Project For Empty Space

08/26/2026

Next in Newark: Join us on September 9th from 6–9 PM at 📍 110 Edison Place for the opening reception of “La Sierpe”, a new exhibition by Cycle 9 Artist In Residence Lina Puerta (Lina Puerta)! RSVP via 🔗 link in bio.

Featured above: The artist in her studio at Project for Empty Space in Newark, NJ.

➡️ Developed over the course of Puerta’s two-year residency, “La Sierpe” marks the culmination of an extended period of research, experimentation, and artistic production. 🪡

⏳ Centered on the serpent as an ancient symbol of cyclical time, transformation, and collective renewal, the exhibition invites visitors into an immersive environment where inherited ways of seeing give way to new possibilities for connection. Throughout the exhibition, the serpent serves as both a guide and a guardian, illuminating the relationships among ancestral knowledge, ecological balance, and collective care.

🐍 The exhibition debuts a significant new body of work that expands Puerta’s ongoing exploration of ancestral knowledge, environmental stewardship, and cultural memory. Featured are recent works from her acclaimed Portales series, which draw upon Indigenous Colombian symbols while incorporating materials associated with Western consumer culture. 

🧵 Through intricate hand stitching, machine sewing, reclaimed food packaging, repurposed textiles, jewelry, and natural materials traditionally associated with adornment and spiritual protection, Puerta creates richly layered works that bridge ancestral traditions and contemporary ecological and social concerns.

“La Sierpe” will be on view September 9, 2026, through January 29, 2027, at 110 Edison Place, Newark, NJ. ✨

08/21/2026

Now on view as part of A CITY OF CREATORS!

GENERATIONS OF THE CATCH by Melisa Elif Gereçci
📍 778 Mayor KENNETH A. GIBSON BLVD.

This citywide initiative transforms more than 20 vacant storefronts into an immersive arts corridor featuring work by 25 local artists and organizations. Through window-based installations, A CITY OF CREATORS connects artists, small businesses, and neighborhood stories, reimagining vacant retail spaces as sites of creativity, visibility, and opportunity.

🌃 Melisa Gerecçi (Melisa) is a teaching artist who grew up between Houston and Istanbul. She works across drawing, printmaking, and sculpture, using experimental narrative structures and site-based interventions to tell layered stories. Her public art commissions include work along the East Coast Greenway, and she has received support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts through the Newark Artist Accelerator. Her work is held in the Special Collections of the Newark Public Library, the Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Fine Arts Library at the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her JD from New York University School of Law.

🍻GENERATION OF THE CATCH reflects labor, skill, and cultural memory through preparation, exchange, and shared meals. Ice displays, nets, crates, scales, and market imagery evoke Newark’s relationship to seafood, trade, and community nourishment.

🍔 Scan the QR code to learn more about the artist and featured businesses.

Nearby businesses (within a 5-minute walk):
Just Fish Bar & Grill – 103 Halsey St.
King Fish Market – 21 William St.
Mi Lindo Ecuador Restaurant & Fish – Market 18 St.
Newark Fish Market – 203 Market St.
Popular Seafood Market – 129 Ferry St.

A CITY OF CREATORS is presented by the City of Newark Division of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Newark Arts & Education District, Invest Newark, Newark Urban Enterprise Zone, Newark Alliance, Newark Downtown District, and Project for Empty Space.

08/20/2026

Thank you to NJ Spotlight News and PBS for featuring Newark in the latest episode of “Painting Community”, and to Joanna Gagis (Joanna Gagis) for sitting down with the City of Newark’s Director of Arts and Culture, fayemi shakur (fayemi shakur) (City of Newark, NJ - City Hall), and PES Co-Director Rebecca Pauline Jampol (Rebecca Pauline Jampol) to talk about the impact of public art in our community—and how collaboration is key to creating meaningful work that reflects and strengthens the places and people it serves. ✨

The special episode features “The Golden Life”, a mural by artists Armisey Smith (Armisey Smith) and Rachel Fawn Alban (Rachel Fawn), and offers a closer look at the story behind the multi-site public art project.

“The Golden Life” was led by Project for Empty Space in collaboration with the City of Newark Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs, with support from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Initiative (Bloomberg). The artwork was created in collaboration with dozens of women and girls from the surrounding community, whose portraits now live as larger-than-life monuments!

We’re proud to see this project—and the many people who helped bring it to life—highlighted in this special feature. Special thanks to artist Eirini Linardaki (Eirini Linardaki), whose work in progress is also featured in the interview.

