Google Maps Street View now lets you review old Street View photos and compare them to recent photos. This is a feature our former Director of Production Derek Lloyd would have loved. He was a big fan of Street View and even created a 3D mockup of the PS122 building in Google Sketch Up. Looking back at 150 first avenue in 2007 (just click the clock icon below the address in the upper left hand corner) you can see the old scaffolding that defined the building for a decade. And now you can see the nice new facade and signs of the interior renovation- very cool.
Category: Renovation
Salvaged Tiles from the Ethyl Dressing Room
We just received some pictures of the tile work from Ethyl Eichelberger’s honorary dressing room at PS122. During the ongoing construction at our home at 150 First Avenue these were saved and we’re hoping to find a place to display them somewhere in the new building.
The tiles spell out the lyrics to Ethyl’s song We Are Women Who Survive:
“We are women who survive, but we will live to fight another day.” Full lyrics and mp3 can be found on our Ethyl page.
Announcing GPS Co-chairs
PS122 is proud to announce the co-chairs of our Give Performance Space campaign, a capacity campaign coinciding with the renovation of our home at 150 1st Avenue. Give Performance Space is a campaign to launch Performance Space 122’s growth as an organization with the goal of better serving the artists and audiences of New York City. The co-chairs are acclaimed actor, photographer and activist Alan Cumming; producer, writer and director Stella Schnabel and PS122 Board Vice President Charles L. Kerr, partner at international law office Morrison & Foerster.
Since PS122’s start as an East Village artist squat, we’ve grown from a scrappy under dog providing artists a space to experiment to a globally renowned leader in the performance field. PS122 has launched careers, supported innovation and developed new art practices that have enriched the cultural life of New York City and contemporary performance worldwide.
The City of New York has begun work on a code renovation of the organization’s beloved East Village home. The funds raised during the Give Performance Space campaign will ensure that PS122 can successfully navigate the institutional and physical growth necessary to take full advantage of this renovation. It will give PS122 the flexibility to take risks, adapt and grow as a leader within the cultural ecology of New York City by providing a much-needed, multi-disciplinary medium-sized venue to the performing arts sector.
The Give Performance Space campaign is still in the leadership-giving phase. PS122 will release public information in 2015 as they move into the public phase of the campaign. Visit ps122.org/GPS for more information.
What’s Goin On Here? New Signage Goes Up
The contractors at PS122 East Village just posted the “What’s Going on Here?” signs to tell passersby about the renovation of the PS122 Community Center, scheduled to finish in February 2015. We’re looking forward to charting their progress on this blog!
Between the Columns
Looking back at videos of New York performance art and dance in the 1980’s, it’s sometimes hard to tell which of the handful of spaces the piece was performed but PS122’s upstairs theater always stands out as soon as you see the 2 Corinthian columns in the middle of the stage. When PS122 was a school, the room served as a cafeteria and it was probably more suited to children carrying lunch trays than dancers spinning on each others’ backs but throughout the years choreographers and set designers have happily (or begrudgingly) incorporated the iconic columns into their performances.
When we move back into the building our spaces will be on the 4th floor, and for better or worse (most likely better) free of columns. But the columns themselves were much loved by the staff and artists of PS122. They’ve been painted every color imaginable, covered with lights, fabric, fake plants, slime, and even blood. During the final Avant-Garde-Arama in the space artists and staff signed the columns. The photos below are an attempt do document the love letters written to these columns – we’ll miss you!
