Westbeth Artists Community
Encyclopedia
Westbeth Artists Housing, located at 463 West Street in the West Village
neighborhood of the New York City
borough
of Manhattan
, is the largest such community in the world. This low- to middle-income rental housing project was developed with the assistance of the J.M. Kaplan Fund and federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1968 to house artists, their families, and their studios. The facility considers itself full and is not accepting applications from new artists.
of industrial buildings for artistic and residential use in the United States. It is a complex of 13 buildings in Manhattan's West Village, comprising an entire city block, bounded on the north by Bethune Street; on the east by Washington Street; on the south by Bank Street
; and on the west by West Street
. The complex was originally the site of Bell Laboratories (1868–1966), one of the world's most important industrial research centers and home to many inventions, including the vacuum tube, the condenser microphone, an early version of television,and the transistor. The complex was vacated by Bell in the middle 1960s, and remained empty until the Westbeth project started later in the decade. Using seed money from the J.M. Kaplan Fund and help and encouragement from the National Council for the Arts (which has since become the National Endowment for the Arts), an ambitious renovation project designed to create live-work spaces for 384 artists of all disciplines was initiated under the direction of developer Dixon Bain. The project was the first significant public commission of Richard Meier, who later won the Pritzker Prize for architecture and is still a significant figure in modern architecture. Westbeth opened in 1970 for artists, dancers, musicians, actors, writers and film makers.
Artists of all disciplines are admitted as tenants in Westbeth after review by a committee of tenants in their discipline. They must also meet certain income requirements at the time of admission. (The waiting list for new residential tenants was closed in 2007.)
In addition to its residential component, there are also large and small commercial spaces, performance spaces, and rehearsal and artists' studios. Westbeth is home to a number of major cultural organizations, including The New School for Drama, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the LAByrinth Theater, the Brecht Forum
, and Congregation Beit Simchat Torah
, the first LGBT synagogue in New York and the largest in the world, with over 800 members.
Westbeth is owned and operated by Westbeth Corp. Housing Development Fund Corp. Inc., a New York not-for-profit corporation governed by an unpaid, volunteer board of directors. Westbeth's residential tenants are protected by the Rent Stabilization Law and Code. Westbeth's operation is also subject to oversight by the Internal Revenue Service
, the New York City housing department, and the Charities Bureau of the New York State attorney general.
In late October 2009, after consultation with the Westbeth Corp., the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
calendared the site for consideration as an individual landmark.
The landmarks commission action came shortly after the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
, using funds from the J.M. Kaplan Fund, commissioned historic preservationist Andrew Dolkart
to write a report to nominate Westbeth for listing on the State and National Register of Historic Places. The research included interviews with several key figures in the conversion of the former Bell Telephone Labs to the nation's first subsidized housing complex for artists, including architect Richard Meier
, choreographer Merce Cunningham
, and Joan Davidson.
Following Prof. Dolkart's submission, and citing the "extraordinary significance" required to list sites on the State and National Register of Historic Places which are less than 50 years old, the New York State Historic Preservation Board unanimously approved the nomination of Westbeth to the State Register of Historic Places. Action by the National Park Service on the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
is pending. On October 25, 2011 the Landmarks Preservation Commission finally acted on their promise to designate Westbeth as an official city landmark.
for the Council's official website – www.westbeth.org. The website hosts individual artists' pages showing the work of its artist-residents and publicizes cultural events and exhibitions sponsored by the Council. The Council also functions as the tenants association, and is involved in various larger community issues, particularly with regard to preserving the historic character of the West Village neighborhood, and zoning issues.
, Moses Gunn, Hal Miller, Muriel Rukeyser, Paul Benjamin, Vin Diesel
, Karen Santry, David Greenspan, Tobias Schneebaum
, David Del Tredici, Billy Harper
, Joseph Chaikin
, Hans Haacke
, Bobby Harden, Spencer Holst, Barton Lidice Benes, Robert De Niro, Sr.
, Ed Sanders
, Ralph Lee
, Karl Bissinger
, John Dobbs
, William Kennon, Herman Rose
, Gayle Kirschenbaum
, Robert Beauchamp, Barbara Rosenthal
, Harry Schunk, and Anne Tabachnick
.
A new film "Growing Up At Westbeth" by Westbeth filmmakers Christina Maile and Francia Tobacman Smith features archival photos, footage and interviews, 40 years later, with the children who grew up at Westbeth. The film was shown at the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Westbeth in October 2010 as part of the Westbeth Film Festival. A film about the noted feminist artist, Anita Steckel, a resident of Westbeth, is in production by the same filmmakers.
West Village, Manhattan
The West Village is the western portion of the Greenwich Village neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The area is usually defined as bounded by the Hudson River on the west and either Sixth Avenue or Seventh Avenue on the east, extending from 14th Street down to Houston Street...
neighborhood of the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, is the largest such community in the world. This low- to middle-income rental housing project was developed with the assistance of the J.M. Kaplan Fund and federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1968 to house artists, their families, and their studios. The facility considers itself full and is not accepting applications from new artists.
