RWJBarnabas Health Public Art Partnership
Throughout 2026, Project for Empty Space has partnered with RWJBarnabas Health to bring meaningful, community-driven public art into healthcare spaces across Newark. Through artist commissions and collaborations, we have worked to make art an integral part of these environments, creating opportunities to foster a greater sense of welcome for the communities they serve.
In spring 2026, Project for Empty Space commissioned artist Diego Molina to create Sow, Harvest, Share, a mural for Harvest: An RWJBarnabas Health Farm to Community Center at 46 Halsey Street in Newark. Developed in collaboration with Newark-based Urban Agriculture Cooperative, Harvest addresses food insecurity through an integrated approach to healthcare, agriculture, education, and economic empowerment. The facility features more than 2,100 square feet of cold and dry storage dedicated to distributing locally sourced produce, eggs, meats, and essential goods to schools, food pantries, and community organizations. Molina's mural brings art into the heart of this work, celebrating the connections between food, community, and collective care.
In fall we continued this partnership through a second public art commission, this time in collaboration between RWJBarnabas Health and Saint James Health. Following an open call, artists Karena Bravo and Mike Maka were commissioned to create The Heart of Healing, a large-scale exterior mural at 604 Market Street in Newark's Ironbound neighborhood. Conceived as a bold and welcoming work of public art, the mural transforms the clinic's exterior into a more inviting presence for the surrounding community, using art to create a sense of warmth, connection, and welcome while extending the center's commitment to community well-being beyond its walls.
Diego Molina — Sow, Harvest, Share
46 Halsey Street, Newark, NJ
Positioned at the main entrance of the Harvest facility, Diego Molina’s mural Sow, Harvest, Share welcomes visitors with his distinctive illustrative style and layered visual narratives rooted in the location and its mission.
Bringing together imagery of nutrition, urban farming, locally sourced foods, and community aid, the artwork reflects the interconnected systems that support food access and collective well-being, including the distribution of fresh goods to schools, food pantries, and community organizations. Through these narratives, the mural celebrates the relationships between agriculture, nourishment, and mutual care that sustain a thriving community.
About the Artist
Diego Molina is a Newark-based illustrator and muralist whose intricate, vibrant visual language draws from popular culture, dreams, Latin American traditions, and contemporary illustration. His multidisciplinary work spans international residencies, museum exhibitions, editorial projects, and public art—including a prominent commission for the New York Red Bulls and presentations at the Queens Museum.
Karena Bravo & Mike Maka — The Heart of Healing
604 Market Street, Newark, NJ
The Heart of Healing is a large-scale community mural created for the RWJBarnabas Health and Saint James Health clinic at 604 Market Street in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood. The mural celebrates the power of care, connection, and collective well-being, reflecting a vision of a healthy community where people of all ages are welcomed, supported, and empowered to thrive.
Portraits of local healthcare workers honor the compassion and dedication that nurture a community. Imagery of active living and nourishing foods highlights the everyday practices that support health and well-being. Colorful DNA strands weave throughout the composition, symbolizing our shared humanity and the connections that unite us. Transforming into flowers and leaves, these strands bring together science and nature, growth and renewal, reflecting how healing takes root in connection and flourishes through collective care.
Community participation was central to the project. During a workshop at Riverbank Park, cohosted by the Ironbound Community Corportation, residents of all ages contributed hand-painted floral elements on Polytab, which were incorporated into the finished mural.
The Heart of Healing is both a celebration of the Ironbound community and a reminder that wellness extends beyond the clinic walls. Through art, nature, and shared experience, the mural honors the relationships that sustain us and affirms that healing begins with caring for one another.
Community Participants
Alberto Rodriguez, Allison R, Bob Clark, Christos Kambolis, Dawnn Unity, Desi Duncker, Diana Vega, Diana Vivanco, Diedre Johnson, Diego Molina, Donye, DP, Fatimat Saeed Abdallah, Jackeline Vega, Jessica Joseph, Jhostin Ugsha, John, Katherine V, Kayla Nelson, Kaya Qua B, Maria, Maria Aguirre, Mark Roberts, Mashell Black, Mike Maconha, Musa, Ofelia Garcia, Quadie, Qua Brow, Ryan, Teri Larson Clark, Tyahna Henry, Vanessa + Maximiliano Rodriguez Bravo, Vernon Adams.
About the Artists
Karena Bravo is a multidisciplinary artist from Colombia whose work celebrates women, cultural identity, and the connection between nature and feminine power. Her practice draws from her African and Latin roots and incorporates vibrant visual storytelling. Originally trained in graphic design, Karena has worked across fashion, community projects, illustration, and public art. Her international practice has taken her from Colombia to Australia and Spain, where she exhibited, collaborated with artists, and worked as a teaching artist. Now based in New Jersey, she actively engages with Newark and New York communities and art organisations. In 2025, she was selected for the NYFA Immigrant Artist Program and participated in the Mural Arts Philadelphia Training Program.
Mike Maka is a painter and multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses large-scale murals, painting, illustration, and sculpture. After moving to New York in his early twenties, he began an international artistic journey that has taken him from the Berlin Wall and the Ganges to Brazil’s favelas and Aboriginal communities in Australia. His work explores the relationship between humans, animals, machines, and the natural world, imagining nature reclaiming space from an increasingly built environment. A longtime member of Everfresh Studio, Mike has exhibited internationally, with work held in collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, and MONA Tasmania. Based between the Tristate and Melbourne, Australia, Mike brings decades of international public art experience to his collaborative practice.
Project Partners
RWJBarnabas Health
We are an academic health system, partnering with our communities to build and sustain a healthier New Jersey.
Our Vision: RWJBarnabas Health will be the premier health care destination providing patient-centered, high-quality academic medicine in a compassionate and equitable manner, while delivering a best-in-class work experience to every member of the team.
Our Values: Accountability / Compassion / Curiosity / Empathy /Excellence / Kindness Respect / Teamwork
Saint James Health is a community health center located in Newark, NJ. Our goal is to bring comprehensive primary care to the community in a setting that is comfortable and accommodating to all visitors. The health of oneself and their family is our top priority. Saint James Health, Inc. (SJH) is a non-profit organization that has been committed to bringing premier healthcare services to the Newark Metropolitan Area since 2016. Our goal is to provide comprehensive primary health and preventive services in a setting that is comfortable and accommodating to the communities we serve. Healthcare that makes a difference.