Kea's Ark

In the 1980s, Kea Tawana built a three-story ark on the highest point of Newark, New Jersey. It was in the devastated Central Ward, where Kea salvaged materials from buildings abandoned after Newark’s 1967 uprising.

She worked on her ark for years before city officials took note and demanded it gone. Although it no longer exists, Kea’s Ark remains a powerful symbol of hope in Newark and beyond.