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NEWS & EVENTS: FAB! Fridays Shop East 4th!
Fourth Arts Block's Groundbreaking Celebration FAB Festival - Sept 29-30, 2007 Click here for more information FAB BENEFIT CD RELEASED ON JUNE 20TH A CD to benefit Fourth Arts Block (FAB) was released online and in select stores on June 20th, 2005. All proceeds from the sale of the CD "East of Broadway: A Benefit for Fourth Arts Block" will go towards the renovation fund for six cultural buildings on East 4th St. between the Bowery and 2nd Avenue. The buildings, which are part of downtown's theatre row, are being sold by the City of New York to the non-profit cultural tenants over the next several months. The cd includes tracks by Moby, Ani DiFranco, Yo La Tengo, Luna, East River Pipe, Philip Glass, the Jazz Passengers (featuring Deborah Harry), Spacehog, Last Forever, Rachelle Garniez, Gina Young, Warren Smith and many other musicians. The benefit CD contains 18 tracks and 78 minutes of music. "It's a great eclectic mix of alternative rock and jazz music" says Steve Herrick of FAB. Most of the participating musicians either lived on the Lower East Side at one time, or have some personal connection to the block. A few artists have performed in one of the cultural spaces early in their careers or have served as benefactors of one of the cultural groups in the past. "I think the cd creates a sense of place that speaks to this community." "We're really gratified that so many talented artists and their record labels have agreed to be part of this benefit cd, which aims to raise funds to renovate 6 cultural buildings on East 4th Street, just east of the Bowery" said Steve Herrick, a FAB member and Director of the Cooper Square Committee, an affordable housing organization on the block. "These buildings are a treasure to this community, producing hundreds of new theater and dance pieces, and more than a thousand performance each year on this one block. We're looking forward to expanding the cultural activity on the block, and we're hopeful that this cd will help us raise funds to do that", added Ryan Gilliam, FAB's Chairperson and Artistic Director of Downtown Art, a youth theater. Right now, the cultural buildings on East 4th St. are City-owned but FAB has worked in partnership with the City on a plan to transfer ownership to the cultural groups for a nominal price. The sales will take place between June and September of 2005. The six (6) buildings need over $6 million in renovation, and the cd is part of a larger fundraising effort to bring these historic buidings up to code and to their full programming capacity. Two of the cultural buildings are currently vacant and several others have some spaces or entire floors that are vacant and in need of major renovation. Proceeds from the sale of the cd?s will help turn over 30,000 sq. ft. of raw, vacant space into 3 new rehearsal spaces, 3 new theaters, 2 new dance studios and new administrative spaces. The cultural buildings house 8 theaters, 2 dance companies, 2 community development groups and a film workshop. Among FAB's member groups are New York Theater Workshop, La MaMa ETC, Rod Rodgers Dance Co., WOW Cafe Theatre, Millennium Film Workshop, Duo Theatre, Teatro Circulo, Downtown Art, Alpha Omega Dance Co., Choices Theater, Teatro IATI, Cooper Square Committee and Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association. Dick Connette, of Last Forever, expressed his reasons for participating in the benefit CD this way. ?It's only fitting, I suppose, that Last Forever's first performance was at the Club at LaMaMa, a Fourth Arts Block member group. Over the years I've bounced all around lower Manhattan, but I've always felt that the better part of my nature was tuned to the East Village. Somehow, through bust and boom, from Mayor to Mayor, amidst the unending oscillations of hip, fashion, and the avant garde, the neighborhood has managed to maintain a gritty, vital integrity. The Fourth Arts Block will help keep that spirit alive and I'm proud to be part of the project.? The CD is available online at www.cdbaby.com/fourthartsblock and at select independent music retailers such as Norman's Sound and Vision, Future Legends, and others. "We just worked out a distribution deal with ROIR, which is providing their distribution services at a break even rate for them, so we're really appreciative that they believe in this project and have offered to help get the CD to a lot of vendors that we couldn't otherwise reach," said Steve Herrick of FAB. Release Party Held for FAB Benefit CD on June 15th Fourth Arts Block (FAB) hosted a CD Release Party on Wednesday, June 15th at Wow Cafe Theatre (59-61 E. 4th St., 4th Floor) to celebrate the upcoming release of the CD "East of Broadway: A Benefit for Fourth Arts Block". About 70 people were in attendance to celebrate the release of the CD, and to hear live performances by the Jazz Passengers, Freedom Art Quartet and Burt Eckoff, all of whom appear on the CD. The CD contains 18 tracks by a diverse array of critically acclaimed alternative rock and jazz musicians, many of whom are based in Lower Manhattan. The CD includes the tracks "In My Heart" by Moby, "Cradle and All" by Ani DiFranco, "Closing" by Philip Glass, "My Little Corner of the World" by Yo La Tengo, "Double Feature" by Luna, "Maybe I'm Lost" by the Jazz Passengers (with Deborah Harry), and more... City Council Approves FAB Cultural District Plan! The City Council voted on Monday, Sept. 27th, 2004 to approve the sale of 6 city- owned buildings on East 4th Street to the non-profit organizations on the block for cultural use in accordance with a cultural district plan created by FAB. Councilwoman Margarita Lopez spoke on behalf of FAB to her colleagues, making the case for the sale of the buildings and the need for community basec cultural institutions. She also advocated for more capital dollars for the 4th Street block, arguing that it now has the physical infrastructure to justify a large investment by the City of New York. HPD Asst. Commissioner, Luiz Aragon also spoke in support of the plan to dispose of the buildings to the cultural & community groups residing on E. 4th St. Villager Article announces FAB cultural district plan http://www.thevillager.com/villager_74/theshowwillgoon.html Panel Discussion and Reception draws many local cultural groups FAB hosted a panel discussion and reception on Friday, Sept. 17th to formally launch the Fourth Arts Block cultural district plan, and kick off the FAB Festival. Representatives of many local arts groups including FIVA, the Heart of Off Broadway, as well as community development organizations and settlement houses attended the two events to discuss their respective cultural and community development projects on the Lower East Side and to learn more about FAB's cultural district plan for East 4th Street. Councilwoman Margarita Lopez spoke about the importance of the arts on the Lower East Side and the role that local artists have played in supporting low income housing and fighting gentrification that threatens to displace the working poor, including artists. |
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