Report To The Community 2021

uilding a home for
creativity
Plans for the Cooperman Family
Arts Education and Community Center
How do you create a space
where the performing arts can be
taught, created and showcased
for a community and then, shared
with the world, all in one building?
Thoughtfully.
Throughout the year, work on
NJPAC’s Cooperman Family
Arts Education and Community
Center, scheduled to break
ground in 2023, advanced
carefully and steadily. Arts
Center team members from
the Arts Education, Community
Engagement, Programming,
Production and other
departments contributed
to an ongoing process of
establishing what features
should be included in the new
50,000-square-foot building,
made possible by a foundational
gift from the Cooperman family.
The family’s gift was made in
support of NJPAC’s $225 million
Capital Campaign, designed
to fuel a significant expansion
of artistic, educational and
community-based programming
that leverages the arts as a
driver of human potential,
social impact, economic
development and neighborhood
revitalization. The Campaign will
advance NJPAC as an anchor
cultural institution in Newark
for generations to come.
move forward
“It was a tremendously
collaborative process, as it
needed to be,” says Tim Lizura,
Senior Vice President of Real
Estate and Capital Projects.
“This is the first major capital
expansion of the Arts Center
in 25 years and it’s a once-ina-lifetime
opportunity. We’re
focused on getting the sense
of the place just right — what
we’ve talked about is that
the Cooperman Center is a
complement to the Arts Center,
a place for education, creation
and discovery...” Lizura adds.
Over summer 2021, NJPAC
advanced the planning for
the Cooperman Center by
selecting the architectural firm,
Weiss/Manfredi, from more
than 20 applicants as the firm
that would create the concept
design for the new building.
The celebrated team at Weiss/
Manfredi has created museums,
theaters, libraries and university
structures around the world.
“Their sense of collaboration
and their true understanding of
NJPAC’s mission came through
in their proposals, and it
was clear that they would
be the best partner for the
Arts Center,” says Lizura.
“Our vision for the Cooperman
Center is inspired by NJPAC’s
enduring commitment to
arts education,” say Michael
Manfredi and Marion Weiss,
principals of the firm.
“Our design is envisioned as
an open invitation, a place
where the walls can talk and
welcome diverse communities
of students and artists to learn,
experiment and create.”
Over the course of several
months of Arts Center teams
working with Weiss/Manfredi
designers, a vision for the
new space emerged: A threestory
building bifurcated by a
grand staircase with classrooms
in a range of sizes. Each
classroom will feature storage
spaces and soundproofing
and will be “wired for the
technology of the next 25
years” in order to share classes,
meetings, performances and
more virtually, says Lizura.
Another feature, a public
children’s reading room —
an offering that the Arts Center
will collaborate with the Newark
Public Library to create — will
give youngsters an opportunity
to learn about artists and
performers. In recognition of
a leadership gift from Karen
and Ralph Izzo, the room will
be named the Izzo Family
Children’s Reading Room.
The Cooperman Center will
also include an educational
space where students will
have an opportunity to learn
about technical theater.
“As we were planning these
spaces, we had to take into
account all the different activities
that could take place there:
educational offerings, performing
arts programs for seniors,
community gatherings and
meetings. We had to think about
things like: What size instruments
will we need to fit in the elevators?
How many drum kits can we fit
into a storage space? Will the
kids in the hip hop program be
able to hear the theater kids in
the next room? How many people
do we expect to attend a film
screening?” says Chelsea Keys,
Director of Special Projects.
Beyond the physical requirements
of the new building, this
process gave NJPAC the
runway to envision new arts
education programs that will
be housed at the facility.
“I see the Cooperman as a
place of belonging — a powerful
venue for celebrating and widely
sharing the vast contributions
of communities and artmakers
while also building the future of
artmaking and arts education,”
says Jennifer Tsukayama, Vice
President of Arts Education.
“Here, we can take NJPAC’s
longstanding commitment to
amplifying student voices to
the next level. The Cooperman
Center will be a creative and
educational incubator in which
our Arts Education Research
Lab innovates and invents arts
education curricula, pedagogy
and programs, and the Creative
Incubator will push conventional
artmaking practice and support
new, genre-expanding work.”
In addition to spaces dedicated
to arts education, the third
floor of the new building will
feature two large professional
rehearsal studios, each with
a suite of offices and ancillary
spaces, designed to be used
by performance companies
and productions in the
creation of new works.
“The rehearsal studios will allow
NJPAC to extend its efforts to
create new content for tours,
broadcast and the mainstage,”
explains David Rodriguez,
NJPAC’s Executive Vice President
and Executive Producer.
“Combining the studios with our
existing theaters makes Newark
a creative hub for all levels of
artistic project development. The
studios will also be available for
community-based artists through
a space grant program. Their
location in the Cooperman Center
will allow artists to interact and
provide master classes for young
people from throughout Newark
and beyond while in residence.” •
“We see the Cooperman Center as a
complement to the Arts Center, a place
for education, creation and discovery,
a place where we get to shape the
arts and education district that
surrounds our theaters.” – Tim Lizura
Project designer Weiss/Manfredi’s
rendering of the new, three-story
Cooperman Center, a purpose-built
home for NJPAC’s education efforts,
made possible by a gift from the
Cooperman family.
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