ORMER CITY OF NEWARK DEPUTY MAYOR BAYE ADOFO-WILSON RECONCEPTUALIZES THE PSEG MCCARTER SWITCHING STATION INTO ART INSTALLATION WITH COALITION OF ARTISTS

Project Led By Artists Danny Simmons, Victor Davson, and Renowned Architect David Adjaye

[Newark, NJ — April 10, 2018] –   Former City of Newark Deputy Mayor and Director of Economic Development and Housing Baye Adofo-Wilson has announced the transformation of the PSEG McCarter Switching Station, his last project under his tenure as Deputy Mayor. The innovative project was conceived as an inside-out gallery, with 25-foot-tall walls feature original works from 13 local and international artists.

After Hurricane Sandy, PSEG, which sustained a lot of damage to their switching stations, opted for a new location that housed a larger switching station that could cover the region. PSEG picked the Fairmount section of the City of Newark and was rejected by the community forcing the City to settle with building a $25 million wall around the switching station, shielding it from the community.

The McCarter Switching Station Art Wall spans 1,790 feet, enclosing the 177,000 square-foot substation. The design also incorporates new green spaces nearly ten feet in width that surround the base of the art wall. The design also incorporates new green spaces nearly ten feet in width that surround the base of the art wall. Access to this new public gathering space is a porous pedestrian passageway, which is framed by 34-feet columns that taper upwards into 49 weighted canopy tops and support a dramatic overhead grid installation by Caribbean-American artist Lisa Soto.

WHO:

Davide Adjaye

Victor Davson

Danny Simmons

Baye Adofo Wilson

Manuel Acevedo

Xenobia Bailey

Aisha Thandiwe

Ya La’Ford

Jerry Gant

Gladys Grauer

Musa Hixson

Antonio Melero

Otto Neals

Mike Radar

Kevin Blythe Sampson

Lisa C Soto

WHAT:

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for McCarter Switching Station

WHERE:

33 Littleton Avenue, Newark, NJ

WHEN:

April 11, 2018

11:00 AM

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About Baye Wilson

Baye Adofo-Wilson is a lawyer and developer. He is Of Counsel to Rainone, Coughlin & Minchello law firm focusing on redevelopment law. He is also a developer, concentrating on mixed-income, mixed-use developments and renewable energy projects.  Baye is a US Army Veteran, a graduate of Rutgers-Newark, Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.