Watch the full episode via the link in bio or at NJ Spotlight News. 👏

08/18/2026

✉️You’re invited to Project for Empty Space’s annual fête, the Badass Art Woman Awards, on November 17, 2026, from 6:30 - 11 PM at 📍172 Norfolk Street, NYC!
This year’s BAWA celebrates collective light by honoring Jean Cooney, Executive Director of Creative Time; Kristina Newman-Scott, Vice President of Arts at Knight Foundation and Komal Shah, Founder of Making Their Mark Foundation. Together, they illustrate how leaders, advocates, and visionary women can illuminate the path for so many others. 💫

Secure your ticket via 🔗 link in bio!

✨HONOREE HIGHLIGHT✨
Kristina Newman-Scott (Kristina Newman-Scott)

➡️ Kristina Newman-Scott is an award-winning, purpose-driven leader with more than 20 years of experience at the intersection of arts, culture, and media. As Vice President of Arts at Knight Foundation, she shapes bold initiatives that position the arts as essential civic infrastructure and a catalyst for vibrant, equitable communities.

Previously, Kristina served as the inaugural Executive Director of The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at New York Public Radio/WNYC, where she reimagined its live and multi-platform programming. She was also President of BRIC, one of Brooklyn’s leading arts and media organizations, and Director of Culture for the State of Connecticut. Her leadership and impact have been widely recognized. She has been named to City & State New York’s Telecommunications Power 50, the Observer NYC Arts Power 50, and Next City’s Urban Vanguard.

She is the recipient of the Selina Roberts Ottum Award from Americans for the Arts and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of New Haven, Lyme Academy of Fine Arts. Kristina currently serves on the boards of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), YoungArts, and as Chair for Americans for the Arts. 

Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Kristina began her career as a practicing artist and television and radio host before moving to the U.S. in 2005. Across every role, she brings a deep commitment to championing artists, strengthening cultural ecosystems, and advancing the role of the arts in building thriving communities.

Learn more about BAWA at 📲 projectforemptyspace.org/2026bawa

08/12/2026

Now on view as part of A CITY OF CREATORS!

INTERIORS: NEWARK HOMES & SACRED SPACES by Suliman Onque
📍99 Market St.

This citywide initiative transforms more than 20 vacant storefronts into an immersive arts corridor featuring work by 25 local artists and organizations. Through window-based installations, A CITY OF CREATORS connects artists, small businesses, and neighborhood stories, reimagining vacant retail spaces as sites of creativity, visibility, and opportunity.

🪑Suliman Onque (Suliman Onque) is a multifaceted Newark artist whose work spans murals, public art, film, music videos, and exhibitions. With over 80 exhibitions and 100 public art displays to his credit, he was selected to exhibit at the 2024 Paris Olympics alongside 3 the Art Way and The Olympic Newark 8. He is also the creator of the self-published comic book Super Sketch Painter™. Onque’s vibrant, gritty work reflects his belief in creativity, collaboration, and the power of art to connect people.

🖼️ INTERIORS: NEWARK HOMES & SACRED SPACES explores how Newarkers create home through beauty, memory, spirituality, and cultural expression. Inspired by décor, textiles, furniture, wall art, and everyday rituals, it frames domestic spaces as places of refuge, identity, and belonging. The theme celebrates home as a sanctuary shaped by design, memory, and community.

🛋️ Scan the QR code to learn more about the artist and featured businesses.

Nearby businesses (within a 5-minute walk):
Andy Furniture (aka Furniture King) (Andy Furniture) – 83 Market St.
Equal Space ES89 Sharespace & Incubator (EQUALSPACE) – 89 Market St.
Index Art Center (Index) – 89 Market St.
Newark Museum Shop (The Newark Museum of Art) – 49 Washington St.
Tansy (Tansy | Bring Nature Home 🌻) – 33 Washington St.

A CITY OF CREATORS is presented by the City of Newark Division of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Newark Arts & Education District, Invest Newark, Newark Urban Enterprise Zone, Newark Alliance, Newark Downtown District, and Project for Empty Space.
Now on view as part of A CITY OF CREATORS!

08/12/2026

08/07/2026

➡️ Now on View at Project for Empty Space: “Black Revolutionary Women: 250 Years of a Colony Within a Colony” by Cycle 9 Artist In Residence Noelle Lorraine Williams Noelle Lorraine Williams.

Opened on Juneteenth, this exhibition highlights Black women’s resistance, survival, and freedom-making across the Americas, reframing dominant narratives of the American Revolution.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, enslaved people slept in attics; they would host preachers there too. It was here that they would build freedom. In Williams’ reimagined attic, she invites visitors to make an Abayomi doll and honor the 914 women who served with the British during the Revolutionary War and won their freedom in Nova Scotia. The Abayomi doll was invented in 1987 by Afro-Brazilian artisan and educator Lena Martins (also known as Lena Abayomi) to empower her people.

All visitors are encouraged to participate in the Abayomi doll-making activity and add their creations to the exhibition shelves. Visit soon; the shelves are filling up fast!

🗣️ “Strengthening the self-esteem of black people is the basis of Abayomi.” - Lena Abayomi.

