(NEWARK, NJ) Mayor Ras J. Baraka announced that the City of Newark Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the Newark Downtown District, Project for Empty Space, Invest Newark, Newark Arts, the Greater Newark Convention and Visitors Bureau, and a diverse collective of artists completed the restoration of Gateway to Newark: Portraits last week.
Art gallery was helping revitalize city ward. Now, it’s in jeopardy of closing due to COVID. NJ.com 3/3/2021 Rebecca Panico, nj.com
An art gallery in Newark that opened in 2019 quickly became a place where artists could connect with others in an unlikely part of the city.
But now Akwaaba Gallery is in jeopardy of closing because of the coronavirus.
Laura Bonas-Palmer didn’t open the gallery in the heart of the city’s downtown, which has steadily gained renewed interest from investors. It’s instead nestled around a church and waffle house along South Orange Avenue in the city’s West Ward, an area that has long been eager to revitalize.