opportunity to spend some time with Constellation Bench by Eirini Linardaki before the work comes down at the end of October.

Everyone is welcome. Come for the music, stay for the making, and leave with something of your own.

➡️ Join PES Studios on Sunday, October 11, from 1–5 PM at📍800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Blvd., Newark, NJ, for our annual ...
10/08/2026

➡️ Join PES Studios on Sunday, October 11, from 1–5 PM at📍800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Blvd., Newark, NJ, for our annual FALL OPEN STUDIOS! Explore four floors of 50+ artist studios and community workshop spaces while enjoying a warm brunch and breakfast cocktails. RSVP via 🔗 link in bio!

Visit the studio of Angela Pilgrim! Fruishun Press | Studio 316 ✨

Angela Pilgrim (b. New Jersey) lives and works in Newark, New Jersey. Working primarily in printmaking and mixed media, Pilgrim builds meaning through layering accumulating mark, pattern, and material to examine Black subjectivity through the Black female gaze. Her practice moves across portraiture, pattern-making, and process-driven composition to explore constructions of beauty, spirituality, and the dynamics of desire, vulnerability, and power within Black diasporic identities. Drawing from the histories and visual languages of the African diaspora, she threads inherited traditions through contemporary material approaches and the expressed knowledge of Black womanhood. By centering the Black body as both subject and author, her work cultivates new modes of seeing and being seen, reframing Black presence as self-defined, nuanced, and expansive.

Learn more about the artist at 📲 angelapilgrim.com/ or in person on Oct. 11th!

🌟 PES STUDIOS, part of Project for Empty Space, is a nonprofit arts initiative creating safe and equitable spaces for social dialogue. We support socially engaged artists by amplifying narratives often erased, while holding space for reflection and imagining new futures.

This event is held in conjunction with the Newark Arts Festival ().

Help bring this mural to life! ✨Saturday, October 10 · 11 AM–2 PM · Riverbank Park
Part of the Newark Arts Festival Newa...
10/08/2026

Help bring this mural to life! ✨
Saturday, October 10 · 11 AM–2 PM · Riverbank Park
Part of the Newark Arts Festival Newark Arts Council

RSVP at 🔗 communitycaremural.eventbrite.com

Karena Bravo KARENA©️💫 and Mike Maka Mike Maka have been selected to develop a large-scale mural for the new RWJBarnabas RWJBarnabas Health and Saint James Health clinic Saint James Health - Newark’s #1 Healthcare Center, opening at 604 Market Street in Newark’s Ironbound.

This Saturday, join the artists for an all-ages workshop to help bring a new community mural to life. Community members will have the opportunity to add color to floral and decorative elements inspired by medicinal plants, healing, nature, family, and community care. 🎨🌱🌸

Hosted by Project for Empty Space in partnership with Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) Ironbound Community Corporation, the mural project centers themes of intergenerational ✨CARE✨, family, healing, and community wellness, drawing inspiration from the clinic’s mission and the rich history of Newark’s Ironbound.

All ages are invited! Wear clothes you’re ready to paint in, come prepared to get your hands dirty, and help shape a new piece of public art for the Ironbound.

➡️ Join PES Studios on Sunday, October 11, from 1–5 PM at📍800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Blvd., Newark, NJ, for our annual ...
10/07/2026

➡️ Join PES Studios on Sunday, October 11, from 1–5 PM at📍800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Blvd., Newark, NJ, for our annual FALL OPEN STUDIOS! Explore four floors of 50+ artist studios and community workshop spaces while enjoying a warm brunch and breakfast cocktails. RSVP via 🔗 link in bio!

Visit the studio of Marcy DePina! 🧿👑⚔️🇨🇻💜🎤💎 𓂀 | Studio 212 ✨

DJ MD (Marcy DePina) curates vibes and sounds that reflect her passion for music, art, and the cultures of the world under the banner of FORSA! Media Group LLC. Celebrating music as the universal language, DJ MD spins tracks from Africa and its expansive and innovative Diaspora, with the purpose of raising frequencies and promoting unity through sound. For over a decade DJ MD has been a radio host, producer, deejay, and host of the FORSA! Show. She also operates FORSA! Studios, an audio/visual studio based at PES Studios in Newark, NJ and is one half of the Forsa La Familia deejay duo and co-creator of The House Blend project.

DJ MD has performed at events around the world such as the Atlantic Music Expo (Cabo Verde), Lincoln Center (NYC), Black Girls Rock! (BET), Casa Independente (Lisbon, Portugal), Lincoln Park Music Festival, Afro Beat Fest (Newark, NJ), Club New York (Guadeloupe, France), Newark Arts Festival, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Halsey Fest, Superchief Gallery, Marcus B&P, Sounds of Brazil, Akwaaba Gallery, Project for Empty Space, and DROM, to name a few. In addition to live events, DJ MD served as the resident Music Curator for the renowned Newark Museum of Art and has curated music and performances for the United Nations, Afropop Worldwide/National Public Radio, Lincoln Center, Central Park Summerstage, ResiliArts / UNESCO International Jazz Day (Angola), WBGO Jazz Radio, Panasonic, Newark Arts Council and others.

Based in Newark, New Jersey, USA, with ancestral roots in Cabo Verde, DJ MD is an ethnomusicologist, a speaker of four languages, and an avid traveller who wanders the globe in search of music that makes your soul vibrate.

Learn more about the artist at 📲 Forsamedia.com or in person on Oct. 11th!

Address

800 Broad Street
Newark, NJ
07102

Opening Hours

Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+19738182452

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