Category Archives: Events

WESTBETH honored by GVSHP historical plaque is featured in THE VILLAGER

Nancy Gabor Westbeth Artists Residents Council, Patrica Jones Westbeth, Andrew Berman GVSHP, Joan Davidson JM Kaplan , Domhnaill Henon Nokia Bell Labs Photo: Tequila Minsky

THE VILLAGER Nov 29, 2018
BY TEQUILA MINSKY | The latest plaque to grace the portal of the Westbeth Artists Housing complex in Greenwich Village completes a trifecta of acknowledgements that recognize the historical significance of 55 Bethune St.

Early Tuesday afternoon, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation unveiled a plaque honoring the building’s history as a place of sound-technology innovation and as a groundbreaking home to artists.

Dedicated to provide affordable living and working space for artists and arts organizations in New York City, Westbeth comprises the full city block, bounded by West, Bethune, Washington and Bank Sts., and takes its name from two of these streets. Nearly 400 artists and their families live in Westbeth. Artists use their homes to make art, and musicians and dancers practice in their studios.

The building complex, built from roughly 1860 to 1934, originally was the home of Bell Telephone Labs from 1898 to 1966. Many technological innovations were developed or advanced there, including radar, television and video telephones.

The original High Line freight rail line ran through the complex’s eastern side, and the rail bed is still carved through and visible in this former industrial landmark building.

In 1970, it reopened as Westbeth, an early example of large-scale adaptive reuse of an industrial building.

This latest Westbeth Artists Housing plaque sits to the right of a Historical Physics Sites plaque, indicating the building is on the Register of Historic Sites of the American Physical Society.

A red medallion installed this September by the Historical Landmarks Preservation is dedicated to dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, whose dance studio was in Westbeth.

At this week’s plaque dedication, Nancy Gabor, vice president of the Westbeth Artist Residents Council, or WARC, listed a panoply of programs and activities that weave residents together, as well as contribute to their being part of other artistic communities and Village activities.

Senior wellness classes — yoga, singing, sound healing and improvisational acting — are free and open to the public.

GVSHP plaque. Photo: Tequila Minsky

Pen Literary Quests hosts readings in Westbeth apartments; Open House New York/Open Studio offers historical building tours and a self-guided tour of artists’ studios; Westfest Dance Fest combines site-specific dance with a curated performance in the Martha Graham Dance Studio.

The new Westbeth Icons Project honors senior artist residents who continue working beyond their 80s. Because of its aging community, Westbeth legally qualifies as a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community a.k.a. a NORC.

The take from an annual flea market run by the complex’s Beautification Committee goes toward building improvements and funded the iron-and-glass canopy over the Bethune St. entrance.

“It is a privilege to be a part of Westbeth,” said Gabor, “a community of artists which stands together in times of emergency, like Hurricane Sandy, which hit us hard. We mourn together as older residents pass on, and also celebrate in times of joy.

“Affordable rents have created homes where we can live, work, raise families and share our triumphs and struggles together.”

Residents are looking forward to Westbeth’s 50th anniversary in this coming year.

Other speakers at the dedication included Andrew Berman, executive director of G.V.S.H.P.; Patricia C. Jones, Westbeth board chairperson; Joan Davidson, president emeritus of the J.M. Kaplan Fund; and Domhnaill Hernon, head of experiments in art and technology at Nokia Bell Labs.

THE VILLAGER

Westbeth Movie Night
ISLE OF DOGS
2018 animated film


Isle of Dogs (Japanese: 犬ヶ島 Hepburn: Inugashima) is a 2018 stop-motion-animated science-fiction comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by Wes Anderson. Set in a dystopian near-future Japan, the story follows a young boy (Koyu Rankin) searching for his dog after the species is banished to an island following the outbreak of a canine flu. The film’s ensemble voice cast includes Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Balaban, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Courtney B. Vance, Fisher Stevens, Harvey Keitel, Liev Schreiber, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, F. Murray Abraham, Frank Wood, Kunichi Nomura, and Yoko Ono.

Westbeth Community Room
Friday February 8, 2019
7PM

A FREE EVENT

Let’s Talk About
DAILY SKIN CARE FOR
MEN AND WOMEN

West Village Wellnes brings you the 8th in a series of FREE talks about health.

Wrinkeles, Rosacia, Acne, Moisturizing, Sun Screen, Beard Care, Make-up Demo!

Session run by Ilana Aminov BSPharm RPH
Hosted by Michael Drew Embrey
Catering by Michael Stewart of Tavern on Jane

Brought to you by your neighborhood pharmacist, GROVE DRUGS on Eighth Avenue and Westbeth Artists Residents Council.

SELF PORTRAITS An Intimate Exhibit

SELF PORTRAITS: In this small, intimate self-portrait exhibition nine artists working in different media expose themselves to themselves and in this case to the public as well.
The artist when painting or drawing a self-portrait may often discover, during this process, both subtle and obvious facts about the face which he or she thought to know so well.
This intense looking and seeing over a period of time can reveal an
art work often informed and given weight by a particular psychological insight of which the artist may have not originally expected.

