Through its public art initiatives, PES cultivates work that is collaborative, and responsive to the communities that intersect through its sites and programs.
PES’s public art practice centers on bold, community-rooted visions, developed in partnership with local youth, residents, and stakeholders. Over the past decade, this approach has expanded into cross-sector collaborations with the City of Newark, nonprofits, universities, cultural institutions, and corporate partners to shape projects that strengthen neighborhood well-being.
Through municipal and corporate public art commissions, PES brings artist-led, community-centered work into shared spaces across the region.
This commitment is exemplified by their own initiative Newark Grounds, a cultural corridor in downtown Newark linking nearly 75 artworks and public spaces.
Across all its programs, PES advances a vision of public art as a powerful tool for empowerment, visibility, and change—reflecting the communities it serves and helping build the futures they envision.
Current Programs and Partnerships
Newark Grounds
Led by Project for Empty Space, this initiative is a collaboration with the City of Newark Division of Art and Cultural Affairs, the City of Newark Arts and Education District, the City Parks Foundation, the Newark Alliance, the Greater Newark Convention and Visitors Bureau, Newark Arts, the Four Corners Public Arts Partnership, and the Rutgers University-Newark Design Consortium. The project connects Newark Penn Station to Teachers Village through a dynamic arts path.
The initiative bridges public art projects from Four Corners Public Arts, Project for Empty Space, and Gateways to Newark: Portraits, along with selected works from New Jersey Transit’s public art program at Newark Penn Station. It is strategically situated within the Arts and Education District, established by Mayor Ras J. Baraka in Fall 2022.
Audible’s Newark Artist Collaboration
Since 2021, Project for Empty Space has worked with Audible to launch and manage the Newark Artist Collaboration (NAC).
NAC commissions large-scale public artworks throughout downtown Newark to amplify local artists and strengthen the city’s creative economy. The program has featured murals, installations, digital works, and interactive projects throughout the Audible campus and surrounding neighborhoods, creating a cultural corridor that celebrates community, storytelling, and civic engagement.
NAC has supported over 20 selected artists and collectives, including Adama Delphine Fawundu, Antoinette Ellis-Williams, Armisey N. Smith, CAZORLA + Saleme, Eirini Linardaki, GERALUZ & WERC, IMVisible, Melisa Gerecci, Monifa Kincaid, Noelle Lorraine Williams, Ron Norsworthy, Yasmin De Jesus, Dahlia Elsayed, Gabriel Ribeiro, Gisela C. Ochoa, Jahi Kijo Lendor, RORSHACH, Kelley Prevard, Danielle Scott, and Shoshanna Weinberger. Projects have engaged local residents, students, and families, providing workshops, public programming, and free access to art experiences, reinforcing Audible’s commitment to a thriving and inclusive downtown Newark.
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Stories in Sound, Movement and Community
Project for Empty Space has partnered with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) to commission 13 new public artworks as part of NJPAC’s major campus redevelopment in downtown Newark.
The new neighborhood now under construction around NJPAC’s iconic theaters will include ArtSide, a 350-unit residential and retail development, and the Cooperman Family Arts Education and Community Center, a three-story home for NJPAC’s Arts Education, community programs and rehearsal studios.
The new public artworks will enliven all these spaces with installations that reflect the rhythm, resilience and vitality of Newark’s communities. The project, called Stories in Sound, Movement and Community, weaves together the three core elements of NJPAC’s efforts to bring communities together through the performing arts. Each new work will be site-specific and will offer an interactive experience that celebrates the city’s artistic legacy and contemporary expression.
Partnership Opportunities
Interested in collaborating with us on a project, commissioning public art, or exploring community-based initiatives? Let us know how we can work together.
Past Projects and Partnerships
By Way of Revolution Mural Series (2025)
City of Newark Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs + Helina Metaferia
Come As You Are: Bridge Housing Community (2024)
City of Newark Office of Homeless Services
Embrace (2023)
City of Newark Office of Homeless Services, Catholic Charities
of the Archdiocese of Newark + Angela Pilgrim
Sound the Rainbow (2023)
City of Newark Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Equal Space
+ Four Corners Public Arts
The Golden Life (2023)
City of Newark, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Armisey Smith
+ Rachel Fawn Alban
Put Youth In Power, Not Prison (Fall 2022)
Performing Statistics + Youth 4 Justice NJ
Work and Serve the Hour,
Lifting as We Climb (Fall 2022)
National Academy of Design + Noelle Lorraine Williams
COURAGE (June 2022)
RU-N BOLD Women's Leadership Network, Adama Delphine Fawundu + BOLD scholars
Interior Dialogue (May 2021)
Ron Norsworthy
NAPDP Mural (June 2021)
Four Corners Public Arts + Colleen Gutwein O’Neal
Newark Hope Village I (March 2021)
City of Newark + Rorschach
Sojourner Truth, Founding Mother
(September 2020)
City of Newark + Grace Lynne Haynes
In Your Absence the Skies Are All the Same
(September 2020)
Time Square Arts + Kambui Olujimi