What is that stand?
The Stand, in New York City’s Alphabet City, is many things to many people. A tiny match box size gallery, a real life theatre, a community space for outsider artists, the last bastion of the old East Village vanguard.
The experience of hanging out at The Stand on any Thursday, Friday or Saturday night is always unique. Spilling out onto the side walk, you can spend hours chatting with the artists, admiring their work, or even being part of an impromptu gig or other live performance that happens right there on that otherwise unremarkable corner. In many ways the Stand represents the bygone years to nostalgic New Yorkers.
Driving it all is one woman - Lori - who seeks to inspire and encourage the artists, many of whom wouldn’t be accepted by the mainstream art world, or by the mainstream world period. Through a space no bigger than most wardrobes, she has helped to grow incomes, build confidence, share incredible art and create community.
But don't take our word for it, come see for yourself. The Stand is located on the SW corner of E7th and Avenue C, New York City.
“How can anybody learn anything from an artwork when the piece of art only reflects the vanity of the artist and not reality?”
DOCUMENTING THE STAND: THE PROJECT
Coming across The Stand and Lori has been a life changing experience. We found this little community of artists, makers and believers and we knew we needed to be a part of it.
Through this site we have begun the process of documenting the art and stories of just a small selection of the many artists that have graced the walls of The Stand. Some artists have high profiles and are collected in major galleries, while others are relatively new, encouraged to practice or develop their art by Lori, who recognizes the benefits that art can have for people facing homelessness, trauma or mental and other health issues.
While we recognize that what we have here is an incomplete record, it is a start and we hope that it captures the moment in time when all of our lives came together.
While Lori has been invaluable in the making of this site and all the content contained within, it needs to be made clear that this is an independent project and unless directly quoted by her, is not meant to reflect her thoughts. Nor is this a site designed to buy specific artworks, though we’d encourage you to reach out to Lori using the contact form if that’s of interest to you.
A huge thank you everyone who took part in the many hours of recording, transcribing, writing, photographing, videoing and editing. Many hours have been dedicated to what is a huge labor of love. An even bigger thank you goes out to all the artists and to Lori for sharing their stories with us. We have done this for the love of art, and for the love of what Lori has tried to achieve at The Stand.
Please VOTE for The Stand to receive a grant of $10,000 from Kind Causes.
Voting opens Monday October 17th till the end of the month, October 31st. The money will go towards art supplies and to keep The Stand going.
Alexandra Garza: Transcriber
Khairul Rahimi: Sound editor
James Nguyen and Carly-Anne Kenneally: Video editors
Nicola Bailey: Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor and Co Creative Director
Xi Liu: Producer, Interviewer, Writer, Co Creative Director, Website and Project Management