Audible Unveils New Artworks in Phase Three of Newark Artist Collaboration

Audible today proudly announced a new series of public artworks in Newark as the third phase of the Newark Artist Collaboration, its program amplifying the work of local artists and encouraging investment in Newark’s creative community. This phase of the collaboration, which first launched in 2021, builds around the recently erected monument of Harriet Tubman, Shadow of a Face, by Nina Cooke John, and amplifies underrepresented voices through the power of storytelling. The new works are part of Audible’s continued commitment to supporting a vibrant downtown Newark neighborhood, anchored by thriving local businesses, innovation, art, and cultural diversity. Since the launch of the Newark Artist Collaboration (NAC) in 2021, Audible has created similar artist collaborations in Berlin and the UK, continuing to support local artists and encourage investment in the creative economy around the globe.

Incorporating words paired with visual art to explore narratives of liberation, these four new public works highlight how art can harness the power of representation to tell a more inclusive story. These new installations, created in collaboration with Project for Empty Space, feature primarily female visual artists including Kelley Prevard, Danielle Scott, Shoshanna Weinberger, and GERALUZ & WERC.

“The Newark Artist Collaboration continues to provide a powerful platform for the city’s vast, top-tier artists, and we’re thrilled to showcase the extraordinary work of these creative voices as they explore themes so deeply intertwined with Newark’s collective history,” said Aisha Glover, Head of Urban Innovation at Audible. “By investing in the creative community, Audible is empowering Newark’s creators and celebrating the role of art and storytelling in enhancing the vibrancy and equity of the city.”

“Our city is a testament to the power of art, poetry, and storytelling to frame an inclusive narrative and transform our cityscape,” said Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka. “The Newark Artist Collaboration not only gives expression to our city’s widespread and exceptional talent, but it clarifies how public art promotes cultural and economic equity. Beyond that, these installations serve to nourish the bond among us and strengthen our commonality. Although none of us experience these works in the same way, we share the process of being impacted, and our unity grows richer and deeper.”

Dreaming, GERALUZ & WERC

The project expands the growing body of public artwork surrounding Tubman Square, adding a massive 500-foot mural that transforms the prominent and highly trafficked underpass beneath the New Jersey Transit Broad Street Station and Interstate Route 280 by artist duo GERA & WERC, titled Dreaming. The artwork is inspired by a line from the writer and poet Amiri Baraka – the late father of Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka – that reads “Dreaming, to go on,” from his 1964 poem, “Like Rousseau”. The mural captures Newark’s historical and ongoing resilience, reflecting the community’s aspirations and dreams. It emphasizes the vibrant social fabric within Newark’s cultures and traditions, while honoring the physical structure of the overpass bridge as a symbol of strength and interconnectivity. Collaborators on this project include New Jersey Transit, Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, the City of Newark Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and Accurate Realty.

She Made Up Her Mind to Get Free, Kelley Prevard

As part of the multi-site installation, She Made Up Her Mind to Get Free, surrounding Tubman Square, artist Kelley Prevard has installed a mural at 559 Broad Street called Breaking Chains, Embracing Stars that depicts three generations of women representing the past, present, and future. Above them shines the North Star, which Harriet Tubman used to bring herself and many others to freedom.

Journeying Together: From Sunrise to Sunset, Shoshanna Weinberger

At 500 Broad Street, artist Shoshanna Weinberger’s activation, Journeying Together: From Sunrise to Sunset, depicts female forms standing upright and free, representing the history, strength, determination, and liberation rooted in Harriet Tubman’s story as well as in the city of Newark. The work reflects themes of body autonomy and womanhood and honors Tubman’s story and Newark’s collective narratives of freedom.

Young, Gifted, and Black, Danielle Scott

Artist Danielle Scott’s series of collages at 1 Washington Place, called Young, Gifted, and Black, honor seven women who have played an instrumental role in building the Newark arts community. They include Gladys Barker Grauer, who founded the first Newark art gallery dedicated to women artists of color; Margaret Slade Kelley, an acclaimed painter and the first Black artist commissioned by the State of New Jersey to position artwork on public buildings; and other women who have been influential in the Newark arts world.

Dreaming was facilitated by Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, the City of Newark Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs, New Jersey Transit and Accurate Realty. And Fidelco Realty Group, Rutgers University-Newark, the Newark Housing Authority, and North Star Uncommon Charter School Partners helped facilitate the storefront activations for She Made Up Her Mind to Get Free. Special thanks to Paramount Assets, for their continued support of the Newark Artist Collaboration.

The inaugural phases of the Newark Artist Collaboration featured an array of site-specific and original interdisciplinary artwork from over 20 local artists and artist collectives, selected by a jury of local arts professionals and community stakeholders. Ongoing events have continued to bring NAC’s artwork to life, such as lively arts festivals, neighborhood tours of the murals, and children and family-oriented activities, celebrating the neighborhood and Newark’s vibrant community. The Places by Audible app brings the Newark Artist Collaboration, historical landmarks, and cultural locations to life for all to enjoy, with unique audio storytelling from the creators and artists themselves.

The Newark Artist Collaboration is part of Audible’s ongoing community and economic investments in the cities it calls home. Audible’s Global Center for Urban Development spearheads its efforts to advance racial justice, equity and economic empowerment. The Center also works to support a vibrant downtown Newark neighborhood, anchored by thriving local businesses, innovation, art, and cultural diversity. Its initiatives include Newark Working Kitchens, which supports local restaurants by paying for and distributing over 1.5 million meals to residents in need, and its new Business Attraction Program, which helps innovative and diverse companies and small businesses expand or relocate to Newark. Audible’s initiatives attract foot traffic, sustain businesses, create jobs, and result in greater employee spend, generating close to one billion dollars in economic activity to date.

Selected artists for the Newark Artist Collaboration’s third phase include:

• Danielle Scott: Danielle Scott is a mixed-media assemblage artist with work in the permanent collection at the Newark Museum of Art, whose pieces express politically and socially charged messaging. Her vinyl cut-outs honoring women who have been integral to Newark arts (several of whom were her mentors) are displayed in the windows at 1 Washington Place, facing Tubman Square.
• GERALUZ & WERC: GERALUZ & WERC are a celebrated street artist duo with strong roots in Newark. Together they have created murals and large-scale public artworks across the nation and worldwide. Their collaborative practice honors each site by bringing out its natural and historic wonder. Their mural Dreaming, on the Route 280 barrier facade off Broad Street, reflects themes of resilience, hope, and interconnectivity.
• Kelley Prevard: Kelley Prevard is a self-taught artist and muralist whose work is centered around healing and storytelling. Her work is deeply influenced by social, historical, and cultural events, as she explores aspects of womanhood. Her collage, in the windows at North Star Academy facing Tubman Square at 599 Broad Street, highlights themes of hope and freedom.
• Shoshanna Weinberger: Shoshanna Weinberger is internationally recognized for her work, which is rooted in an abstract exploration of her Caribbean American lineage. She was selected to create a vinyl collage for the windows at 500 Broad Street, in dialogue with the themes of liberation and strength in neighboring Harriet Tubman Square.