You may have heard that the Whitney has plans to build a site downtown in the Meatpacking District, on Gansevoort Street, between West Street and the soon to be new High Line park (read more about these plans here). This would not be the Whitney’s first time venturing out of the Upper East Side. In the 70s and 80s the Whitney opened several branch locations in Lower Manhattan, Midtown, and even Stamford, Connecticut. There was a stint at 55 Water Street from 1973 to 1983 and another at the Federal Reserve Plaza on Maiden Lane from 1988 to 1992. In the 1980s, after many performances uptown in the galleries of the Breuer building, the performing arts program migrated almost completely to the longest running of the branches, the Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria on 42nd Street, directly across from Grand Central Station.
For the length of its existence, Performance on 42nd was a significant presence in the NYC performing arts landscape. Performances were free of charge and featured emerging artists, multidisciplinary programs, and many new and commissioned works and works-in-progress.
In the hundreds of performances that happened there, artists working in music, dance, performance art, theater, and the space in between, pushed the boundaries of what could be accomplished in what was essentially the lobby of an office building.
A glass-enclosed public space at a very busy intersection, the Altria space encouraged much interaction during rehearsals and performances with passers-by, the lunch crowd, tourists, and commuters.
A short list of performers includes Joan Jonas, Fred Ho, John Zorn, Olu Dara and the Okra Orchestra, Leroy Jenkins, Wendy Perron Dance Company, David Tudor, Urban Bush Women, Yoshiko Chuma and the School of Hard Knocks, Lawrence “Butch” Morris, The Wooster Group, Zeena Perkins, “Blue” Gene Tyranny, S.E.M. Ensemble, John Kelly, Mac Wellman, Shelley Hirsch, Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, Theo Bleckmann, Lawrence Goldhuber, Christian Marclay, Savion Glover, DJ Olive, Dawn Akemi Saito, Stephen Vitiello, Koosil-ja Hwang/Dance, Dean Moss, GAle GAtes et. al., Ethel, Ben Munisteri, Cynthia Hopkins, Lisa D’Amour & Katie Pearl, RoseAnne Spradlin, Todd Reynolds, VisionIntoArt, Phil Kline, Liza Jessie Peterson, nicholasleichterdance, Praxis Studio, and Judith Sanchez Ruiz.
The Altria branch closed in January 2008 after 25 years. The last performance there was on May 4, 2007 with Electric Kompany, Margaret Lancaster, the Meehan-Perkins Percussion Duo, and Kathleen Supove as part of a 3-day festival of work by Dutch composer JacobTV.
Update: Most of the photos above were taken by the legendary performance photographer Paula Court. Our apologies for not mentioning that sooner.
Tags: Altria, Elevator Repair Service, JacobTV, Marina Rosenfeld, Performance on 42nd St, The Builders Association
