Exploring Virtual Village Voices, Part 7: Joan Mitchell, Joe Papp, and Charlie Parker
In 2021 and 2022, Village Preservation developed an innovative outdoor public art exhibition displayed throughout Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. VILLAGE VOICES featured photographs, artifacts, and soundscape recordings to celebrate and honor the artistic, social, political, and cultural movements that have grown in our neighborhoods, and the people who gave them voice.
We have now made those exhibits permanently available online. Today we explore three more of our 31 installations from the event: Joan Mitchell, Joe Papp, and Charlie Parker.
Joan Mitchell
One of the most impactful New York Abstract Expressionist painters, Mitchell moved to New York City in 1949 and settled in Greenwich Village and the East Village, the center of the nascent Abstract Expressionist art movement. Her first New York studio was located at 267 West 11th Street, and her second was at 59 West 9th Street. Mitchell also lived at 51 West 10th Street and 60 St. Marks Place.
Narrating the audio is Leslie Mason, a member of Village Preservation’s Board of Trustees and co-curator of VILLAGE VOICES.
Click here to read more about Joan Mitchell.
Joe Papp
Joe Papp believed great art was for everyone, and that he could engage what he called ‘the culturally dispossessed’ through theater. He argued that we have public libraries, why not public theaters? Founder of free Shakespeare in the Park and New York Shakespeare Public Theater, now The Public Theatre, Papp was one of the first to cast Black and Hispanic actors in major classical roles. Papp also lived at 40 East 9th Street.
Narrating the audio is Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director at the Public Theater in New York City since 2005.
Click here to read more about Joe Papp.
Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker was a prolific jazz saxophonist, composer, and leading figure in the development of bebop. He lived at 151 Avenue B, in a now-landmarked building often referred to as the “Charlie Parker House,” from 1950 to 1954.
Narrating the audio is actor, comedian, and film producer John Leguizamo.