Kea Tawana (c. 1935 – August 4, 2016) was an American artist known for creating the ''Ark'', an 86-foot-long, three-story high ship she built in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Central Ward, which had been hollowed out by poverty and riots in the late 1960s. She built the ''Ark'' on an empty lot; it was still unfinished when the city condemned it in 1987. Unable to find a new location, Tawana dismantled her ship in 1988. Tawana's ''Ark'' is classified as an example of

visionary art Visionary art is art that purports to transcend the physical world and portray a wider vision of awareness including spiritual or mystical themes, or is based in such experiences. History The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism, first estab ...

and

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

. There are numerous questions about Tawana, her personal and gender identity, and her past. She told people in Newark that she was born in Japan, to a Japanese mother and an American father, who was a civil engineer, and came with him and her brother to the United States after World War II. She said her mother and sister had been killed in a bombing raid in Japan. But her obituary said that she was born on an Indian reservation and ran away at age 12. She worked for some years at a variety of itinerant jobs in the South before settling in Newark in the 1950s. There she worked for decades in a range of construction trades. After being forced to dismantle her Ark, she moved to

Port Jervis, New York Port Jervis is a city located at the confluence of the Neversink and Delaware rivers in western Orange County, New York, United States, north of the Delaware Water Gap. Its population was 8,775 at the 2020 census. The communities of Deerpark, ...

in western Orange County. She lived there for her remaining years.

Early life

Kea Tawana told people that she was born circa 1935 in Japan, the second of three siblings. Her mother was Japanese and her father was an American civil engineer. Her mother and sister died during Allied bombing raids in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Tawana and her brother moved with their American father to the United States in 1947. By her account, her father remarried but died in a displaced persons camp in California, leaving her and her brother homeless and orphaned by age 12. Her obituary said that she was born on an Indian reservation and ran away from home at age 12. She worked her way South. Strong and sturdy, she had a fierce independence and usually wore men's clothes to protect her privacy.

On the road

Tawana supported herself as an itinerant worker in a variety of jobs, including learning construction trades. She found acceptance primarily in the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

community. In 1953, Tawana freighthopped to

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.shipyard in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. She lived and worked in Newark for more than 30 years. She moved to

in the late 1980s, after being forced to demolish her ''Ark.'' She was known in the small town, and died there at home on August 4, 2016.

''Ark''

Tawana began construction of her ''Ark'' on August 8, 1982, using wood salvaged from abandoned buildings, connected with mortise and tenon joints. The ship's frame was 86 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 28 feet high. As she intended it to be both sculpture and a

seaworthy Seakeeping ability or seaworthiness is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea stat ...

vessel, she reinforced the ''Ark's'' bulkhead with iron and built five waterproof compartments. She intended to christen the ''Ark'' as the ''AKE Matsu Kaisha'' (Red Pine). Tawana was evicted in 1986, after the vacant lot she occupied was purchased by the

New Community Corporation New Community Corporation (NCC) is a not-for-profit community development corporation based in Newark, New Jersey. NCC focuses on community organizing, provision of a variety of community-enhancing services, and resident participation in agency o ...

. She moved the ''Ark'' by herself to the parking lot of the Humanity Baptist Church, where she worked as a caretaker and guard. Photographer

Camilo José Vergara Camilo José Vergara (born 1944 in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean-born, New York-based writer, photographer and documentarian. Vergara has been compared to Jacob Riis for his photographic documentation of American slums and decaying urban environ ...

said that Tawana was "the only folk artist in the Eastern United States to have built a work comparable in scope and conception to the famous Watts Towers of Los Angeles." Didi Barrett of the Museum of American Folk Art described Tawana and the Ark as "compelling symbols of hope and human potential in a community that has suffered a troubled past." Lynda Hartigan, former chief curator of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, said that Tawana's work "genuinely original, uncommercialized, and straight from the heart and mind..." Tawana generated controversy by her work, her androgynous or masculine appearance, and her opposition to urban development in the Central Ward. A spokesperson for Mayor

Sharpe James Sharpe James (born February 20, 1936) is an American Democratic politician from New Jersey, who served as State Senator for the 29th Legislative District and was 37th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. James was the second African American Mayor of ...

expressed such discomfort with her identity, when she was prominently opposing the city's plans for development. But she gained support from the Folk Art Society of America, critics, and numerous other groups to preserve her work. Though no structural flaws were cited, the Newark Department of Engineering condemned the ''Ark'' as unsafe in 1987 and ordered its demolition. Tawana went to court, where her lawyer defended the Ark as a work of art and as

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

. After a temporary injunction, Tawana agreed to demolish the Ark, a process which she completed in the summer of 1988.

Represented in other media

*David Wolfson composed ''Maya's Ark'', a 10-minute opera inspired by Tanawa's project. He stresses it is "heavily fictionalized", especially the character of Maya.

References

External links

''Kea's Ark, a documentary''
Produced, directed, and written by Susan Wallner; narrated by Brandon Webster. A production of PCK Media in cooperation with

Stockton University Stockton University is a public university in Galloway Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. It is named for Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence ...