Before the Syscrapers: What City are We Building?

Vanessa Vargas

Journal Square will soon be the home of three enormous luxury rental towers. The towers

will permanently change the demographics and cultural expression of “The Square” and its

surroundings. This is a game changing partnership between government and developers.

On May 2nd from 7-9 pm, ShuaSpace will open its gallery for the opening reception of

Before the Skyscraper, a multi-disciplinary exhibition as a response to this imminent shift in

dynamics.

Through photography, performance, audio interviews, and more, the exhibition responds

to the questions: What is Journal Square now? What are the environments being “transformed”?

The exhibit documents, criticizes and begs: what kind of neighborhood and city are we

building? For whom? What are the alternatives?

ShuaSpace is an artist run creative space in Jersey City’s Journal Square neighborhood.

We support innovative artwork in all media, particularly works which foster dialogue about ideas

and aesthetics that affect the neighborhood’s environment. It is directed by movement based

artist Joshua Bisset and dancer and visual artist Laura Quattrocchi who form the Shua Group

performance company.