Perris Straughter, Senior Planner, City of Newark
This morning I had the pleasure of meeting Perris Straughter and seeing another aspect of what is happening art-wise in Brick City. After decades of neglect, Newark’s commitment to public art is experiencing new life under the Cory Booker administration.
City Without Walls (cWOW) is the organization that has been responsible since 2009 for City Murals, “a public art program that builds neighborhood pride and trains youth for the Twenty-First Century through community collaborations.” cWOW is an urban gallery of emerging art. Their mission is to advance the careers of artists while expanding the audience for contemporary art. They use art and technology to build communities, careers and contemporary culture (umm, sounds like me!!). Based in Newark since 1975, cWOW is New Jersey’s oldest non-profit contemporary art space.
Installation of Newark's PEACE Mural
In the coming two-year program cycle, the Barat Foundation will join in the administration of City Murals. The foundation is making a big splash with its PEACE Mural being completed today, just in time to welcome the Dalai Lama to Newark for the Newark Peace Educational Summit (May 13 – 15, 2011). Founded by Gary and Chandri Barat, the Barat Foundation is a 501(C) 3 not-for-profit educational corporation dedicated to the power of the arts to transform lives and to level the playing field for highly motivated, underserved youth.
Posted on May 11, 2011
0