Anthropologist and author Miriam Chaiken offers an intimate look at Westbeth Artists Housing, the legendary residence that shaped New York culture for more than 50 years.

In 1970, the former Bell Telephone Laboratories in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village was transformed into Westbeth—an experiment in urban renewal that became the world’s largest and longest-running artists’ residence. From legendary photographer Diane Arbus to avant-garde theater pioneers like Joseph Chaikin and Gloria Miguel, Westbeth nurtured some of the most influential voices in contemporary art. In her book Creative Ozone Miriam Chaiken brings an anthropological perspective to her history of this groundbreaking community, where three of her family members lived. She draws on intimate interviews with multiple generations of Westbeth residents to explore how a former industrial building became a home for artists, creativity, and collaboration.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Miriam Chaiken is a cultural anthropologist who conducted field research on four continents and then turned her anthropological gaze to the most exotic site yet―Greenwich Village. Three members of her family were longtime residents of the Westbeth Artists Housing, and this connection permitted her to capture the stories of members of this unique community. After her work in villages in sub-Saharan Africa, she realized that Westbeth is a vertical village, with all the drama and intrigue. Creative Ozone: The Artists of Westbeth tells of the artists who left their mark on the city of New York and every artistic innovation and social justice movement of the last half-century.

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Miriam Chaiken © Nate Smith