Newark Grounds is a walkable cultural corridor in Downtown Newark, New Jersey, featuring over 75 consecutive public artworks and dedicated arts and culture spaces. This initiative, led by Project for Empty Space, is a collaboration with the City of Newark Division of Art and Cultural Affairs, the City of Newark Arts and Education District, the City Parks Foundation, the Newark Alliance, the Greater Newark Convention and Visitors Bureau, Newark Arts, the Four Corners Public Arts Partnership, and the Rutgers University-Newark Design Consortium. The project creates an arts path that connects Newark Penn Station to Teachers Village.

Newark Grounds bridges public art projects from Four Corners Public Arts, Project for Empty Space, and Gateways to Newark: Portraits, as well as selected pieces from New Jersey Transit’s public art program at Newark Pennsylvania Station. The corridor is strategically located in the newly established Arts and Education District, which was announced by Mayor Ras J. Baraka in Fall 2022.

Over the next two years, this initiative will provide a platform for ongoing public arts programming, enhancing existing spaces with additional murals, installations, sculptures, performances, streetscape improvements, wayfinding signage, lighting, and cultural activities. The initial phase of this work is supported by an A. R. T. grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA).

In partnership with Rutgers University-Newark Arts Culture and Media Department, Professor Chantal Fischzang and students from the Design Consortium crafted the name and brand identity for Newark Grounds. This direction was shaped over an entire year of community engagement sessions with diverse stakeholders. It takes inspiration from the late Amiri Baraka’s "Ballad of the Morning Street," illuminating the city’s palette and the spirit of its people.