Thursday, December 15, 2022

6:00pm – 7:15pm ET

Zoom Webinar

Free, Pre-Registration is Required

Join Village Preservation in discussion with Miriam S. Chaiken, Ph. D., Dean Emerita, William Conroy Honors College, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Emerita, New Mexico State University. Dr. Chaiken will share insights and history about Westbeth Artists Housing from her research and interviews with resident artists. 

The Westbeth community is important both for the then-radical innovations in the building’s architecture, and for the many noteworthy people who have called it home over five-plus decades. Opened in 1970, the Westbeth project began in the mid-1960s when philanthropist and patron of the arts Jacob Kaplan envisioned an affordable space in the heart of New York City, where up and coming artists could live and work. 

More than 500 artists have lived in Westbeth, and some have had a profound influence on their genres. The discussion will examine how the building and community influenced the lives of these artists, and how this community in turn influenced political, social, and artistic movements over the past 50 years. 

Dr.Chaiken is embarking on a comprehensive examination of the collective impact of the Westbeth community examining the span of its 50 years in Greenwich Village. Join in the discussion and learn more about this important cultural institution in our community.

Dr. Miriam S. Chaiken has a unique history that permitted her to undertake this research and gathering of oral histories. Three of Westbeth’s long-term residents were her fathers’ siblings. She has visited the building for decades, and in 2017 began applying her skills as an ethnographer to learning about the lives and experiences of the community residents. 

As a cultural anthropologist she has worked in a variety of diverse contexts, from rural villages in the Philippines, Indonesia, and throughout sub-Saharan Africa, to drawing rooms in British homes. Her research in the global south has largely focused on indigenous perspectives of poverty, gender, and hunger.