Village Preservation’s Oral History: Jonas Mekas
…a drug area. So once we moved [in], after I bought the building, the neighborhood [said], “Really? You think you can do something with it?” I said, “Yes, I’m going…
Read More…a drug area. So once we moved [in], after I bought the building, the neighborhood [said], “Really? You think you can do something with it?” I said, “Yes, I’m going…
Read MoreBorn in Lithuania, Jonas Mekas (1922-2019) came to New York City after World War II and became part of the downtown arts scene as a writer, poet and auteur. He…
Read More…come into a Village bar, order beer, smoke cigarettes, listen to bluegrass music and then leave. That’s all. Nothing “happens,” but in some undefinable way a feeling is created. https://youtu.be/1NpYOBQ1feE…
Read More…again. It was a drug area. So once we moved [in], after I bought the building, the neighborhood [said], “Really? You think you can do something with it?” I said,…
Read More…East Village – people who have been active in the community, making our neighborhoods so special. On this night Marilyn Appleberg, Phil Hartman, Albert Fabozzi, Frances Goldin, and Jonas Mekas…
Read More…including African-American painter Ed Clark and the Japanese-American artists Robert Kobayashi and Nanae Momiyama. In 1963, avant-garde filmmaker Jonas Mekas organized and wrote about screenings that took place here, programmed by his Film-Makers’ Co-op….
Read More…or ignored. 95-year old founder Jonas Mekas, “the godfather of American avant-garde cinema,” has guided the organization for 48 years, accumulating 20,000 films, 5,000 videos, 2,000 audio tapes and a…
Read More…this committee, which was made up of all men members, and I said, “That’s the only committee I want to be on.” They said, “Well, Margot, I hate to tell…
Read More…named for the organization’s founders – Chino, Humberto, Angelo, Roy, Anthony, and Sal – used the building for classes, meeting rooms, performance and rehearsal space, art studios, and galleries. It…
Read More…PS 122, writing about and incorporating the work of other performers into her work. Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore! (1990) –– written partly in response to Senator Jesse Helms’s amendment banning…
Read More…be sampled that evening, include Anthology Film Archives founder Jonas Mekas, Veselka owner Tom Birchard, community activist Marilyn Appleberg, and Phil Hartman of Two Boots Pizza. Karen Loew, Village Preservation…
Read More…David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas, Margot Gayle, Wolf Kahn, Lorcan Otway, Frances Goldin, Chino Garcia, Penny Arcade, and James Polshek, among many others. Explore them all HERE. …
Read More…Jane Jacobs, Rick Kelly, Mimi Sheraton, Ralph Lee, Fred Bass, Peter Ruta, Richard Meier, Merce Cunningham, Matt Umanov, David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas, Margot Gayle, Wolf Kahn,…
Read More…News Comedy Cellar- Founded in 1982, this world-renowned comedy club is, at heart, a small family business. Original owner Menachem “Manny” Dworman opened his first business, Feenjon’s, in the early 1970s. It…
Read More…recording here. Some of the greatest rock, hip hop, disco, jazz, and R&B artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries recorded with Rob, who began his career in…
Read More…LGBTQ+ people, women, immigrants, the Latinx community, and Asian Americans. We also advocate for policies for our neighborhoods that promote racial and socio-economic diversity. Explore our map on Hip-Hop’s Second…
Read More…Cunningham, David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas, Margot Gayle, Wolf Kahn, Lorcan Otway, Frances Goldin, Chino Garcia, Penny Arcade, and James Polshek, among many others. Explore them all HERE. …
Read More…you can find include Jane Jacobs, Rick Kelly, Mimi Sheraton, Ralph Lee, Fred Bass, Peter Ruta, Richard Meier, Merce Cunningham, Matt Umanov, David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas,…
Read More…Bass, Peter Ruta, Richard Meier, Merce Cunningham, Matt Umanov, David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas, Margot Gayle, Wolf Kahn, Lorcan Otway, Frances Goldin, Chino Garcia, Penny Arcade, and…
Read More…East Village of the last half century, from Jane Jacobs to Jonas Mekas, Merce Cunningham to Margot Gayle, Chino Garcia to Penny Arcade. Read or Listen to John Guare’s Oral History HERE Check Out All 60+ Oral Histories HERE…
Read More…East Village of the last half century, from Jane Jacobs to Jonas Mekas, Merce Cunningham to Margot Gayle, Chino Garcia to Penny Arcade. Read or Listen to John Guare’s Oral History HERE Check Out All 60+ Oral Histories HERE…
