Sari Rubinstein ’85

In 1993, after some years performing with my very brave band of Bennington gals, we attended a giant event in a Williamsburg building that would later become Elizabeth Streb’s studio. There were installations by a hundred artists, many of them friends. It was thrilling; it felt groundbreaking. I sensed something was happening in Williamsburg and I wanted to be a part of it. I went space-hunting and settled on a 5,000-square-foot basement with three rooms with a 2,000-square-foot rooftop for $1,100 a month. Between the five bands that chipped in to rent the space, we each paid roughly $100 a person. The keys were ours. Soon we built walls on wheels and made artists’ studios and began hosting thematic public events. They were wildly popular, free-spirited, joyful shows. Twenty-five years later that community art space in Brooklyn is still running. And we’re growing. Now we are in our third space, located in Bushwick. Thousands of artists have performed and made work at our art spaces during the years. And we still host our regular, tri-weekly show.