History
Westbeth is among the first examples of adaptive reuseAdaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
of industrial buildings for artistic and residential use in the United States. It is a complex of 13 buildings in Manhattan's West Village, comprising an entire city block, bounded on the north by Bethune Street; on the east by Washington Street; on the south by Bank Street
Bank Street (Manhattan)
Bank Street is a primarily residential street in the Greenwich Village section of New York City, in the borough of Manhattan. It runs from West Street to Hudson Street, and Bleecker Street to Greenwich Avenue...
; and on the west by West Street
West Side Highway
The West Side Highway is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A that runs from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of...
. The complex was originally the site of Bell Laboratories (1868–1966), one of the world's most important industrial research centers and home to many inventions, including the vacuum tube, the condenser microphone, an early version of television,and the transistor. The complex was vacated by Bell in the middle 1960s, and remained empty until the Westbeth project started later in the decade. Using seed money from the J.M. Kaplan Fund and help and encouragement from the National Council for the Arts (which has since become the National Endowment for the Arts), an ambitious renovation project designed to create live-work spaces for 384 artists of all disciplines was initiated under the direction of developer Dixon Bain. The project was the first significant public commission of Richard Meier, who later won the Pritzker Prize for architecture and is still a significant figure in modern architecture. Westbeth opened in 1970 for artists, dancers, musicians, actors, writers and film makers.
Artists of all disciplines are admitted as tenants in Westbeth after review by a committee of tenants in their discipline. They must also meet certain income requirements at the time of admission. (The waiting list for new residential tenants was closed in 2007.)
In addition to its residential component, there are also large and small commercial spaces, performance spaces, and rehearsal and artists' studios. Westbeth is home to a number of major cultural organizations, including The New School for Drama, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the LAByrinth Theater, the Brecht Forum
Brecht Forum
The Brecht Forum is an independent Marxist educational and cultural center in New York City, named after German writer Bertold Brecht. Throughout the year, the Forum offers a wide-ranging program of classes, public lectures and seminars, art exhibitions, performances, popular education workshops,...
, and Congregation Beit Simchat Torah
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah is a Jewish synagogue located in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1973 and describes itself as the world's largest LGBT synagogue. CBST serves Jews of all sexual orientations and gender identities, their families, and their friends. It is led by Senior...
, the first LGBT synagogue in New York and the largest in the world, with over 800 members.
Westbeth is owned and operated by Westbeth Corp. Housing Development Fund Corp. Inc., a New York not-for-profit corporation governed by an unpaid, volunteer board of directors. Westbeth's residential tenants are protected by the Rent Stabilization Law and Code. Westbeth's operation is also subject to oversight by the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
, the New York City housing department, and the Charities Bureau of the New York State attorney general.
In late October 2009, after consultation with the Westbeth Corp., the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The Commission was created in April 1965 by Mayor Robert F. Wagner following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station the previous year to make way for...
calendared the site for consideration as an individual landmark.
The landmarks commission action came shortly after the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation is a non-profit organization that seeks to preserve the architectural heritage and cultural history of several neighborhoods of New York City: Greenwich Village, the East Village, the Far West Village, the South Village, Gansevoort Market,...
, using funds from the J.M. Kaplan Fund, commissioned historic preservationist Andrew Dolkart
Andrew Dolkart
Andrew Scott Dolkart is the James Marston Fitch Associate Professor of Historic Preservation at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and Director of the school's Historic Preservation Program...
to write a report to nominate Westbeth for listing on the State and National Register of Historic Places. The research included interviews with several key figures in the conversion of the former Bell Telephone Labs to the nation's first subsidized housing complex for artists, including architect Richard Meier
Richard Meier
Richard Meier is an American architect, whose rationalist buildings make prominent use of the color white.- Biography :Meier is Jewish and was born in Newark, New Jersey...
, choreographer Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham
Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
, and Joan Davidson.
Following Prof. Dolkart's submission, and citing the "extraordinary significance" required to list sites on the State and National Register of Historic Places which are less than 50 years old, the New York State Historic Preservation Board unanimously approved the nomination of Westbeth to the State Register of Historic Places. Action by the National Park Service on the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
is pending. On October 25, 2011 the Landmarks Preservation Commission finally acted on their promise to designate Westbeth as an official city landmark.
