Salamishah Tillet
Curating works by artists with deep ties to Newark, NJ—to explore how art can confront and counter a city’s challenges.
Salamishah Tillet has dedicated her career to exploring Black experiences and envisioning art as a vehicle for change—themes that run from her criticism at The New York Times, which was honored with a Pulitzer Prize in 2022, to her two books, In Search of the Color Purple and Sites of Slavery. She’s currently writing a book on icon Nina Simone.
A professor of Africana studies and creative writing at Rutgers University-Newark, Tillet is also the director of Express Newark, a center for art, design, and digital storytelling on campus. A unique space with exhibits, studios, classes, and events, it supports artists of all ages who, like Tillet, drive toward justice.
A proud resident of Newark, Tillet has led multiple public art initiatives in the city, including the “A Call to Peace” exhibition in Military Park and the “Will You Be My Monument?” mural in Four Corners Historic District. She sees Express Newark as honoring the city’s legacy of art and activism—a legacy that has gone unappreciated for too long. As an Emerson Collective Fellow, Tillet will curate an exhibition and series of events featuring works by artists born, based in, or visiting Newark, from 1975 through the present.
While Newark is known for its towering cultural legacy in the early 20th century, more recent decades have not received an appropriate appraisal. During that time, the people of Newark experienced deindustrialization, suburban flight, the disproportionate effects of crime, and divestment, followed by a period of rediscovery, development, and fears of gentrification and displacement. In turn, artists engaged with these realities through a movement known as “The Newark School.” Tillet will create an oral history of this significant body of work, reflecting the city’s inherent beauty and value and nuanced attitudes toward revitalization. Additionally, public art engagements and activations throughout the city will highlight how communities can embrace art to confront their most significant challenges—and articulate possibilities for change.