Category Archives: Events

Speaker Corey Johnson, IAC and The
High Line donate food

The donations of food boxes were made possible by funding from both IAC, a consortium of companies headed by Barry Diller, and The High Line. Donations were coordinated by Speaker Corey Johnson of the NYC Council, and spearheaded by Erik Bottcher, Chief of Staff for Speaker Johnson’s office. THANK YOU TO ALL!

In addition to Erik, also shown in the photograph are a few members of the Westbeth Emergency Response Committee which was formed in early March consisting of resident volunteers – filmmakers, actors, painters, writers, musicians, photographers, etc. Organized into a system of communication and feedback via floor captains, the committee has coordinated the distribution of free masks ( many handmade by volunteers from the Westbeth Beautification Committee), free safety glasses (a donation from former resident), information bulletins, shopping assistance, and emergency help.

The Committee has worked closely with the Westbeth Board of Directors, the CEO of Westbeth, and the Westbeth Artists Residents Council who themselves have worked tirelessly with Westbeth’s office, maintenance and security staff to ensure a safe, healthy and positive environment for residents and essential personnel.

Click on images to enlarge.

Volunteer Opportunities City Wide

Contact NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson for info. The demand for help is enormous.

Corey Johnson’s Chief of Staff, Eric Bottcher has identified various community and and church organizations in our neighborhood that could use help during the crisis. It could be as simple as making a phone call to chat with apartment-bound senior, or delivering medication.

Contact Eric at: ebottcher@council.nyc.gov

Faten Gaddes featured in Bedford and Bowery

How One Photographer Stuck at Home Keeps Herself from Snapping

During quarantine, Faten Gaddes doesn’t just use cleaning products to disinfect her home—she poses next to them. In her upcoming series “Postcards from Home,” the Tunisian photographer puts her own twists on the iconic “Keep Calm” posters, evoking irony and humor from life indoors under coronavirus.

The “Postcards from Home” series consists of 16 photos in which Gaddes stages a variety of household items and cleaning products that are keeping us safe by preventing the spread of COVID-19. In one, captioned “Keep Calm and Clean Your Mind,” Gaddes wears a dress made from a white trash bag while holding a vacuum and standing on a spread-out paper towel roll. In another, the artist poses in the background, wearing black gloves and a mixing bowl on her head, with Tylenol boxes, pink latex gloves, antibacterial wet wipes, an assortment of multi-purpose cleaners. In the foreground, a plush Minion wears a face mask.

During the pandemic, Gaddes has chosen to isolate herself from the media and instead, focus on her practice and meditate. “The only time when I have a connection is to take news of my family in Tunisia,” she said. Isolation has enabled Gaddes to see the good side of our current reality, and how being creative doesn’t require a lot of means. For her, just having shelter and the ability to isolate alone is already a luxury. As an artist, she doesn’t perceive confinement as punishment but a potential source of inspiration. “I find that time is slowing down and the objects around me are taking more room, their images are becoming more focused, their colors more bright,” she added.

– by Hoa P Nguyen. April 22, 2020

Read the complete article in Bedford and Bowery HERE

Gayle Kirschenbaum
Still Moments (virtually)

A virtual walkthrough of the celebrated photography exhibition at Westbeth, curtailed due to the Covid 19 crisis.

“Give me a plane, train or bus ticket, or a set of wheels and I promise I will come back with photos and stories that will warm your heart.” Never leaving home without her IPhone, intrepid Emmy award winning Netflix filmmaker and TEDx speaker, Gayle Kirschenbaum, can’t stop herself. Her insatiable curiosity to see the world, to learn about others and to document her experiences and impressions has been captured in her first solo photo exhibition called STILL MOMENTS.

“Kirschenbaum’s photos are gorgeous! Not only does she have a very keen eye, but the photos all have such life, and show such life. I felt uplifted as I was looking at them and carried that away with me afterwards.”
-Ken Tabachnick/ED Merce Cunningham Trust

REGISTER FOR FREE EVENT AT EVENTBRITE

STILL MOMENTS exhibition HERE

Bio
Gayle Kirschenbaum is a creator who expresses herself in many forms. She began life as a visual artist and started taking photos where she loved spending hours in her darkroom. She found herself shooting stories with her photographs and painting them in an impressionist way. Her desire to use words and sound led her to moving images. She became an Emmy award-winning filmmaker whose films and programs have premiered on Netflix, HBO, and Discovery. They include Look At Us Now, Mother!, A Dog’s Life: A Dogamentary, My Nose and Little Parents. Her last film led to an invitation to give a TEDx talk called No More Drama With Mama about forgiveness. She speaks and teaches on this topic. Gayle has found herself returning to her first love, photography. Her photographs were exhibited in Spain at the Barcelona Foto Biennale in October 2018, she received an honorable mention under landscape for the Pollux Awards 2019, have been in Westbeth group shows and a solo show.

She has been featured widely in the media including New York Times, NBC Today Show, Jerusalem Post and Psychology Today. She is a member of Producers Guild of America (PGA) and a judge for the Emmys and PGA.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glkirschenbaum/

Kate Walter
Stayin’ Alive

photo: Kate Walter – her refrigerator magnet

I was still in denial on March 12. I didn’t even wear plastic gloves when I went outside, although I made a point not to touch the bus door with my fingertips and then to sanitize them. That was the last time I rode the bus.

The day it really hit me was Sun., March 15, when I was asked to attend an emergency planning meeting in the Westbeth community room. The president of our board of directors said he was in close touch with Governor Cuomo and that Cuomo was going to close down the city and there would be hospitals in places like the Javits Center.

“This is war,” someone said….

At Westbeth, it is now one person at a time at the elevator (unless you are family) and we were asked to only check our mail twice a week in order to maintain social distancing in our mail room (unless we are expecting an urgent piece of mail.)

Before this pandemic hit, Westbeth Artists Housing was gearing up to celebrate our 50th anniversary. (The first tenants arrived in May 1970.) My choral group was working on versions of songs arranged by Gil Evans, who lived at Westbeth.

I’m a big fan and member of WFUV 90.7. I always tune into DJ Rita Houston’s show “The Whole Wide World” on Friday nights but now this program feels life sustaining. I cried when Rita played Van Morrison’s “Till We Get the Healing Done.” I was dancing around to the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive.” This is my new mantra.

Read the complete article by Kate Walter in the April 1, 2020 online edition of The Village Sun HERE