Audible Lobby Mural: One Washington Park

Application:
Painted mural

Dimensions:
40’-1” L x 10’ H

Themes for Exploration

Voices from Newark’s many communities: As the “Gateway City,” Newark was a transportation hub for the rest of the country and an entry point for migrants and immigrants. Several distinct groups have called Newark home: Scotch-Irish; Germans; Italians; Irish; Eastern European Jews; Portuguese; Spanish; Brazilians; Dominicans; Puerto Ricans; African-Americans from the South; Chinese; Polish; Ecuadorians; and Salvadorans.

Voices of social activism in the arts: “The artist’s role is to raise the consciousness of the people. To make them understand life, the world, and themselves more completely.” - Amiri Baraka
We live in a city with a historic and present-day dedication to social activism. Who are the leaders who use words to catalyze, organize, and promote change? How have artists used visual, spoken, performing and literary arts to prompt discourse around social issues? How does technology allow us to lean into media, providing a more expansive reach and deeper understanding?

Voices from Newark’s queer history: Club Zanzibar (which once stood across the street from Audible) was where Paris Dupree—noted ballroom queen, a pioneer in vogueing, and Mother of House Dupree—held her first ball. (Paris became a central figure in the seminal documentary Paris Is Burning.) Newark’s queer community has since opened up and runs an annual Pride parade in August, and the LGBTQ+ Resource Center is housed at Newark Public Library.

Voices of Newark Women: There is a much longer legacy of women’s activism in Newark than is widely known. In 1872, a female student integrated Newark schools. In 1915, Grace Baxter Fenderson founded Newark’s chapter of the NAACP. Authors, teachers, activists—several generations of Newark women have fought against racial and gender inequality. Efforts such as the recent commission for the Harriet Tubman monument and renaming of Washington Park are among many demanding visibility for long overlooked and underappreciated women of Newark.