Newark Symphony Hall

I'm applying because I believe in creative placekeeping. Funds would be used to support our personnel, programming, and development initiatives and help cover the carrying costs of our 220,000 sq. ft. performing arts center. Funds would allow us to have a safe re-opening of our facilities, including new housekeeping protocols that protect both staff and patrons. By alleviating these budgetary restrictions, we would expand our programming and general operating capacity.

Our work is focused on the collaborative development of artistic programs. We are partnering with several organizations ranging from one-person brands to national arts programs. Most recently, we announced our engagement with Yendor Theatre Company as our first company-in-residence. YTC is a Black-led company that, like Newark Symphony Hall, is dedicated to empowering underserved and underrepresented artists. This partnership lives under the greater umbrella of The Lab at Newark Symphony Hall, a career accelerator and business incubator focused on the performing arts. Other programming partners include the Colors of Classical Music, National Youth Poet Laureate program, New Jersey Ballet Theater, and Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District. Funds would help us launch these programs, keep them free or low-cost to participants, and fairly compensate those involved for their time and labor.

Our mission is to bring Newark Symphony Hall to life and fulfill its potential as a cultural asset and economic cornerstone that stimulates economic development and improved quality of life in New Jersey’s cultural capital, Newark. From the Children’s Performing Arts Academy, including its Newark Symphony Hall Youth Chorus, to Arts on Stage, to Soul Line Dancing, the Hall provides a variety of programs that serve the passions and ambitions of a community with a devoted history of celebrating the arts. 

Prior to COVID-19, Newark Symphony Hall was planning its first major fundraiser in years with a Def Poetry Jam Reunion. The Def Poetry event was to kick off a year long celebration of Newark Symphony Hall's 95th anniversary. Though it was forced to shift to an online platform, it set the stage for the plethora of successful pandemic-era programs to come. Since then, we have produced online arts classes, a documentary film, a multidisciplinary arts exhibition, poetry-focused engagements, webinars, and food access initiatives. We are now running a varied portfolio of online programming, including our recently launched interview series Homegrown, and investing in our future by nurturing new and existing community partnerships. 

Newark Symphony Hall is a multi-faceted organization that creates programming based on community needs. One of our current initiatives is a $50 million revitalization project, titled Symphony Works. Plans include long-overdue repairs and improvements for our historic building, as well as enhancements for the Lincoln Park neighborhood at large, created in collaboration with local real estate developers and city officials. This endeavor will generate over 500 construction jobs and 50 opportunities for small businesses, with the ultimate goal of forging sustainable career pathways and improving the quality of life for the people that live here. 

 This initiative, it is an illustration of the work that we could continue with the support of this grant. We strive to create relevant programs that directly impact people, while fighting to raise the standards for equitable practices in the arts. This starts with our home in Newark, New Jersey, where approximately one-third of residents live below the poverty line. We are an increasingly diverse city, with 47% of our population identifying as Black and 39% identifying as Hispanic. By working with those most impacted, the Hall is making performance more financially and culturally accessible to all. 

Our very existence is radical. Our staff is entirely composed of people of color. Our board is predominantly Black, and we have a separate Black-led, volunteer-based investment committee that explicitly supports our social and racial justice initiatives. We are the only major performing arts center in the state with a Black woman at the helm. 

We are a rare example of what is possible when Black and brown women and femmes lead.

In 2020, the moratorium on in-person programming and events completely eradicated our earned income. Our team downsized by over 30% to solely 8 personnel. Nevertheless, we thrived. We quickly launched #EmbraceNewark in response to urgent needs triggered by the coinciding pandemics of COVID-19 and white supremacy. This initiative included Symphony of Survival, a commissioned art installation directed by Jasmine Mans honoring the long legacy of Black resistance and the many lives of those who died at the hands of police brutality. Meanwhile, we offered free tuition for our virtual Children’s Performing Arts Academy, along with free breakfast and lunch every day to registered families. We ultimately distributed 3,000 meals not only to participants, but to anyone who expressed need. This is what community looks like.

We are working to expand our operational capacity, increase programming accessibility, and strengthen community relationships. In order to achieve these goals, we are working to fill critical staff positions that were closed due to financial constraints. One of those roles is a Director of Development, who will help us secure and manage necessary resources. Hiring new staff will alleviate the expanded workload that our modestly-sized team now handles, while allowing each of our employees to focus on a more concentrated work portfolio that suits their interests and strengths.

Our growth cannot happen independent of our community. This means that we must constantly evaluate the ways we are- and are not- reaching people. We are currently working to create a formal accessibility plan in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Though it is in-progress, we have already started to implement changes. Our website and social media now feature alternative text, and we hired an American Sign Language interpreter for our virtual and future in-person programming.

Our work, like any other anti-racist or arts-centered work, is ongoing. It is effective because we do it in partnership with our community, and it is sustainable because that partnership is founded on requited care.