Newark Symphony Hall recently unveiled a five-year, $50 million upgrade of the historic performance venue that will revitalize its exterior, improve as much as 50,000 square feet of tenant space and create new street-level restaurant space. — Courtesy: Newark Performing Arts Corporation/Clarke Caton Hintz
By Joshua Burd
Prudential Financial and the Mellon Foundation have gifted a combined $2.75 million to Newark Symphony Hall in support of the venue’s ongoing renovation and programming update.
The facility, located at 1020 Broad St., is in the midst of a major upgrade in conjunction with its upcoming 100th anniversary, in a project that has drawn funding from public and private sources. The latest to announce their support for the effort include Newark-based Prudential, which contributed $2 million for the center’s capital improvement campaign.
“Newark Symphony Hall is a community pillar and longtime partner,” said Nicole Butler, vice president of inclusive solutions at Prudential. “This funding helps preserve a historical treasure, continues our support of Newark’s vibrant arts community, and moves Newark Symphony Hall closer to achieving its renovation goals.”
In a news release, NSH noted that the capital improvements are slated to generate 500 construction jobs and contracting opportunities for 50 small businesses in the community. The venue expects to use federal historic tax credits, among other economic development funding tools for catalytic projects, including benefits available under the government’s Opportunity Zone program.
Meantime, the Mellon Foundation gift of $750,000 will help enable the establishment of a new programming department for NSH.
“NSH gives voice to artists who have long contributed to our understanding of community,” said Emil J. Kang, program director for arts and culture at the Mellon Foundation. “We are honored to support Taneshia Nash Laird’s leadership and NSH’s commitment to honoring the rich legacy and creativity of Newark.”
Mellon’s grant will support three years of staffing for a director, manager and coordinator, the news release said. It will be the first time in nearly two decades that the multifunctional facility — which encompasses multiple performance and rehearsal spaces, including a dance studio — will have dedicated programming staff. Accordingly, the department’s responsibilities will include assessing the community’s programming needs, developing internal infrastructure and scaling the programming’s scope and reach.
Nash Laird, the organization’s CEO and president, said a major focus of the new department will be to “center the cultures of communities of color, those traditionally marginalized, but who constitute majorities in the city and state and around the globe — including from the African, Latinx and Asian diasporas.”
“After piloting a number of programs in the past two years, including the artist-activated #EmbraceNewark pandemic relief initiative with poet Jasmine Mans as creative director, launching the state’s New Jersey Youth Poet Laureate program, and creating The Lab performing arts incubator and career accelerator, the dedicated programming department will facilitate our program production in all of our venues—including the Sarah Vaughan concert hall, our legendary Terrace Ballroom, and our black box theater,” she said.
The funding arrives as the venue has had a series of operational successes, including becoming an in-demand alternative location for film and television productions. In 2021, USA Network’s series “America’s Big Deal” was broadcast live from NSH for the entire season.
Additionally, the Hulu drama series “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” transformed spaces in the 145,000-square-foot complexes for two episodes of the show during the pandemic, including one directed by Hollywood filmmaker Mario Van Peebles.
Additionally, for the first time in decades, NSH received state funding in the form of $5 million in New Jersey’s 2022 budget and $6 million in the 2023 budget.
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