UPDATE (December 14, 2021) – Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District has released a recap video of the alley reclamation project. Watch the video by clicking here.

Original story:

NEWARK, NJ (September 30, 2021) – Keep America Beautiful® and the Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District are proud to announce the “Lincoln Park Gallery Without Walls” Alley Reclamation Mural Project. The “allery” features muralist Kween Moore’s “Black Girls Dream,” a powerful, regal homage to feminine divine energy. The bold, bright and colorful mural adorns 200 linear feet of treated wood fencing, with support from Keep America Beautiful.

“Keep America Beautiful-Newark is so happy to be behind this project and couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of this partnership that’s dramatically improving this public space in our city,” said Malkia King, Executive Director of Keep America Beautiful-Newark. “The bold, proud message Kween Moore’s work sends will leave an impact on all people, and we are proud to combine that message with an environment that makes the area better for everyone.”

The home of the “Lincoln Park Gallery Without Walls” is behind the historic New Ark Cathedral Church (known as La Vid Verdadera en La Catedral New Ark, Lincoln Park) and the Dryden Mansion, which was the primary home of John F. Dryden, the founder of Prudential Insurance Company and United States Senator from New Jersey. The alleyway sits in the middle of Lincoln Park’s “Little Five Points,” a convergence of Lincoln Park Place, Crawford Street, South Halsey Street, Bleecker Street, and Washington Street. Prior to the opening of The Willows at Symphony Hall, “Little Five Points” was a dimly lit, desolate strip with little residential foot traffic. The area was on the rise until the closure of cWOW (City Without Walls) Gallery, and then the global pandemic struck. The mandatory lockdowns and no foot traffic outside gave way to an uptick in “COVID crime.”

Locally, Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District has been working closely with the City of Newark’s “Love Your Block” program to take back the alley and turn it into a usable space named after the community it will serve – the “Lincoln Park Gallery Without Walls.” The “Lincoln Park Gallery Without Walls” sits diagonally from the defunct cWOW Gallery which was New Jersey’s oldest not-for-profit alternative art space. “Lincoln Park Gallery Without Walls” pays homage to cWOW Gallery and is inspired by the “allery” movement (turning alleyways into outdoor gallery spaces). Some of these include The Belt in Detroit, Chicago’s ACTIVATE series and, closer to home, down neck in the Ironbound, The Newark Allery, which revitalized alleys with public art, beautified the neighborhood, and uplifted the community.

“It is truly an honor to see my work win on so many levels. This work belongs to my grandmother, my mother, all of my aunts and sisters who’ve come before me,” said winning muralist, Kween Moore. Thank you Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District, Keep America Beautiful and all project supporters and partners for creating space for Black and brown girl artists like me. “Black Girls Dream” is the celebration of our women, who we are in the world and, most importantly, how we see ourselves in light. We are bold and live in color. We love when we should and even when we lack luster. We move in waves and hues of color, popping out all over the world. Us Black girls are loud, we cry, scream and share stories.”

LPCCD’s Executive Director Anthony Smith states: “As a community development organization, we understand that creative placemaking is a bottom-up approach. The role and contribution of the arts is invaluable in this bottom-up approach, as it represents the opportunity for the disenfranchised members of our community to contribute. Through donated cleaning equipment, art supplies, and volunteers from Keep America Beautiful, we were able to activate our residents to participate in reclaiming the alley for the community’s usage.”

The “Lincoln Park Gallery Without Walls” project was produced by Kim J. Ford, Founder, BRND Marketing Group LLC (official lead agency for LPCCD) and Armisey Smith, Artistic Project Manager.

Additional support by the City of Newark, Back Together Again, Love Your Block, Love Tito’s, Tito’s Vodka, Crawford Street Partners, and Newark Arts.

Keep America Beautiful’s work in Newark would not be possible without the ongoing support of Mars Wrigley.

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MEDIA ASSETS:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VdfmLDuuNu3Qc7MGS4mhaee8XJ1V_F-V?usp=sharing

Kween Moore Photo & Full Bio
“Black Girls Dream” Mural Concept
Alley Before & In Progress Sneak Peek

KAB Interview with Anthony Smith and Kim Ford: https://youtu.be/5GpOz27uLPw

KAB Interview with Kween Moore: https://youtu.be/wLVGstt1l0o

EXCERPTS FROM DEDICATION REMARKS:

MAYOR RAS J. BARAKA”This is a great opportunity to really pay attention and look at how powerful art can be in our community and the necessity to have art and artists in our neighborhoods. We sometimes think of art as [only] in the museum or just graffiti on the wall. Or we travel to NYC and attribute art to other places and not here when actually this city has a history of art, of culture and using art to impact the community.”https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rz1SPEg0YejQgQaKtEv_Pi5JC5NED_9c/view?usp=sharing

