We celebrate with not only one big blowout, but with several events, including our signature Community Day: Her Story/Our Story on March 11, where women’s history and Black history intersect for a day of live music, fashion, and the official unveiling of the Harriet Tubman monument.
This, along with our bold refresh of the historic American galleries, has been a culmination of years of hard work for us at the Museum and we will continue celebrating, so plan your visit to see the 79 artworks and examples of material culture that reimagine how we think about slavery, power, history, and representation in America.
I’d like for us to acknowledge that this historic public space sits on the unceded Indigenous land of the Munsee Lunaape (Le-na-pee) people, and today, as we confront and celebrate our community’s histories, it’s important that we spotlight those perspectives and stories of African American and Indigenous people that still remain untold.
We are so proud that artist and architect Nina Cooke John won the competition for this monument. She brought the creative thunder! A future-forward architectural design combined with a robust combination of community created the tile works and audio components integrated into the monument.
This square is one of the many touchstones of our city’s history, culture, and community, and we, at The Newark Museum of Art, are honored to be a part of this exciting moment both for our neighborhood and also for our community, memorializing the important legacy of Harriet Tubman.
As if unveiling a monument to Harriet Tubman isn’t enough to celebrate Women’s History Month, I want to take a moment to celebrate our own former Curatorial Assistant, Elena C. Muñoz-Rodriguez, who was recently promoted to Assistant Curator, Latinx & Latin American Art. The Museum takes great pride in cultivating talent and diversity within our doors. Thankfully, donors who share those values are stepping up to help.
I am thrilled to share that NMOA has been selected as one of ten institutional recipients across the country of the Advancing Latinx Art in Museums, a joint five-year funding initiative by the Ford, Mellon, Getty, and Terra Foundations launched last year. This generous funding suppprts the creation and sustainability of permanent early and mid-career curatorial positions with expertise in Latinx art.
I am so grateful for the visionary leadership from these foundations, and from donors like you, who understand that professional advancement of women and BIPOC leads to stronger institutions. In a statement announcing the grant award, Getty Foundation director Joan Weinstein said, “We need to invest more if we want Latinx art to be more broadly represented in our museums, with dedicated curators who can focus exclusively on building and stewarding these collections.” I couldn’t agree more!
I’m excited to cap off two months of honoring those who came before us with the opening event on April 21st for our new Global Contemporary exhibition that explores themes of ancestral memory through our Arts of Global Africa collection. Adama Delphine Fawundu: In the Spirit of Àṣẹ will feature new prints, sculptural works, photographs, and a three-channel video installation.
In gratitude,
Linda C. Harrison
Director and CEO
The Newark Museum of Art
