Community Care | A Mural Painting Workshop with Karena Bravo & Mike Maka

Help bring this mural to life! Join artists for an all-ages workshop to add color to floral and decorative mural elements. Artists Karena Bravo and Mike Maka have been selected to develop a large-scale mural for the new RWJBarnabas and Saint James Health clinic, opening at 604 Market Street in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood. Hosted by Project for Empty Space (PES), in partnership with Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC), the mural project centers themes of intergenerational care, family, healing, and community wellness, drawing inspiration from the clinic’s mission and rich history of Newark’s Ironbound. Help bring the mural to life! Join us on Saturday, October 10, from 11 AM–2 PM at Riverbank Park, as part of the Newark Arts Festival. Community members will have the opportunity to contribute directly to the mural by adding color to floral and decorative elements inspired by medicinal plants, healing, nature, family, and community care. All ages are invited! Wear clothes you’re ready to paint in, and come prepared to get your hands dirty and help shape a new piece of public art for the Ironbound. RSVP here! - About the Artists Karena Bravo is a multidisciplinary artist from Colombia whose work celebrates women, cultural identity, and the connection between nature and feminine power. Her practice draws from her African and Latin roots and incorporates vibrant visual storytelling. Originally trained in graphic design, Karena has worked across fashion, community projects, illustration, and public art. Her international practice has taken her from Colombia to Australia and Spain, where she exhibited, collaborated with artists, and worked as a teaching artist. Now based in New Jersey, she actively engages with Newark and New York communities and art organisations. In 2025, she was selected for the NYFA Immigrant Artist Program and participated in the Mural Arts Philadelphia Training Program. @bravokarena | bravokarena.com Mike Maka is a painter and multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses large-scale murals, painting, illustration, and sculpture. After moving to New York in his early twenties, he began an international artistic journey that has taken him from the Berlin Wall and the Ganges to Brazil’s favelas and Aboriginal communities in Australia. His work explores the relationship between humans, animals, machines, and the natural world, imagining nature reclaiming space from an increasingly built environment. A longtime member of Everfresh Studio, Mike has exhibited internationally, with work held in collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, and MONA Tasmania. Based between the Tristate and Melbourne, Australia, Mike brings decades of international public art experience to his collaborative practice. @mike.makatron | www.makatron.com