Memories of an Artist Community: A Panel Conversation on the History of Westbeth Artists’ Residence

Program Canceled

Westbeth Artists Housing is the world’s largest artists’ community. The complex, erected between 1861 and 1925, originally housed the Bell Telephone Labs, but was converted to its current function in the 1960s by architect Richard Meier with funding from the J.M. Kaplan Fund. Located on the West Village waterfront, this thirteen-story complex is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Commemorate Westbeth’s commitment to innovative adaptive re-use, art and affordable artists’ housing, and one-of-a-kind sense of community by hearing its history first hand from those who were there from the beginning.

In 2007, Village Preservation began its Westbeth Oral History Project to document how the conversion project was conceived and implemented. The oral histories were undertaken as part of a larger Village Preservation project to place Wesbeth on the State and National Registers of Historic Places (which happened in 2009). Speakers will include project participants: Dixon Bain, who served as the project manager for planning and construction of Westbeth from 1967-1971; Virginia Dajani, an original and longtime tenant; and Tod Williams, an original tenant and the architect who worked with Richard Meier during the conversion. The conversation will be moderated by historian Jeanne Houck, who conducted the original interviews.