Navigating Newark Arts’ annual Open Doors Citywide Arts Festival can be difficult for first-time attendees. With so many events flooding the downtown arts district of Newark, New Jersey time management is key! To help you navigate this year’s activities, I’ve prepared a list of my top recommended events which includes The Newark Poetry Institute presents LITerature at the Library’s Open Mic Series, Danny Simmons presents disRUPT: Newark, EvoluCulture and Urban Kween Brand presents Levitate: Overcoming Gravity and more. For a full list of all Newark Arts Open Doors Citywide Festival events be sure to visit www.newarkarts.org/opendoors/.
It is important to note, not all events on this list is free. Some hosts ask for a suggested donation, other events will require a ticket. Please be sure to click on the event that interests you for admission details.
Thursday, October 12
The Newark Poetry Institute presents
LITerature at the Library’s Open Mic Series
in partnership with Jasmine Mans
Newark Public Library, 5 Washington St, Newark, NJ
Thursday, October 12
6:30 pm
The internet’s favorite poet, Jasmine Mans, is partnering with the Newark Public Library on arts education initive, The Newark Poetry Institue, to present LITerature at the Library a series of workshops and open mics events. As part of the October 12th open mic series, participants will compete to take home a cash prize of $500. Each performer must sign up individually. You do not have to currently be in High School to participate, however, you must be 13-19 years of age. You do not have to be a member of the Newark Poetry Institute to share your poetry. All are welcomed.
Rules
– Be on time for attendance at the beginning of show
– Be on time to register in person if need be
– Respect all performers & guests
– No offensives language towards another’s culture, or religion
– Practice Speech with a thoughtfulness
– All performers must stay to watch the entire open mic
All open mics will be hosted at the Newark Public Library’s Main Branch at 5 Washington Street Newark, NJ .
Danny Simmons presents disRUPT: Newark
curated by Noah Kane-Smalls
Fownders Gallery, 2 Wellington Way, Newark
Sponsored by JERRY’S Vodka, Munchies by Antonio and Novartis
Thursday, October 12
9:00 pm
The 16th Annual Open Doors Citywide Arts Festival kicks off with an exciting solo exhibit from internationally renowned abstract expressionist Danny Simmons, entitled “disRUPT: Newark”. Curated by Noah Kane-Smalls, the exhibit title is inspired by the intersection of tech / art / social impact.
Munchies by Antonio and Fownders Gallery artist/owner Sebastian Ferreira will host the exhibit at his gallery space in the University Heights Cluster.
Simmons, originally of Queens, NY is the elder brother of multiplatinum hip hop star/tv personality Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons (RUN DMC) and hip hop pioneer, mogul and philanthropist Russell Simmons. He is a poet and co-producer of the hit HBO series (and Tony-winning Broadway show) Def Poetry Jam. He heads the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation with his brother Russell Simmons, and in 2015, he served as a scholarly consultant for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, DC. Simmons’ work has been exhibited in Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn Museum, Chase Manhattan Bank, Deutsche Bank, Schomburg Center for Black Culture, The Smithsonian, the United Nations, the African American Museum of Philadelphia, and more.
Vandalhaus.com’s Official Channel Launch Party
featuring Ole Lie Vandal
Vandalhous, 53 New Street, Newark, NJ
Thursday, October 12
11:00 pm
At Midnight on Friday October 13th, 2017 vandalhaus.com will launch, providing a 24/7 stream of cultural creative content for the community of #Newark #NJ and beyond!
Join us for our #afterHours Newark Arts #Newark #Opendoors2017 #afterParty to celibrate the channel launch and rub elbows with some of the creative individuals responsible for the content we will be broadcasting.
A Live Performance will acompany the midnight to 6 am #LoveDimension Show block as Ole Lie Vandal embarks on a 24 hour live performance art experiment on Facebook Live and Instagram.
Friday, October 13
Pop-Up Cypher LIVE Hip Hop at Military Park
“Who Is The Renaissance For?”
Hosted by Ghost, Mr Snatch, and Hala in collaboration with Living Incubator Performance Space
Military Park, 42 Park Avenue, Suite 50, Newark, NJ
Friday, October 13th
4:00 pm
Spit off the dome or write something new.
