Artist Tenants Association records
name: label: Creator
content: Artist Tenants Association (New York, N.Y.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Artists -- Housing -- New York (State) -- New York
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The records were donated to the Archives of American Art by Ruth Fortel, the financial secretary of the Association, in 1978 and 1979.
creator: label: Creator
content: Artist Tenants Association (New York, N.Y.)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Artist Tenants Association records
abstract: label: Summary
content: 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.
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: 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.

On March 31, 1965, the Association acquired a formal certificate of unincorporation, although they had been operating in an unofficial capacity since the fall of 1961. In addition to negotiating with the city, the Artist Tenants Association served as a centralized information resource by disseminating information to artists, proposing boycotts and other actions early in the negotiation process, and raising funds to support artists and building projects. Between 1964 and 1968, the Association was central to the negotiation of the A.I.R. Agreement, which received approval in 1964 and officially passed as an amendment concerning Artists' Centers and Studios in March 1968.

Influential artists who supported the Association's first artist boycott in protest of the city's 1961 studio-loft evictions include Helen Frankenthaler, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Ad Reinhardt, and Richard Stankiewicz.
function: label: Function
content: Arts organizations -- New York (State)
label: Function
content: Artists' studios -- New York (State)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1959-1978
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.artitena
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 5 series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1967-1969 (Box 1; 12 folders)

Series 2: Administrative Records, 1961-1969 (Box 1; 10 folders)

Series 3: Financial Records, 1961-1969 (Boxes 1-2; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1967-1978 (Box 2; 4 folders)

Series 5: Scrapbook, 1959-1976 (Box 2, BV 3; 0.2 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was fully processed, arranged, and described by Judy Ng and digitized in 2012 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: This collection was digitized in its entirety in 2012 and is available via the Archives of American Art's website. Blank pages and duplicates have not been scanned. In most cases, the cover, title page, and individual relevant pages have been scanned from published materials.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: 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.

The correspondence in the collection includes a handful of letters from artists regarding the availability of lofts, letters from the New York City Housing and Development Administration, and information from other co-housing projects in the city. In addition, there is a report, "Arts Administrator Need and Potential in New York State," drafted by George Alan Smith for the New York State Council on the Arts.

Administrative records include a legal resolution of unincorporation, meeting announcements, press releases and memoranda, member lists, and phone messages. Finanical records include checking and savings account books, canceled checks and check memos, bank statements, and receipts related to Association activities. The clippings in the collection relate to coverage of Association activities and topics relevant to their objectives.

The scrapbook of clippings chronicle housing needs of New York City artists, press coverage related to the Association, and supplementary articles tracing the development of the SoHo neighborhood as an integrated artists' live and work community.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Material
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art are the SoHo Artists Association Records, 1968-1978.