Organizations
The Westbeth Artists' Residents Council, elected by the residential tenants, acts as the building's tenants association and provides free cultural events to the public such as readings, performances, and film screenings in the Westbeth Community Performance Space and runs the Westbeth Art Gallery, which exhibits the work of both resident and non-resident artists; both in spaces donated by the corporation. The Council receives grants from the offices of NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn and State Sen. Thomas Duane, as well as public funding from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. In 2008, the Council was awarded a major grant from the Pollock-Krasner FoundationPollock-Krasner Foundation
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expressionist painter and the widow of fellow painter Jackson...
for the Council's official website – www.westbeth.org. The website hosts individual artists' pages showing the work of its artist-residents and publicizes cultural events and exhibitions sponsored by the Council. The Council also functions as the tenants association, and is involved in various larger community issues, particularly with regard to preserving the historic character of the West Village neighborhood, and zoning issues.
Resident artists of note
Westbeth Artists Housing has been home to a number of influential artists including Diane ArbusDiane Arbus
Diane Arbus March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for black-and-white square photographs of "deviant and marginal people or of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal." A friend said that Arbus said that she was "afraid.....
, Moses Gunn, Hal Miller, Muriel Rukeyser, Paul Benjamin, Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...
, Karen Santry, David Greenspan, Tobias Schneebaum
Tobias Schneebaum
Tobias Schneebaum was an American artist, anthropologist, and AIDS activist. He is best known for his experiences living, and traveling among the Harakmbut people of Peru, and the Asmat people of Papua, Western New Guinea, Indonesia then known as Irian Jaya.-Early life:He was born on Manhattan's...
, David Del Tredici, Billy Harper
Billy Harper
Billy Harper is a Jazz saxophonist, "one of a generation of Coltrane-influenced tenor saxophonists" with a distinctively stern, hard-as-nails sound on his instrument.-Biography:...
, Joseph Chaikin
Joseph Chaikin
Joseph Chaikin was an American theatre director, playwright, and pedagogue.-Early years:The youngest of five children, Chaikin was born to a poor Jewish family living in the Borough Park residential area of Brooklyn. At the age of six, he was struck with rheumatic fever, and he continued to...
, Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke is a German-American artist who lives and works in New York.- Early life :Haacke was born in Cologne, Germany. He studied at the Staatliche Werkakademie in Kassel, Germany, from 1956 to 1960. He was a student of Stanley William Hayter, a well-known and influential English printmaker,...
, Bobby Harden, Spencer Holst, Barton Lidice Benes, Robert De Niro, Sr.
Robert De Niro, Sr.
Robert Henry De Niro, Sr. was an American abstract expressionist painter and the father of actor Robert De Niro.-Life and career:...
, Ed Sanders
Ed Sanders
Ed Sanders is an American poet, singer, social activist, environmentalist, author and publisher and has been a longtime member of the band The Fugs. He has been called a bridge between the Beat and Hippie generations.-Biography:...
, Ralph Lee
Ralph Lee
Ralph Lee makes work centered on the mask, both its design and use in theatrical performance. Most of the theater events he creates take place outside traditional performance venues. These include parades, pageants, seasonal celebrations and outdoor theatrical performances. Masks and giant puppets...
, Karl Bissinger
Karl Bissinger
Karl Bissinger was an American photographer best known for his portraits of notable figures in the world of art following World War II.-Early years:Karl Bissinger was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1914...
, John Dobbs
John Dobbs
John Gordon Dobbs was an outfielder in Major League Baseball from -. He was later a minor league manager from -. His career managerial record was 1918-smd.-External links:* *...
, William Kennon, Herman Rose
Herman Rose
Herman Rose was the professional pseudonym of Herman Rappaport , an American painter and artist. He was best known for his depictions of cityscapes, including his painting “74th Street Rooftops From Studio."...
, Gayle Kirschenbaum
Gayle Kirschenbaum
Gayle Kirschenbaum is an American filmmaker and TV producer. Her work is predominantly non-fiction and includes the film festival favorite My Nose and critically praised film A Dog's Life: A Dogamentary which premiered on HBO. She has collaborated with the documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles. She...
, Robert Beauchamp, Barbara Rosenthal
Barbara Rosenthal
Barbara Rosenthal is an American avant-garde artist and writer. Her existential themes have contributed to contemporary art and philosophy...
, Harry Schunk, and Anne Tabachnick
Anne Tabachnick
Anne Tabachnick was an American expressionist painter whose unique, colorful style drew inspiration from the New York school of Abstract Expressionism, the Old Masters, and East Asian calligraphy painting.- Biography :...
.
A new film "Growing Up At Westbeth" by Westbeth filmmakers Christina Maile and Francia Tobacman Smith features archival photos, footage and interviews, 40 years later, with the children who grew up at Westbeth. The film was shown at the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Westbeth in October 2010 as part of the Westbeth Film Festival. A film about the noted feminist artist, Anita Steckel, a resident of Westbeth, is in production by the same filmmakers.
External links
- Westbeth Artists Residents Council official website Presents information on current cultural activities at Westbeth, including exhibitions at the Westbeth Gallery and performances at the Westbeth Community Performance Space; individual webpages of Westbeth artist-residents, detailed history, etc.
- Westbeth Center for the Arts official company website
- http://www.homeofthearts.org/