Read More…is “fully present in the world…who has really thought about life.” With her then-husband LeRoy Jones/Amiri Baraka, she established Yugen (1957-1963), a magazine that published poetry and writings by William Burroughs, Allen…
Read More…history in our neighborhoods, including Jane Jacobs, Penny Arcade, Wolf Kahn, Jonas Mekas, Marlis Momber, Edwin Fancher, Margot Gayle, David Amram, Matt Umanov, Merce Cunningham, Joan Davidson, Richard Meier, Ralph…
Read MoreVillage Preservation Oral History Collection Village Preservation’s Oral History Project includes interviews with some of the great artists, activists, business owners, community leaders, and preservation pioneers of Greenwich Village, the East…
Read More…Theatre, and wrote the scores for Arthur Miller´s plays After The Fall (1964) and Incident at Vichy (1966). The Cedar Tavern photo courtesy of the Estate of Fred W. McDarrah University Place and…
Read More…#SouthOfUnionSquare, where figures like Andy Warhol, Jonas Mekas, and John Waters, and an incredible confluence of avant-garde, alternative, and art house filmmakers and venues could be found. As we approach…
Read More…artists, activists, preservationists, business owners, and community leaders of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, including Jane Jacobs, Merce Cunningham, Marlis Momber, Jonas Mekas, and Chino Garcia, among many…
Read More…Mimi Sheraton, Ralph Lee, Fred Bass, Peter Ruta, Richard Meier, Merce Cunningham, Matt Umanov, David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas, Margot Gayle, Wolf Kahn, Lorcan Otway, Frances Goldin,…
Read More…architecture, the arts, activism, small business, and civic life. Prior subjects include Jane Jacobs, Merce Cunningham, Marlis Momber, Jonas Mekas, and so many more. Explore All Our Oral Histories HERE…
Read More…preservationists, artists, writers, activists, business owners, and other impactful figures of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo since the mid-1990s. These include Jane Jacobs, Chino Garcia, Penny Arcade, David…
Read More…preservationists, artists, writers, activists, business owners, and other impactful figures of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo since the mid-1990s. These include Jane Jacobs, Chino Garcia, Penny Arcade, David…
Read More…Strand’s Fred Bass and Romana Raffetto of Raffetto’s; choreographers like Merce Cunningham; activists like CHARAS’s Chino Garcia and Fran Goldin; playwrights like John Guare and Virlana Tkacz; photographers like Marlis…
Read More…to Hollywood, throughout the 20th century the movie business was profoundly shaped and influenced by the neighborhood #SouthOfUnionSquare, where figures like Andy Warhol, Jonas Mekas, and John Waters, and an…
Read More…film, video, and digital sound, and subjects including musicians, politicians, street characters, and perhaps most importantly, the East Village neighborhood around him. Harsley talks in detail about his decades in…
Read More…School co-founder Shirley Wright — access it here. Shirley has lived in Greenwich Village for three quarters of a century, and co-founded the West Village Nursery School: a model, progressive…
Read More…Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and others. She also launched Totem Press, which published poetry by Ginsberg, O’Hara, Gregory Corso, and Gary Snyder. It was a lot of work, but “I…
Read More…Kahn, Jonas Mekas, Marlis Momber, Edwin Fancher, Margot Gayle, David Amram, Matt Umanov, Merce Cunningham, Joan Davidson, Richard Meier, Ralph Lee, Mimi Sheraton, John Guare, Calvin Trillin, and Chino Garcia….
Read More…Wolf Kahn, Jonas Mekas, Marlis Momber, Edwin Fancher, Margot Gayle, David Amram, Matt Umanov, Merce Cunningham, Joan Davidson, Richard Meier, Ralph Lee, Mimi Sheraton, John Guare, Calvin Trillin, and Chino…
Read More…in, or made significant history in our neighborhoods, including Jane Jacobs, Penny Arcade, Wolf Kahn, Jonas Mekas, Marlis Momber, Edwin Fancher, Margot Gayle, David Amram, Matt Umanov, Merce Cunningham, Joan…
Read More…His Paintings, His Life. Explore all of our oral histories here, including Jane Jacobs, Penny Arcade, Wolf Kahn, Jonas Mekas, Marlis Momber, Edwin Fancher, Margot Gayle, David Amram, Matt Umanov, Merce Cunningham, Joan Davidson, Richard Meier, Ralph Lee, Mimi Sheraton, John Guare, Calvin Trillin, and Chino Garcia. …
Read MoreDavid Werner Amram III is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings. He plays piano, French horn, Spanish guitar, and pennywhistle, sings, and is passionate about teaching music…
Read More