Artist Tenants Association records, 1959-1978

Collection Information

Size: 1 Linear foot

Summary: The records of the Artist Tenants Association measure 1.0 linear feet and date from 1959 to 1978. They document the Association's efforts to alter New York City building codes to permit artists to live in lofts, initiating the development of SoHo as an art center. Records include business correspondence, founding documents, memoranda and press releases, member lists, financial records, clippings, and a scrapbook of clippings pertaining to the organization.

Biographical/Historical Note

The Artist Tenants Association was loosely formed in the early 1960s to petition the office of Robert Wagner, then mayor of New York, for permission to live in manufacturing districts not officially zoned for residence. The city eventually agreed to an Artist in Residence (A.I.R.) program, which led to a more formal movement to legalize artists' occupation of studio spaces in the neighborhood "South of Houston," shorted to SoHo. Read More

Provenance

The records were donated to the Archives of American Art by Ruth Fortel, the financial secretary of the Association, in 1978 and 1979.

Related Materials

Also found in the Archives of American Art are the SoHo Artists Association Records, 1968-1978.

Language Note

English .

Digitization Note

This site provides access to the records of the Artist Tenants Association (New York, N.Y.) in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2013. The papers have been scanned in their entirety, and total 2,175 images.

Funding Note

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by Terra Foundation for American Art