a massive reclaimed industrial space in Jersey City is now a five-floor art oasis pulsating with inspiration
by Laura D.C. Kolnoski
Welcome to Mana Contemporary, where artists create, dance companies rehearse, books are printed, Broadway costumes are stored, and gargantuan exhibitions are mounted for public viewing. Originally a 1890s Jersey City tobacco warehouse, the site unites art studios, galleries, and ancillary services in a single location, while facilitating imagination and collaboration.
Founded in 2011, it is one of the largest and most innovative contemporary art organizations in the United States— one that began with a 300,000-squarefoot location in Chicago. Its NJ expansion plans will eventually encompass more than 2,000,000 square feet, and a third location will open in December in Miami’s Wynwood arts district, where co-founder and President Eugene Lemay, a noted international artist in his own right, is making preparations.
“Miami is a natural fit for us,” Lemay said. “Wynwood is a predominantly Latin American community where we are creating a hub of art, music, dance, culinary arts, and culture. At Mana Contemporary, art is not just a commodity; we’re interested in the process of how it gets made. Artists feel supported here, the collector feels welcome, and the public can come and learn.”
In Jersey City, Mana’s integrated hive structure, accessed via freight elevators, provides an environment that fosters experimentation. The Glass Gallery, designed by renowned architect Richard Meier, is its premier exhibition area—a 50,000-square-foot space drenched in natural light, with towering ceilings illuminated by large windows. There, monumental works and installations that can’t be displayed in traditional museums fit effortlessly.
The famed International Center of Photography at Mana, an extension of its Manhattan operation, is known for an innovative approach to the art form. That space houses a state-of-the art collections facility, a media lab, and access to over 150,000 works including daguerreotypes, gelatin silver, and digital chromogenic prints, along with American and European documentary photography from 1930-1960.
Master sculptor Ben Keating’s Keating Foundry is there, too, assisting other artists with mold-making, production, and custom patination, all of which visitors can observe. Keating, who works primarily in bronze, has manufactured works for Julian Schnabel and other notables. On the first floor, the Book dummy press Publishing Company—founded by photographers Shiori Kawasaki and Victor Sira—creates artistic publications and also handles rare and out-of-print books. Workshops are held there on the history of book construction, editing, and design.
Galerie Ernst Hilger, founded in Vienna, also has a location at Mana. On the building’s fourth floor, visitors can watch choreographer Karole Armitage’s contemporary ballet company “Armitage Gone! Dance” practice behind a glass wall. The Tony Awardnominated “punk ballerina” has choreographed music videos for Michael Jackson and Madonna.
Guests might also encounter renowned artists such as Gary Lichtenstein of Gary Lichtenstein Editions, who moved his world-class screen-printing operation from Connecticut to Mana in 2013. Over his 40-year career, Lichtenstein has created acclaimed images with legends including Bob Gruen, Richard Meier, and Jessica Stockholder.
“I was looking to be close to New York City and this is such a unique artistic, industrial environment with remarkable people,” Lichtenstein said. “I wanted to work with other creative artists as opposed to being alone.”
New Jersey native and Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier maintains his spacious model museum filled with artifacts, a research library, and exhibition space, at Mana. Visitors can view a rotating selection of over 400 three-dimensional models, prints, sketches, renderings, photographs, and sculpture. Next door, his daughter Ana Meier has a studio and furniture showroom of her own.
In other private studios, some 100 local and international artists bring their visions to life. There is currently a waiting list for space (which must be applied for), but more is being created. On the horizon are recording studios, theater and music programming, sculpture gardens, educational programs, and art fairs. To provide the additional space, Lemay and his co-founder, art advisor Yigal Ozeri, have acquired three of the five towers of the adjacent Canco complex.
“The goal was to have all forms of art here,” Lemay said. “We are bringing in philharmonic groups and Broadway performers, too, to rehearse and record in state-of-the-art studios. It fits our vision of artists from different disciplines inspiring each other and exposing the creative process.”
Future Mana locations are planned for LA and London.
Mana Contemporary
888 Newark Ave., Jersey City / 800.842.4945 / manacontemporary.com
