[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 149 (Tuesday, September 17, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING GLADYS BARKER GRAUER

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONALD M. PAYNE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 17, 2019

  Mr. PAYNE. Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the U.S. House of 
Representatives to join me as I rise to pay tribute to Gladys Barker 
Grauer, the ``Mother of Newark Arts,'' after her passing on September 
5, 2019.
  Gladys Barker Grauer was a renowned artist, gallery owner, and arts 
educator for more than 70 years. She was born Gladys Frances Barker in 
Cincinnati, Ohio on August 15, 1923, to Maudie and Charles Barker. When 
her family moved to Chicago, Illinois, she discovered her love of art 
at Englewood High School and later studied at the Art Institute of 
Chicago. In 1946, she met and married Solomon Grauer. Five years later, 
they moved to Newark's South Ward, a place where she would live her 
entire life.
  Mrs. Grauer established herself as a true force in Newark's art scene 
in 1971 when she opened the city's first African-American-owned art 
gallery, the Aard Studio Gallery on Bergen Street. Her art focused on 
Newark's marginalized populations with themes that included poverty, 
homelessness, and urban conflict. Her art has been exhibited locally, 
nationally and internationally in locations as varied as the Victoria 
and Albert Museum in London; the National Museum of American Art in 
Washington, D.C.; The Newark Museum and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art 
Museum at Rutgers-New Brunswick. Her most recent show, called 
``Speaking Her Mind: Then and Now,'' was showcased at Gallery Aferro in 
Newark just last year. In addition, she has painted five murals around 
the city for current residents and visitors to enjoy.
  More than an artist, she was a dedicated teacher of art. The Aard 
Studio Galley was a place where young artists, particularly young 
artists of color, could learn and showcase their artistic talents. They 
knew that the Aard Studio provided them a rare and critical place for 
mutual support and professional networking as well as a location for 
exhibitions and sales of their work. Also, she taught commercial art 
for the Essex County Vocational Schools from 1974 to 1989.
  She was a founding member of Black Woman in Visual Perspective, New 
Jersey Chapter of the National Conference of Artists, and the Newark 
Arts Council. She even received the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award 
from the Women's Caucus for the Arts for her contributions to the local 
art scene and support for local artists.
  Madam Speaker, I know my fellow members of the U.S. House of 
Representatives agree that Gladys Barker Grauer deserves to be 
recognized at the time of her passing for her tremendous contributions 
to the international artistic community and her dedication to the 
education and betterment of Newark's artists of color.

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