Westbeth Artists Housing
Client: Artsy
Role: Writer
Date: Feb 2019
Go inside Westbeth, one of New York’s last remaining artists’ housing.
The aging residents of Westbeth Artists Housing, opened in Manhattan’s West Village in 1970 and photographed here by Frankie Alduino, reflect on the complexity of artists’ lives and how affordable housing supports their immeasurable contributions to the cultural and economic life of New York City. Read the full feature on Artsy. Frankie’s images are collected in his photo book Vertical Village.
At 92 years old, Gloria Miguel, a Kuna/Rappahannock elder, continues to perform with Spiderwoman Theater. The company, which she founded with her sisters in the mid-1970s, produces plays about women’s and Indigenous issues.“Westbeth makes it clear that it’s valuable to support artists, whether or not they achieve wealth and fame.”
As the longest-serving visual arts director on the Westbeth Artists Residents Council, Jack Dowling, 87, is acutely aware of tenants’ broad spectrum of creativity. “You could come in here and find just about every school of art being produced by somebody,” he said.
Jack Dowling entered Westbeth in 1970 as an abstract painter, but almost immediately turned to a career in writing. These days, he has plans to finally complete his last painting, which has remained unfinished since the 1960s.“As a society, we have an urgent moral obligation to address how artists can live safely and thrive creatively.”
Theater artist Ralph Lee, 83, loves spending time in his studio located in the apartment he moved into with his wife and three children in 1970. He curates a rotating array of his fantastical puppets in an unused guard booth in the Westbeth courtyard.Credits
Photography: Frankie Alduino
Photo Editing: Molly Gottschalk