Project for Empty Space, in partnership with SHINE Portrait Studio, proudly announces the launch of In Search of the Spirit House, a new artbook by interdisciplinary artist Adama Delphine Fawundu. The publication will debut on March 31, 2026, from 6–8 PM with a celebratory launch event at Express Newark in downtown Newark. The evening will feature a conversation with fayemi shakur, Director of the City of Newark’s Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs, highlighting the themes of the book and Fawundu’s relationship to the city.
In Search of the Spirit House reveals the spiritual unfolding of Fawundu’s artistic practice in Newark, shaped by decades of dialogue, collaboration, and cultural stewardship. Deeply inspired by the enduring energy and legacy of Amiri and Amina Baraka’s Spirit House, the book reflects on how artistic work emerges through place and community. Founded in 1966 at 33 Stirling Street, the Spirit House was a revolutionary convening space and sanctuary for Black theatre, music, poetry, and political discourse. Active through 1980, it became a vital site for cultural transformation and remains a touchstone in Newark’s artistic history.
Drawing from this lineage, Fawundu’s publication explores her evolving relationship with Newark: artist to artist, artist to community, and artist to institution. The book weaves together personal reflection with collective memory, examining how sustained engagement with a city generates creative momentum and responsibility across generations.
“Working on this book affirmed the sustaining power of ‘the village.’ The community I encountered here renewed my connection to Newark and opened the door to a deeper, ongoing engagement to the city and its people.”
Adama Delphine Fawundu
Artist
The volume features interviews and conversations with Amina Baraka, Anthony Alvarez, Dr. Antoinette Ellis-Williams, fayemi shakur, Henone Girma, Marco Hall, and Rebecca Pauline Jampol. These exchanges illuminate the layered networks of collaboration that have shaped Fawundu’s practice and continue to energize Newark’s contemporary creative ecosystem.
Alongside these dialogues, the book presents images from artist projects and exhibitions developed during her time at non-profit arts organization Project for Empty Space, as well as documentation of public art commissions, group exhibitions, bookmaking initiatives, talks, workshops, and performances. It reflects on work she began in Newark in the 1980s and traces the evolution of her relationships with Project for Empty Space, Audible’s Newark Artist Collaboration, SHINE Portrait Studio at Express Newark, and The Newark Museum of Art—institutions that have served as platforms for experimentation, partnership, and community engagement.
“It has been an extraordinary honor to work alongside Adama Delphine Fawundu and to witness the depth and evolution of her practice over time. Her work carries a powerful historical consciousness and a profound generosity of spirit—rooted in community, sustained through collaboration, and expansive in vision. We are proud to support and celebrate this publication as a reflection of her enduring commitment to Newark, a city that holds deep meaning for us and for the artists and communities we serve.”
Jasmine Wahi and Rebecca Pauline Jampol
Co-Directors, Project for Empty Space
Both archive and offering, In Search of the Spirit House honors the generative power of Newark as a site of artistic inquiry and collective imagination. The limited-edition publication stands as a testament to the ways creative practice is nurtured through shared space, shared struggle, and shared vision.
The launch event at Express Newark on March 31, 2026, invites the public to celebrate the book’s release and to gather in the spirit of the spaces that inspired it.
“Adama Delphine Fawundu’s storytelling unfolds through accessible first-person narratives that move in circular rhythms and invite an encounter with the sublime. This book exemplifies what Express Newark residencies and partnerships aim to build. A collective practice where campus and community meet through art.”
Nick Kline
Co-Director, Express Newark
In Search of the Spirit House is published by SHINE Portrait Studio at Express Newark and joins a growing collection of artbooks and artist-led publications produced by SHINE Portrait Studio Press, LLC. The press is dedicated to creating artists’ books, photobooks, and printed matter using Risograph, digital offset, and other experimental processes. Developed through close collaboration, SHINE Press works with artists engaged through its residency programs as well as with those whose practices resonate with its core commitments to beauty, community, portraiture, place, and ritual. The publication stands alongside titles including the Plume House of Prayer series, and Deborah Willis, In Pursuit of Beauty: Imaging Closets in Newark and Beyond, expanding a catalogue that foregrounds Newark-centered narratives and artist-driven storytelling. SHINE Press is a collaborative project of Anthony Alvarez and Nick Kline.