A captivating portrait of Westbeth, the legendary artists’ residence that shaped contemporary art, activism, and New York’s cultural landscape for over fifty years

In 1970, the former Bell Telephone Laboratories in Manhattan was transformed into Westbeth, an ambitious experiment in urban renewal that became the world’s largest and longest-running art­ists’ residence. Home to generations of visual artists, musicians, writers, dancers, and performers, Westbeth has fostered creativity, community, and activism for over fifty years.

From legendary photographer Diane Arbus and conceptual artist Hans Haacke to avant-garde theater pioneers like Joe Chaikin and Gloria Miguel, Westbeth has nurtured some of the most influential voices in contemporary art. Beyond its creative legacy, the residence has been a hub for social change. Its artists played leading roles in the anti-Vietnam protests, LGBTQ+ rights movements, feminist art collectives, and urban preservation efforts.

In Creative Ozone, Miriam Chaiken offers a rare insider’s look at this extraordinary community.

Miriam Chaiken is a cultural anthropologist who has done field research on four continents and then turned her anthropological gaze to the most exotic site yet—Greenwich Village in New York City. Three members of her family were longtime residents of the Westbeth Artists Housing, and this connection opened doors and permitted her to capture the stories of members of this 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. Miriam’s earlier writing draws on her anthropological field research in Africa and Asia, focusing on poverty and hunger alleviation, gender equity, and the welfare of children. She has published many articles and co-edited two books on international development and community resilience.