I wanted to share a sincere bravo and say thank you to Mayor Ras J. Baraka for his leadership and also his graciousness for allowing the Museum to be a part of this historic debut of both Harriet Tubman Square and the Newark Arts and Education District.
As a lover of the arts, I’m a fan of cultural districts and a big believer in the impact they have on communities. Art is central to cultural districts. It is a great connector and a medium for bringing together different cultures, neighborhoods, generations, and possibilities. Art speaks to the past, the present, and the future. It holds value and is at the heart of our communities, our economy, our identity, and our future. Art molds the cultural standards of a society.
The newly established Art & Education District will enable Newark to be a leader in our region, a keystone for our communities and a catalyst for our economy, radically evolving our city and the quintessential Newark experience.
With this in mind, we at the Museum and also our fellow cultural, educational and business anchor partners couldn’t be more thrilled to have such an opportunity as this to deliver the promise of arts, education, and culture to our community.
While cultural districts attract investment, build community and social capital, and reveal a distinctive local identity, it’s also important to remember how vital your support is in order for these cultural districts to thrive. Through your investment in art and the institutions that bring art and education to the public, we can inform the next chapter of our city’s future, one defined by growth and prosperity. Together, with your strong support and partnership, our city will sustain its ever-evolving, vibrant, and dynamic community.
In the spirit of new beginnings and community, we’ve kicked off a lively summer calendar of engaging programs and events at the Museum and we’d love to share them with you.
I invite you to come out and see two exhibitions of exceptional photographs that capture the performers and names most-synonymous with jazz, or sit back and enjoy film screenings by groundbreaking, young Black filmmakers and live musical performances across an array of genres in our beautiful garden. You can even sign your children up for an artful summer of camp! At the Museum, we offer something for everyone, because we believe that investing in arts means investing in community. As always, let there be Peace, Love, and Art.
See you at the Museum soon,
Linda C. Harrison
Director and CEO
The Newark Museum of Art
