Performance Space New York, formerly known as Performance Space 122 or P.S. 122, is a non-profitable arts organization founded in 1980 in the East Village neighborhood of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in an abandoned public school building.
Origin
The former elementary school was abandoned and in disrepair until a group of visual artists began to use the old classrooms for studios. In 1979, choreographer Charles Moulton began holding rehearsals and workshops in the second-floor cafeteria and invited fellow performers Charles Dennis, John Bernd, and Peter Rose to collaborate in the administration and use of the space. Tim Miller, John Bernd's lover, later joined the four in launching P.S. 122.
One of the earliest offerings created by the founders and choreographer Stephanie Skura was Open Movement, a weekly, non-performative, improvisational dance event. Early participants in Open Movement included artists
Ishmael Houston-Jones
Ishmael Houston-Jones (born 1951) is a choreographer, author, performer, teacher, curator, and arts advocate known for his improvisational dance and language work. His work has been performed in New York City, across the United States, in Europ ...
, Yvonne Meier,
Jennifer Monson
Jennifer Monson (born March 14, 1961) is an American dancer and choreographer. She has been actively creating dance work since the 1980s. She works with dance improvisation and creates choreography that is at times improvised or devised through ...
,
Yoshiko Chuma is a dancer, a choreographer and the director of the Bessie Award winning performance art group The School of Hard Knocks. Kriegsman, Alan M. (October 11, 1987The week of giant steps''The Washington Post''. Retrieved 2008-08-05. Described in 2007 ...
Christopher Knowles
Christopher Knowles (born 1959) is an American poet and painter. He was born in New York City on May 4, 1959, and has received a diagnosis of possible brain damage. He is often referred to as autistic.More Fire! Productions.
Expansion
Mark Russell was hired as the artistic director in 1983 to curate and focus the overall programming, expanding it from a rental house into a year-round presenting facility. P.S. 122 doubled its programming in 1986 when it converted the old gym on the first floor into a performance space to be used for extended runs of small theater groups and as a site for community meetings. Russell departed in 2004. Vallejo Gantner succeeded him in the position with the 2005–2006 season through 2017 and notably created Performance Space 122's annual winter series, the COIL Festival.
Funding
In 2005, P.S. 122 was among 406
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the
Carnegie Corporation
The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...
, made possible through a donation by New York City mayor
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
.
In 2011, funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs initiated an extensive $37 million renovation of the First Avenue building that houses P.S. 122 and four other organizations. During the six-year process, P. S. 122 held programming at partner venues across New York City, including
Danspace Project
Danspace Project is a performance venue for contemporary dance. Its performances are held in St. Mark's Church in the East Village area of the Manhattan borough of New York City.
History
Founded in 1974 by Barbara Dilley, Mary Overlie, and Larr ...
, The Chocolate Factory, Abrons Arts Center,
The Invisible Dog Art Center
The Invisible Dog Art Center is a museum and arts center in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, New York City, established by Lucien Zayan in 2009. The center gets its name from being a former ''invisible dog'' factory. Some buckles, belts, molds, and ind ...
, and
La MaMa ETC
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African Americans, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, Manhatt ...
, operating from administrative office spaces based in Brooklyn. P.S. 122's revamped spaces reopened in January 2018 with the premiere of “Visions of Beauty” by choreographer Heather Kravas, held as part of the 2018 COIL Festival.
Rebranding
In 2017, former MoMA PS1 curator Jenny Schlenzka was named Gantner's successor as executive artistic director, becoming the first female director in the organization's history. Coinciding with the reopening of its building, the organization announced its new name, Performance Space New York. The updated name is meant to signal "an ambition to be relevant and accessible to all of New York,” in Schlenzka's words, and to actively collaborate with the local community in its programs. Schlenzka's first full season of programming began in February–June 2018 with a series of performances, discussions, film screenings, and other presentations specifically themed around the East Village. The series paid homage to Performance Space New York's history while involving emerging artists and collectives reflective of the neighborhood today. Performance Space New York's new logo and identity was created by German visual artist Sarah Ortmeyer.
Facilities
Since its renovation in 2011, Performance Space New York now has two interdisciplinary theater spaces that showcase dance performances, performance art, art exhibitions, music performances, and film screenings.
Artist awards
Performance Space New York supports two ongoing artist awards, The Spalding Gray Award and The Ethyl Eichelberger Award.
The Spalding Gray Award, named after the groundbreaking monologist
Spalding Gray
Spalding Gray (June 5, 1941 – January 11, 2004) was an American actor, novelist, playwright, screenwriter and performance artist. He is best known for the autobiographical monologues that he wrote and performed for the theater in the 1980s and ...
(1941–2004), is sponsored by a consortium that includes Kathleen Russo, Gray's widow; Performance Space New York; the
Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, t ...
in Minneapolis; The
Andy Warhol Museum
The Andy Warhol Museum is located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist. The museum holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archive ...
in Pittsburgh; and
On the Boards
On the Boards (OtB) is a non-profit contemporary performing arts organization in Seattle, Washington, founded in 1978. Originally located at Washington Hall in the Central District, the organization moved in 1998 to their current location in Up ...
in Seattle. The award comes with a $20,000 commission to create new work and provides for a full production of that work presented by each organization. Past recipients include Tim Etchells, Richard Maxwell, Rabih Mroué, Young Jean Lee,
National Theater of the United States of America National Theater of the United States of America is a theatre company in New York City. The theatre has no connection with the American government, the name is intended to be humorous.
The troupe, founded in 2000, has been lauded by Gothamist as a ...
, Radiohole, and Heather Woodbury.
The Ethyl Eichelberger Award, named for the flamboyant, trailblazing performer
Ethyl Eichelberger
Ethyl Eichelberger (July 17, 1945 – August 12, 1990) was an Obie award-winning American drag performer, playwright, and actor. He became an influential figure in experimental theater and writing, and wrote nearly forty plays portraying women ...
(1945-1990), is awarded to an artist who "exemplifies Ethyl's larger-than-life style and generosity of spirit; who embodies Ethyl's multi-talented artistic virtuosity, bridging worlds and inspiring those around them." Recipients include Dane Terry, Mike Iveson, Taylor Mac, Julie Atlas Muz,
Justin Vivian Bond
Justin Vivian Bond (born May 9, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Described as "the best cabaret artist of heir!-- MOS:GENDERID --> generation" and a "tornado of art and activism", they first achieved prominence under the pseudon ...
, Jennifer Miller,
Vaginal Davis
Vaginal Davis (born in Los Angeles, California) is an American performing artist, painter, independent curator, composer, filmmaker and writer. Born intersex and raised in South Central, Los Angeles, Davis gained notoriety in New York during the ...
, John Kelly, and
Peggy Shaw
Peggy Shaw (born July 27, 1944) is an actor, writer, and producer living in New York City. She is a founding member of the Split Britches and WOW Cafe Theatre, and is a recipient of several Obie Awards, including two for Best Actress for he ...