The pandemic was a huge economic and social disruption, but Newark’s service and retail options have continued to grow. Here’s a quick rundown of our picks for what’s new in Newark. Boss Blend Coffee This Afro-Latina-owned small-batch coffee shop and art space is a great new addition to the emerging caffeine scene on Halsey Street. Grab a coffee during the day and check out one … Continue reading Opening Up: New Food, Drink and Retail
Kevin Blythe Sampson is a retired police officer and award-winning artist whose work has been featured at the Carnegie Museum, Mariposa Museum, The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, the Gregg Museum of Art & Design, the Edlin Gallery and Newark Museum of Art. The following is our conversation with him about art and life in Newark. Where are you from originally? What brought you to … Continue reading Interview with Kevin Sampson
By Chris Kok Newark is going through a development spurt. Downtown and the Ironbound are seeing large scale construction, while a scattering of smaller scale development is occurring throughout the other neighborhoods of the city. Downtown, in particular, saw thousands of units come onto the market in the past decade: Teacher’s Village, the Hahne Building, One Theater Square, and the Walker House. Likewise, new mid-rise … Continue reading Opinion: Newark Needs to Focus on Small-Scale Development
From Philip Roth to Amiri Baraka, Newark has always been a city where writers work and thrive. Here are three short profiles of local authors who are keeping Newark’s literary tradition alive with their nationally renowned works. Having money problems? Forest Hill resident, NAACP Image Award Nominee, and the first Black woman to be featured alone on the cover of Money Magazine, Tiffany “The Budgetnista” … Continue reading Newark Writer’s Bloc
By Sharon Adarlo Some of the biggest things I missed during the pandemic were the ability to go to art shows, attend a music concert and basically be part of the arts and cultural community in Newark and the larger New York City metropolitan area. At the start of lockdowns, New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) shuttered its doors and put many people on furlough, … Continue reading Newark Arts After the Pandemic: A Look at Project for Empty Space
The COVID-19 epidemic has killed over 2,700 people in Essex County, NJ. About 800 of those deaths were our friends, family and neighbors in Newark. There is a mountain of research showing our city’s demographics disproportionally suffer from preconditions that make the virus more severe. For these reasons, it’s imperative Newarkers get vaccinated as soon as possible. Here are links to city, county and state … Continue reading Newarkers, Get Vaccinated!
By mantunes Renaissance: 1. the great revival of art and letters, under the influence of classical models, which began in Italy in the 14th century and continued during the 15th and 16th century; also, the period during which this movement was in progress. 2. any revival, or period of marked improvement and new life, in art, literature, etc. Newark is a city that often fixates … Continue reading Leave the “Renaissance” Behind
By Melisa Gerecci Iridescent batwing sleeves billow like soap bubbles around a model’s arms. Thousands of ruby-colored sequins form a funky turtleneck for another model. Viewed from a back-row seat, rubber wedding dresses look like lace. Up front, a woman perches in a smoke-gray, pinstriped suit. It’s a warm October evening in pre-Covid times. Shadows of a 17th-century church dance with a jaunty art deco … Continue reading Clothes Up and Personal: Portraits of Four Fashion Designers
By Karolina Dos Santos I was watching the virtual meeting on March 4th, 2021 about the proposed Aries Water Treatment Plant in the Ironbound and something Senator Teresa Ruiz said stuck with me. She said, “I’m a North ward resident born and bred and raising my daughter here. But I will tell you that what will impact one ward, one street, one block, one neighborhood … Continue reading Wards of Action: African American and Latino Citymaking in Newark
By Keishla Rivera-Lopez This is the placewhere I learned my placein the family. I was meantto be here. To cook. Toclean. To serve. To dofor others first, and myselfsecond. This is the placeI’d watchmami with furrowed brows,a red face, and frizzy hair workher magic. With her hands sheailed sickness, fed us nutritionand life. Her hands held mine andtaught me what they knew whenshe was a … Continue reading “Ode to Mami’s Kitchen”