CENTRAL WARD COUNCILWOMAN LAMONICA MCIVER, CITY OF NEWARK“It’s a small victory for us today. [The alley] it’s clean, it’s beautiful and we’re happy about that. We have more work to do. I’m looking forward to seeing you all at the events and other great activities that we’re doing here in the Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District.”https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P3nhCmBrhjLM1-Wc-pUz4UJaAGO_FUXd/view?usp=sharing

REGINA BARBOZA, INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEWARK ARTSIn reference to 2021’s abbreviated festival season: “I love the branding….’The Soul of Lincoln Park’ because that says it all. The reclaiming of the historic arts district of Black and Brown in the City of Newark, This alleyway and the reimaging and rebuilding of it, all speaks to an extension of that footprint, which is sorely needed…and it goes over to Newark Symphony Hall.”https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P_0CX6251eTD6ESo-NCL-phPTAg3zM_B/view?usp=sharing

MALKIA KING, KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL NEWARK“One of my goals with Keep America Beautiful Newark is to revitalize this side [southern] of Broad Street in the Lincoln Park district just like we did on the other [northern] side. Everything we do is to rebuild our communities, we live here. Newark is a historical, great place to live.”https://drive.google.com/file/d/182DqbpRaXHMe0kPdpvutRNWCjqPftbXq/view?usp=sharing

(L-R): Regina Barboza, Interim Executive Director, Newark Arts; Central Ward Councilwoman LaMonica McIver; Christopher A. Watson, Christopher A. Watson, Planning Officer, City of Newark and Safe Summer Initiative; Dayana Poulard, Femme Curator Arts; Susan Austin, Director of Development and Operations, LPCCD; Lead Muralist Kween Moore, Femme Curator Arts; Ashley and Alexis Grey, Femme Curator Arts; Anthony Smith, Executive Director, LPCCD; and Armisey Smith, Artistic Project Manager.

GUIDED VIEWING AT NEWARK ARTS FESTIVAL:

LPCCD will host a guided viewing of the nearly 200ft “Black Girls Dream” mural at the outdoor “Lincoln Park Gallery Without Walls” during the citywide Newark Arts Festival (NAF). Now in its 20th year, the Newark Arts Festival will celebrate “Creative Resilience,” as it returns to in-person programming. NAF amplifies the voices of established and emerging Newark artists, gallerists, creative entrepreneurs like Kween Moore. Saturday, October 9th between 2PM-5PM. Location GPS: 6 Crawford Street, Newark, NJ, walk ½ block to Halsey Street between Beecher and Lincoln Park, behind the New Ark Cathedral Church.

RIBBON CUTTING MEDIA ASSETS:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1a2KJJk_cMywvW_FTberK14kTqIDWUUBL?usp=sharing

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About Keep America Beautiful

Keep America Beautiful®, the nation’s leading community improvement nonprofit organization, inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful strives to End Littering, Improve Recycling, and Beautify America’s Communities. We believe everyone has a right to live in a clean, green, and beautiful community, and shares a responsibility to contribute to that vision. The organization is driven by the work and passion of nearly 700 Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the collaborative support of corporate partners, social and civic service organizations, academia, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Donate and take action at kab.org. 

About Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District (Non-Profit, 501c3)

The Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District, Inc. (LPCCD) is a non-profit organization actively engaged in the practice of economic development through Creative Placemaking. Its mission is to plan, design and develop a comprehensive arts and cultural district in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of downtown Newark. LPCCD’s main arts & culture programs are the annual Lincoln Park Music Festival, Lincoln Park Music Speaks citywide humanities initiative, the Lincoln Park Jazzy Soul music series and the Lincoln Park Sustainable Living Community Podcast.

About Artist Kween Moore

Curator, Interdisciplinary Artist, Poet and Arts Educator, Kween Moore, leads a life dedicated to the arts and its communal impact. As a Cooperative Arts & Humanities Magnet High graduate, with a B.A. in Art Therapy Psychology from Albertus Magnus College, Moore serves Newark and surrounding communities through creative arts programming, poetry, performance art and visual arts with specific content for all creatives. Through workshops and creative sessions, Moore produces content that challenges events and topics considered to be controversial or too difficult to discuss using the creative process. Moore is the owner and Lead Curator for FEMME CURATOR ARTS, a curatorial collective of dynamic art educators and enthusiasts that have produced art exhibitions for many galleries throughout the Tri-state area with a ‘superior vibe.’ She and her team (Dayana Poulard, Ashley Grey and Eion Haynes) created experiences during the Newark Arts Festival year after year, now being named, one of the top 5 must-see exhibitions for the 5th year in a row. Perfectly paired with some of Newark’s top musical entertainers and chefs, FCA creates a seamless weekend experience for everyone to enjoy. Kween Moore has been named a ‘Renaissance Woman’ of her time, as she has shifted the idea of what art should be in the city of Newark.

Connect with @LincolnParkCoastCulturalDistrict on Facebook and follow @LPCCD on Twitter and IG.

WATCH: Interview with Kween Moore: https://youtu.be/wLVGstt1l0o