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9781531511777

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Miriam Chaiken has documented a remarkable American social experiment, giving life to the artists of Westbeth. The book is striking, blending the anthropological tradition of thick description with sensitivity to the social significance of artists. She has combined personal connection, oral histories, and rigorous research to create a powerful story about a place and its people.---Jan English-Lueck, San Jose State University

Chaiken captures the feeling and spirit of growing up in Westbeth and the early years of the community in a resonant way. She leaves you wanting to hear more stories--from every resident and kid. Hopefully, Creative Ozone will catalyze more research and study of this uniquely urban and cultural experiment.---Nat Oppenheimer, Senior VP, TYLin Miriam Chaiken has documented a remarkable American social experiment, giving life to the artists of Westbeth. The book is striking, blending the anthropological tradition of thick description with sensitivity to the social significance of artists. She has combined personal connection, oral histories, and rigorous research to create a powerful story about a place and its people.---Jan English-Lueck, San Jose State University

""Miriam Chaiken has documented a remarkable American social experiment, giving life to the artists of Westbeth. The book is striking, blending the anthropological tradition of thick description with sensitivity to the social significance of artists. She has combined personal connection, oral histories, and rigorous research to create a powerful story about a place and its people."" - Jan English-Lueck, San Jose State University ""Chaiken captures the feeling and spirit of growing up in Westbeth and the early years of the community in a resonant way. She leaves you wanting to hear more stories - from every resident and kid. Hopefully, Creative Ozone will catalyze more research and study of this uniquely urban and cultural experiment."" - Nat Oppenheimer, Senior VP, TYLin ""Chaiken has captured the spirit and soul of Westbeth and the artists who live there. Creative Ozone exquisitely tells the tale of an artistic experiment that has survived and flourished for over half a century."" - George Cominskie, former President of Westbeth Artists Residents Council ""Miriam Chaiken offers an insider’s look at one of the most unusual and audacious communities in America - Westbeth Artists Housing. ""Just as trailblazing visionaries reimagined a disused industrial complex as a home to emerging artists and arts spaces, the inspiringly creative individuals who found a home here reimagined what community, shared space, being an artist, and city life could mean. Creative Ozone provides unique perspectives on an experiment still going strong fifty five years later, and one from which we all can and should learn a thing or two."" - Andrew Berman, Executive Director, Village Preservation ""Lovingly researched and remarkably readable. Chaiken brings her estimable skills as a social anthropologist to document and illuminate the improbable, invaluable urban experiment that is Westbeth. I’m deeply grateful to her."" - Josh Hamilton, actor and child of Westbeth ""Creates a vibrant portrait of the community. . . An intimate cultural history."" - Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

Miriam Chaiken is a cultural anthropologist who has done field research on four continents and then turned her anthropological gaze to the most exotic site yet - Greenwich Village in New York City. Three members of her family were longtime residents of the Westbeth Artists Housing, and this connection opened doors and permitted her to capture the stories of members of this community. After her work in villages in sub-Saharan Africa, she realized that Westbeth is a vertical village, with all the drama and intrigue. Creative Ozone: The Artists of Westbeth tells of the artists who left their mark on the city of New York and every artistic innovation and social justice movement of the last half-century. Miriam’s earlier writing draws on her anthropological field research in Africa and Asia, focusing on poverty andhunger alleviation, gender equity, and the welfare of children. She has published many articles and co-edited two books on international development and community resilience.

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