Watch this mini-review on Instagram.

It’s true, sometimes when people invite me to Brooklyn, or Queens, or even just the Lower East Side I have to think long and hard about saying yes. So you can trust me when I tell you Mana Contemporary’s Open Studios is worth the trip….all the way out to Newark.

First off, they have a little shuttle out of the city that you can ride if you’re funny about the PATH train. And there’s food once you get there. Can we talk about the art now?

Mana contemporary is 1 million square feet of gallery and museum space, plus artist work suites – during Open Studios you can see the whole thing: The art on display and the works in progress, plus you can meet the artists who are there on site. I particularly enjoyed the performance art by Rashad Wright, the Myriad exhibition of BIPOC artists, and I added my photo to an interactive work called Smile! That’s me in 21A!

I spent most of my time kicking it with Courtney Minor, the artist who was kind enough to invite me to Mana in the first place! I love the way she uses language and layers in her work, and when I popped in she showed me a series of life-size pieces that represent her at different points in her life. You can watch my interview with Courtney about her process in the next video.

Mana Contemporary has not seen the last of me and next time I plan to make way more studio visits! Maybe I’ll be able to convince some body to join me on this day trip next time. Feel free to volunteer in the comments. Black love and star light – stay shining ya’ll!