What do you think about the changes happening in the city?
Do you love it, hate it, not sure, don’t care?
What kind of renaissance do you wanna see?
Speak it into existence.
Let’s build.
MCs bring your rhymes
Poets bring your words
Singers bring your vocals
Dancers bring your moves
Musicians rock out
Artists come create with us
#WhoIsTheRenaissanceFor? is an Open Doors exhibit exploring Newark’s past, present, and future by artists and long time residents who are experiencing development and displacement in their neighborhoods known as gentrification. CoCurated by lifelong Newarkers, artists, and activists, Lilly Ribeiro and Daniel Joseph Wiley.
EvoluCulture and Urban Kween Brand presents
Levitate: Overcoming Gravity
211 Community Impact, 211 Halsey Street, Newark, NJ
Friday, October 13
5:00 pm
As part of the 2017 Open Doors Art Festival in Newark, NJ, presented by Newark Arts Council, Femme Curator Arts will present a three day exhibition and showcase entitled LEVITATE. This exhibition comes in partnership with 211 Community Impact and EvoluCulture.
Defined as an act hovering in the air by means of a supernatural power, LEVITATE spotlights visual artists who would be in their first or second ever exhibition. The platform will raise their work towards new audiences, their aesthetics shifting the consciousness to a higher level.
The exhibition will run from Friday October 13th to Sunday October 15th, and will be held in Gallery 211, powered by the nonprofit 211 Community Impact. This will make it one year since the partnership began with last year’s Open Doors exhibition, MEDIUMS: DORMANT PURPOSE.
Entertainment will be provided by EvoluCulture, a New Jersey-based arts education and entertainment firm. There will be a showcase lineup of poets, singers, musicians, emcees, and dancers for each night.
Art & Artifacts of Newark presents
Lisa Conrad: Urban Works
curated by M.Gosser
Art & Artifacts of Newark, 233 Washington Street, Newark, NJ
Friday, October 13th
6:00 pm
Lisa Conrad is an artist and trained art educator living and working in Newark, NJ. She studied studio arts and art education at Kean University in Union. As a practicing artist, she has created a multifaceted body of work including ceramics, works on handmade paper, artist books, paintings and prints. She is the founding executive director of the Newark Print Shop, a community printmaking facility founded in 2012 and currently a resident partner at Express Newark in the Hahne & Company Building.
Burger Walla and Bad Illustration presents
Gyal Dem: Caribbean Immigrant Women Inspired Art
by Amrisa Niranjan
Burger Walla, 47 Halsey Street, Newark, NJ
Friday, October 13th
7:00 pm
Part of Newark Open Doors Citywide Art Festival – this event is an art show and party featuring “GYAL DEM” – a collection of work by Amrisa Niranjan, showcasing immigrant Caribbean women and other pieces with a special guest DJ set by Isis Swaby.
Saturday, October 14
Yendor Productions presents
Fires of Rebellion
265 Halsey Street, Newark, NJ
Saturday, October 14
5:00 pm
Yendor is proud to announce that we will be apart of this years Open Doors city wide arts festival. Debuting Fires of Rebellion an Exhibition highlighting the 1967 Newark Riots.
As the City of Newark approaches the anniversary of “The 1967 Newark’s riots”, Yendor will take an artistically in-depth look through the historical lens evaluating Figures and circumstance surrounding the rebellion. Critically analyzing how “The 1967 Newark riots” was a rebellion against systematic oppression, severe poverty and racial unrest.
Newark Arts and City Without Walls presents
I found god in myself: a celebration of Dr. Ntozake Shange
City Without Walls, 6 Crawford Street, Newark, NJ
Saturday, October 14
6:00 pm
Newark Arts and City Without Walls (cWOW) proudly present, “i found god in myself: a celebration of Dr. Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls”, curated by Peter “Souleo” Wright in conjunction with this year’s Open Doors Citywide Arts Festival. An opening reception will be held at City Without Walls on Saturday, October 14, 2017 from 6-9pm. The exhibit celebrates the genre-bending, award-winning choreopoem/play, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”, which debuted on Broadway in 1976.
