The Women of Westbeth: Oral Histories of Art, Activism, and an Urban Experimentation
Much like the “Women Who Saved the Village,” the artists and advocates of Westbeth built a community and ensured many of those responsible for the Village’s creative spirit had a permanent affordable home.
From the visionary who secured the complex’s future to the artists who made it home, these women exemplify the grit and grassroots effort that define the Westbeth legacy. We’ve captured their experiences and perspectives via our oral history collection, specifically our Westbeth Oral History Collection.
Joan Davidson: The Orchestrator
If Westbeth had a founding architect of its existence, it was Joan Davidson. As the daughter of J.M. Kaplan and President of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, Joan was the driving force behind the adaptive reuse of the old Bell Labs building into the world’s largest artists housing complex.
In her oral history, Joan recounts the “freewheeling” early days of the project in the late 1960s—a time before philanthropy was treated as a “job.” She worked alongside the National Endowment for the Arts to create a space where painters, writers, and performers could live and work affordably. For Joan, Westbeth was never just a real estate project, it was a radical experiment in urban social policy. Decades later, she was instrumental in our successful effort to have the entire complex listed on the National Register of Historic Places, ensuring that the “maverick” spirit of the complex was protected by law. Access her full oral history here.
Christina Maile: The Weaver of History
Christina Maile has lived at Westbeth since it first opened its doors in 1970. A printmaker, landscape architect, and playwright of Malaysian and Trinidadian descent, Christina’s oral history is a masterclass in the “ferment” of Westbeth’s early years.
She describes a time when tenants were encouraged to customize their own apartments, knocking down walls and building lofts without management’s permission to create a physical manifestation of artistic freedom. Christina was a founding member of the Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective, a group born out of a desire for women to see their own lives reflected on stage. Her oral history highlights how the security of affordable rent allowed her to investigate her ancestry and heritage through her art. Read more about Christina here or access her full oral history here.
Ana Steele Clark: The Cultural Strategist
Ana Steele Clark moved into Westbeth in the early 1970s, shortly after the complex opened, but her influence on the American arts landscape reached far beyond the West Village. For over thirty years, Ana was a pillar of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), eventually serving as its Deputy Chairman. She was a key player during the “Golden Age” of federal arts funding, helping to navigate the political and social shifts that defined the era.
In her oral history, Ana provides a unique dual perspective: she was a resident who understood the daily struggles of artists living in a radical housing experiment, and a high-level administrator who saw how that experiment fit into the national cultural identity. She describes the early atmosphere of Westbeth as “pioneering,” where residents were united by the shared challenge of turning an industrial relic into a home. Her story is a testament to the fact that preservation isn’t just about saving buildings, it’s about the visionary leadership required to fund and sustain the creative lives within them. Access her full oral history here.
Hear Their Stories
History is best served raw and unfiltered. You can listen to the original recordings and read the full transcripts of these incredible women—and many other Westbeth residents—in our Westbeth Oral History Collection.