📸 Images by Carlos Hernandez Carlos Hernandez

“Black Revolutionary Women: 250 Years of a Colony Within a Colony” is on view through October 10, 2026, at 800 Mayor Kenneth Gibson Boulevard, Newark, NJ. Plan your visit at projectforemptyspace.org/planyourvisit.

08/07/2026

Now on view as part of A CITY OF CREATORS!

SOUND, EXCHANGE, NEWARK by Chrystofer Davis
📍 10 Branford Pl.
This citywide initiative transforms more than 20 vacant storefronts into an immersive arts corridor featuring work by 25 local artists and organizations. Through window-based installations, A CITY OF CREATORS connects artists, small businesses, and neighborhood stories, reimagining vacant retail spaces as sites of creativity, visibility, and opportunity.
🎶 Chrystofer Davis (Chrystofer Davis) is an award-winning Newark-based fine art photographer, professor, muralist, and filmmaker. Influenced by street photography and portraiture, his work has been featured by organizations including The New York Times, Disney, ABC News, Leica Camera, Bloomberg Businessweek, and The Newark Museum of Art. In 2023, he received the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship Award, and his work is held in the archives of several major cultural institutions.
📻SOUND, EXCHANGE, NEWARK explores how sound shapes memory and connection across Newark—from storefront speakers and rehearsal spaces to churches, sidewalks, and recording studios. Music shops, record stores, instrument retailers, and repair spaces serve as living archives, preserving traditions of listening, learning, and community exchange. The installation celebrates a culture of care where instruments are repaired, records are rediscovered, and Newark’s musical legacy continues through everyday use.
🪊 Scan the QR code to learn more about the artist and featured businesses.
Nearby businesses (within a 5-minute walk):
Bunkr (bunkr.) – 25 Halsey St., Lower Level
Grounded Music Education (Grounded Music Education) – 563 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Blvd.
Memories of Soul – 211 Halsey St.
More Now Records (More More Now Records) – 49 Halsey St.
William S. Rich & Son – 857 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Blvd.
A CITY OF CREATORS is presented by the City of Newark Division of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Newark Arts & Education District, Invest Newark, Newark Urban Enterprise Zone, Newark Alliance, Newark Downtown District, and Project for Empty Space.

08/05/2026

What happens when intimate stories of care, resistance, and survival become impossible to overlook? For interdisciplinary artist Helina Metaferia, they become monumental.

Her By Way of Revolution series brings together portraits of Black and Brown women and femmes with protest archives, family photographs, and histories of collective resistance. The result is public art that makes space for the personal, political, and ancestral to exist side by side.

Six months after the series transformed a Newark streetscape, FEMINIST sat down with Helina to talk about the trust behind the work, the women whose stories shape it, and what it means to use art to imagine freedom. Find the full interview over on our substack ⬇️

Comment REVOLUTION and we’ll DM you the link.
https://www.substack.com/feminists/meet-helina-metaferia-the-artist

08/04/2026

☀️ August is a time to reflect on a summer of gathering, artmaking, and enjoying public art and programming outdoors while looking ahead to what’s next at Project for Empty Space this fall.

🖌️ We’re wrapping up PES SUMMER STUDIO this Wednesday with the final workshop of the season at Ironside Newark—a program that welcomed hundreds of Newark community members this summer for free, artist-led, all-ages workshops exploring artists’ practices and experimentation with new mediums. 👏

🍂 As we move into the fall season, we look forward to sharing new exhibitions and events, including the opening of “La Sierpe”, a new solo exhibition by Cycle 9 Artist in Residence Lina Puerta; community celebrations like Fall NIGHT FEST and our annual Open Studios; and, finally, the return of the Badass Art Woman Awards in New York City.

Check out what’s coming up below, and be sure to RSVP and save the dates for these upcoming programs and gatherings. See you this fall!

➡️ Upcoming In August

✍️ All Ages Drawing Circle with Layqa Nuna Yawar (Lenny Correa)
🗓️Wednesday, August 5
📍Ironside Newark

➡️ On View

“Black Revolutionary Women” by Noelle Lorraine Williams (Noelle Lorraine Williams)
🗓️ On View through October 10, 2026
📍800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Boulevard, Newark, NJ

➡️ Save The Date

🐍 “La Sierpe” by Lina Puerta (Lina Puerta)
🗓️ Opening on September 9 at 6 PM
📍800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Boulevard, Newark, NJ

🌃 Fall NIGHT FEST
🗓️ October 9 at 5 PM
📍Mulberry Commons Park, Newark, NJ

🎨 PES Fall Open Studios
🗓️ October 11 at 1 PM
📍800 Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson Boulevard, Newark, NJ

💫 2026 Badass Art Woman Awards: Constellations
🗓️ November 17 at 6:30 PM
📍172 Norfolk St, NYC

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