Featuring the work of Avery, Sandra Caplan, Ray Ciarrocchi, Peter Colquhoun, Jack Dowling, William Kennon, Kurz, Gerald Marcus, and Claire Rosenfeld.

January 5, – February 2, 2019

Opening Reception January 5 Saturday 5PM – 7PM
Closing Reception February 2 Saturday 5PM – 7PM

LET’S TALK ABOUT HEARING LOSS

When: Sunday March 10, 2:00PM – 3:30PM
Where: Westbeth Community Room
155 Bank Street between West and Washington Sts.
Enter through courtyard

The third year of the VILLAGE WELLNESS PROGRAM – LET’S TALK ABOUT SERIES sponsored by Grove Drugs and Westbeth Artists Residents Council.

This event features
Grove Drugs’ Ilana AminoV BSPharm RPH
Host: Michael Drew Embrey

Special Guest: Dr Alison Hoffman AuD-CC/A
The Advanced Hearing Center of New York

Catering: Michael Stewart of Tavern on Jane

In general, people who have hearing loss may experience any or all of the following:

Difficulty understanding everyday conversation
A feeling of being able to hear but not understand
Having to turn up the TV or radio
Asking others to repeat often
Avoidance of social situations that were once enjoyable
Increased difficulty communicating in noisy situations like restaurants, lively family gatherings, in the car or in group meetings
Tinnitus, or ringing and/or buzzing sounds in the ears

FIND OUT MORE AT THIS EVENT!!!

Hugh Seidman and Michael Heller
Celebration of New Literary Works

Hugh Seidman will be reading poetry from his latest work, Status of the Mourned [2018]. Seidman has published seven books of poetry. He has lived in Westbeth for almost fifty years, and is featured in the oral history project “Profiles in Art” on Westbeth.org.

Michael Heller will present excerpts from Constellations of Waking, a libretto/poem for a multi-media opera based on philosopher Walter Benjamin’s life. The presentation will include a number of voices, along with visuals and recorded music. Heller has published over twenty books of poetry, essays, memoir, and fiction.

Worlds Seen & Unseen
5 Women Artists



Exhibition Dates:
March 29 – April 20, 2019

Opening Reception: Friday March 29, 6PM – 9PM

Westbeth Gallery presents the dynamic show “Worlds Seen & Unseen” by five contemporary New York-based women artists: Karin Batten, Caroline Golden, Maggie Hinders, Carolyn Oberst, and Barbara Rachko. Through variations in media, form, and composition, their new works bring unseen worlds into focus. From far away worlds hail masks and animals, myths, inner dreams, and human interactions, offering female perspectives of new environments to be seen.

Karin Batten Cycle The Deep

KARIN BATTEN spent her early years in Hamburg, Germany and London, England, where she attended art school before immigrating to the USA. In her travels throughout Europe, the Americas, India, and North Africa she draws and takes photographs of the environment, and creates mixed media paintings that recall these surroundings. She explores abstraction and representation to focus on the point of balance where the two worlds meet.

Caroline Golden Birds of a Feather

CAROLINE GOLDEN Caroline Golden’s collages explore familiar stories and legends from a unique perspective. Caroline draws forth iconic characters, their possessions and the interior spaces they inhabit in a dimensional relief of found paper imagery. Creating surreal new worlds, she invites the viewer in to investigate these narratives anew.

Maggie Hinders Character #5

MAGGIE HINDERS is a painter and graphic artist. Her paintings of imaginary animals, derived from Internet photos, garden ornaments, and toys. With their fractured, Their colors kaleidoscopic—wryly echo the discordant opinions we hold of ourselves. She hails from western Ohio and currently lives in Hoboken, New Jersey. She is the creator of “little-pix” cartoon blog at little-pix.com.

Carolyn Oberst From What You Know to What You Need to Find Out

CAROLYN OBERST is a pioneering interdisciplinary artist working across painting, drawing, mixed media, and wood relief. Originally from Philadelphia she settled in NYC after living in London, Southern Spain and Morocco. In her current paintings, Oberst combines figures and objects with abstract elements, which are placed in dream-like, non-literal settings, their animated quality capturing a sense of movement through time. While invoking memory, dreams and passing thoughts, narratives are suggested, but not defined.

Barbara Rachko The Orator

BARBARA RACHKO is an American contemporary artist and author who divides her time between residences in New York City and Alexandria, VA. Barbara travels regularly to Mexico, Central America, South America, and Asia. She uses her large collection of Mexican and Guatemalan folk art­—masks, carved wooden animals, papier mâché figures, and toys—to create one-of-a-kind pastel-on-sandpaper paintings. These combine reality and fantasy and depict personal narratives.

Westbeth Gallery
55 Bethune Street b/w
Washington and West Sts.

Gallery Hours:
Wed- Sun Noon – 6PM

Contact:
Maggie Hinders
mahindersart@gmail.com