Through 10 commissioned artworks the exhibition is a tribute to the Broadway play. Each work honors an individual poem and underscores their enduring significance in highlighting issues impacting the lives of women of color such as sexuality, race, sisterhood, violence and self-love depicted in and inspired by Dr. Shange’s work.
Participating artists include: Amber Robles-Gordon, Beau McCall, Dianne Smith, Kathleen Granados, Kimberly Mayhorn, Margaret Rose Vendryes, Melissa Calderón, Michael Paul Britto, Pamela Council, and Uday K. Dhar.
“This exhibition underscores the conversation Dr. Shange started, extending the legacy and impact of her work into the visual arts medium,” explains Souleo, curator of i found god in myself. “The issues surrounding love, sexuality, gender equality, racial identity, and, ultimately, self-love explored by her work remain relevant today,” said Souleo.
The exhibition will also include archival material that highlights the creation and evolution of the original text from its 1974 California debut to its Broadway run from the Barnard Archives and Special Collections at Barnard College. “It is not only gratifying, but joyous to share for colored girls with the Newark community,” says Dr. Shange. “I am so excited to celebrate for colored girls and the works these artists have created,” said Dr. Shange.
i found god in myself originally debuted in 2014 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Long Gallery Harlem (formerly The Sol Studio) and La Maison d’Art. It has since traveled to the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Houston Museum of African American Culture, and is now presented at City Without Walls. “We are grateful for the collaborative efforts of the curator, the artists and community partners who helped bring this to fruition,” says cWOW Executive Director, fayemi shakur. “It is an honor to share Dr. Shange’s work and it’s exciting to do so in a manner that gives new life to the profound storytelling of for colored girls.”
Lyle Omolayo Birthday/Album Release Party
TheHooFeRzCLuB, 129 Brunswick Street, Newark, NJ
Saturday, October 14
7:00 pm
We will be celebrating the born day of Lyle Omolayo as well as the release of his forthcoming ep “Flippin Tables.” “Flippin Tables” by Lyle Omolayo is a 10 track album that features Newark’s own J-Read and Linden’s Dana Holland
ART SHOW
7pm
“RECLAIMING OUR CULTURE” ART SHOW DOWNSTAIRS with work from Rushelle TheArtist Peterkin Live painting from Haniff Neeff Boyd and more.
LIVE PERFORMANCE Show 8pm
W/ DJ Kyle Royce Haynes
Hosted by Kaila Boulware
Performing LIVE :
Lyle Omolayo of Negros Americanos, C-Rayz Walz, Regtuiniah, Public Warfare, Seluna, Crimdella, Mark Marvel, Bee Sunny and Nia Waqi’ah, Sciryl Cooper, Bee Pentress Washington & Serenity and more…
Covered by X-Ray Visions Films
DreamPlay Media and Newark Open Doors present
Newark Short File Showcase: Films by Yuri Alves
CitiPlex 12, 360 Springfield Avenue, Newark, NJ
Saturday, October 14
7:00 pm
Featuring Advance Screenings of GRIND and ON THE CUSP, plus ECHOES OF FADO and EXIT ROAD. Q&A with Director Yuri Alves and Robert Black Wilmote (Grind) and Tommy Cuba (On the Cusp).
Sunday, October 15
Jay Golding’s OMO Closing Brunch Reception/
SPH Annual Open Studios, Brunch and Beats
SOLO(s) PROJECT HOUSE, 972 Broad Street, Newark, NJ
Sunday, October 15
12 noon
On Sunday Oct. 15, visual artist Jay Golding will host the closing brunch reception for exhibition “OMO” at Solo(s) Project House. There will be a featured screening of the Omo photoshoot behind the scenes filmed by Tade Fatiregun. All of which is a part of the Solo(s) Project House’s annual Open Studios, Brunch & Beats
in conjunction with the Newark Arts Council’s Open Doors tour.
What events are you planning on attending as part of this year’s Open Doors Citywide Festival? Tell us below in the comment section.
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