NEW YORK – An open call for participation in the public arts project Raised Flags in the Forest Hill section of Newark, NJ, was sent out by visual artists Eirini Linardaki and Melanie Levick-Parkin. Applicants will be interviewed by Linardaki and Levick-Parkin and a fabric patterned design will be created out of each participant’s own experiences, environment and stories. This will lead to a public art display in Fall 2023, created by artists and participants from the Newark’s Forest Hill area community.

If you would like to participate and make your story visible through a piece of art in your neighborhood, please contact Eirini and Melanie via email: [email protected]
The project is supported by Project for Empty Space via Newark Artist Accelerator Grant. This year’s fund is made possible by the generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program and The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund.

This project will create a temporary public art display, co-created by artistic researchers and participants from the Newark’s Forest Hill area community.

These interactions will surface personal and family heritage narratives through informal interviews and ethnographic methods, supported by diachronic reflections on local heritage and history, in order to co-produce visual narratives meaningful to the participants, community, and location. This will then inform the design of textile flags that re-contextualize, represent, and make visible the community’s multi-faceted belongings in an expressive and inclusive way.

The flags will become the center point of a public art display in their community setting for one month, making this creative cooperation visible to the wider public. The event will be supported by a guided tour, organized by the artists and the local association, and an online map and exhibition, which give further insight into the visual narratives presented within the flags.

This project is a transdisciplinary creative arts practice and research which utilizes participatory and visual anthropological methods to surface community heritage narratives that go beyond linear nationalistic identities. It aims to make visible shared human history, experiences, and values to support the fostering of mutual respect and shared visions for diverse and inclusive futures.

More about the Newark Artist Accelerator grant:

Project for Empty Space is pleased to announce the 2022 Newark Artist Accelerator grant recipients which include: Antoinette Ellis-Williams, Bikier Hayes, Cazorla + Saleme, David Orrell, Eirini Linardaki & Melanie Levick-Parkin, Kim Hill, Kwesi Kwarteng, and Monifa Kincaid.

The 2022 Newark Artist Accelerator is a project grant for Newark-based, multidisciplinary visual artists. This year’s grants were awarded up to $7,500. Projects are artist-led and could include collaborative ventures, pop-up exhibitions, events, and interventions of an ephemeral nature that are radically accessible to public audiences.

This year’s fund is made possible by the generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program and The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund.