Newark Celebrates Community Day at the Museum of Art

This free event, held monthly except in November and December, has become a staple of the museum. As one of the NMOA’s signature programs, Community Day is designed to engage and entertain the people of Newark while promoting local artists and businesses.

The celebration kicked off with music by DJ VibesByMoolah and performances by Wizdancealot, the Jazz House Kids, Kellz Merlin, Conrad Khalil Dupree, and the Newark Arts High Marching Band. Wizdancealot also gave dance lessons to members of the audience, giving them the chance to be the stars of the show.

Many other artists and vendors from Newark set up tables inside the museum and out in Harriet Tubman Square to show and sell their wares, including jewelry, pottery, paintings, cosmetics, sweet treats, and freshly blown glass. The museum’s planetarium also presented “Gourd,” a show about African slaves using the Big Dipper to navigate the Underground Railroad and escape to freedom.

With such a massive turnout, Walker and Mendoza expressed how much they enjoy interacting with the public and connecting with local artists and businesses. Mendoza’s love for creating games for children and having them explore the museum, shows just how fulfilling hosting such an enriching event can be.

Walker and Mendoza strive to keep the arts alive, as they claim to have seen them dying in public school systems, including those in Newark. But their main goal with “Community Day” is to keep the arts relevant not just in schools, but in the city as a whole.

They both turned the event into a free arts-and-crafts show, allowing guests to create relief sculptures inspired by contemporary New Jersey artist Willie Cole.

Mendoza says that Community Day is the museum’s way of highlighting Newark’s diverse culture featuring a different theme every month. This latest celebration emphasized the art, music, and cuisine made in Newark. Future events will focus on Caribbean, Latin American, and LGBTQ+ cultures, among others. 

Walker stressed the importance of reflecting Newark’s true beauty and changing public perceptions about the city with this particular Community Day. “That thought process came because so often, people are stuck in an era when Newark was, and Newark has not been that for a long time,” said Walker. “And we just want to remind people, we want to wake people up and let them know that Newark has always been a space that has been mesmerizing or enticing to those on the outside looking in.”

Mendoza added that they wanted to highlight the “tight knit” Newark community with this event. With all of their performers, vendors, and supporting organizations originating in the city, the NMOA had the people of Newark come together to provide a fun and successful day for everyone involved. All in all, with this celebration, the museum has displayed its commitment to giving back to the city, celebrating Newark, and providing holistic support to the community.

The Walker/Mendoza dynamic duo hope that hosting fun and free events like this, allows the museum to give Newark residents a reason to stay. Community Day continues to provide a family-friendly gathering, with activities catering to guests of all ages, and entertains and educates kids and adults without cost.

They both made it clear that Community Day is and should be an essential part of life in Newark, with Walker urging people to support local museums, not just the NMOA, due to their status as nonprofits. “While [the museum does] house millions of dollars worth of artwork, it costs to keep those things safe and to keep the doors open…,” said Walker. “We thrive off of donations from the public and the generosity of our community.”