Neumann Leathers Open Studios
15
May
5/15/2008 Update:
Don’t forget to stop by the Neumann Leathers building this Sunday!
Neumann Leathers Artists in Hoboken - Part III from Hoboken411 on Vimeo.
SEE PREVIOUS VIDEOS AND UPDATES AFTER THE JUMP…
5/14/2008 Update:
On top of today’s video, which features tenants Heather Smith, Michele Pope, and Jose Cifuentes, here’s some additional news about this Sunday’s Open Studios Tour:
Guided Tour at 3pm
“While the Open Studios event features the 50 plus artists in the complex, we will also have a GUIDED TOUR OF “INDUSTRY” AT NEUMANN – a one-hour sampling of the non-artist small businesses which actually occupy the majority of space. There are 30 of them, ranging from startup internet companies, custom furniture makers and antique restorers, an architectural model maker, machinists and welders, architects, and a nationally prominent television studio builder (to mention a few). Together they represent the shift from the old “light industry” uses to a more technology, design, and artisanal base which thrives in the New York regional market.
THE TOUR STARTS AT 3:00 PM at 321 Newark St., 2nd floor. A model of the site which illustrates our “piazza” concept will be on display. We will end with a glass of wine and some musical entertainment.”
Live Jazz
musical program that will take place at Chapeau Antiques (4th Floor) during the artist’s tour.
1pm - 4:30pm: Jazz music (open stage, two Steinways)
5pm - 7pm: Concert by Matt Gruenberg (tenant in the building) with his band (website: jeremywallace.com).
Today’s Video
Neumann Leathers Artists in Hoboken - Part II from Hoboken411 on Vimeo.
5/13/2008 Update:
Go beyond the walls of the Neumann Leathers building, and find out what goes on inside.
Today’s video showcases three of the tenants that have set up shop: Mauro Altamura, Antoine Schapira, and Tom Newman.
More videos to come this week, leading up to this weekends event.
Neumann Leathers Artists in Hoboken - Part I from Hoboken411 on Vimeo.
5/12/2008:
This Sunday, May 18 from 1pm to 7pm, the Neumann Leathers Tenants Association is having an Open Studios tour, to showcase what Hoboken stands to lose if the doomsday scenario pans out, and the site is leveled for new condos. Please read more about the plan to destroy Neumann in this thread: http://hoboken411.com/archives/10491
Neumann Leathers Open Studios
The public is invited to see the thriving arts community that still exists at Neumann, which is currently threatened by new development—development that will completely destroy one of the city’s last artistic and historic arts complexes. Extraordinary efforts are in place to ensure the continuation of this wonderful Hoboken legacy, which will not only preserve some existing structures, but also create new ones. The current “Piazza Plan,” which has been presented by the NLTA, will also create public space that will benefit all Hoboken citizens.
In addition, the public is invited to come and share their memories, opinions and feelings about Neumann, which will be documented by filmmaker Mark Gasper throughout the day in his studio on the fourth floor. In particular, anyone who has ever worked at Neumann—whether as artist, artisan, entrepreneur or employee—during its long history is urged to come and tell their story.
Here’s a video today from Artist Tim Daly (shot by videographer Mark Gasper):
Tim Daly on Neumann Leathers from Hoboken411 on Vimeo.
61. FAP | May 19th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Really? And here I thought it was because the industrial spaces they choose were inexpensive, large, open, and did I mention inexpensive.
Hoboken is no different than Manhattan or Williamsburg where cheap spaces artists rented for years are no longer cheap. While I find that artists do add a great deal to a community I am disturbed by the sense of entitlement to the space, at a cheap rate, because they previously had it.
If you want to argue that because of the value artists add to the community our city should go to bat for them, offering the owner a deal of some sort, or using taxes to subsidize the lost revenue than make that argument. But don’t tell me that they are better than the rest of us so should get what they want because they want it.
62. jscirish27 | May 19th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Easy-E, haven’t you noticed that our national appetitte in this country is gluttony. More profits, supersized meals, bigger TV’s, SUV’s, more consumption, and more waste, both human and chemical. Things like literature, the arts, music, and cuisine are being pushed aside in our have-to-have-it culture. Because there is no price tag attached to what these artists add to our community they are worthless. We only like things that we can quantify. The art and music scene that made Hoboken desirable in the first place is now being asked kindly to leave in the name of profit. The irony is priceless.
63. hobokenj | May 19th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
jscirish27 wrote:
I would say the bar, restaurant and easy commute to NYC is what and still does make Hoboken desirable. I don’t see how having a cheap building for artist brought any one to live here. That being said I don’t think they should just be thrown out, just as you cant throw out a residential tenant they should have rights. I pray the town does not re-zone residential. Commercial would be fine in my opinion. Id like top see more companies move their operations here.
64. Furey | May 19th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Plenty of space in Newark
65. Red Haven | May 19th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
It’s not as cheap to rent at Neumann as some people here are apparently thinking it is. We are not talking Class A office space here folks. The small businesses and artists are paying a fair rent to the owner for the raw industrial space they get back.
There is no free lunch at Neumann Leather, and the tenants association is not asking anyone for handouts. They are asking for a fair opportunity to preserve the site and it’s uses. Many of them have already laid out many thousands of dollars and man hours dedicated to this effort.
Talk is cheap. The NLTA is taking action and they deserve support in their efforts.
66. Easy-E | May 19th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I keep seeing people making comments like these artists and business owners are looking for a hand out, even after it’s been stated time and time again that they are not. I just can’t understand where the animosity comes from.
I’ll bet there are a number of you don’t bat an eyelash when the government wants to use tax dollars to subsidize a new stadium for the poor impoverished professional ball teams.
jscirish27 I’m with you. It’s kind of depressing actually. Maybe it’s because Hoboken is such a corporate town, or it’s because it’s like some kind of college half-way point to a house out in the middle of NJ. Loads of people have only been her for a very short time it’s like they want to make it just like whatever pristine suburb they came from.
Aside from my other reasons, one of which is selfish. I don’t particularly look forward to a building of that size to be demolished across the street. I lived in the shipyard when they tore down the Maxwell House factory. The dust and the noise sucked and was a reason why I finally moved, I couldn’t stand the idea of another year of that.
67. jscirish27 | May 19th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Re. 63– The bar and restaurant scene was nothing until the artists and musicians started coming here in the mid 80’s to early 90’s. It is somewhat revisionist to imagine that Hoboken was always the “theme park” it is now. The commute was always easy to NYC but you didn’t see people clamoring to live in a depressed, gritty industrial town in the 70’s and early 80’s.
Re. 64– Furey, I expect better from you. You are correct that there is plenty of space in Newark, but does that mean artists that have lived and worked here for longer then you and I should be forced out because that is what “the market” demands. Besides, Newark doesn’t have the desireable proximity to NYC that Hoboken has nor the small community feel. The industrial areas of Newark are also isolated from much of the downtown areas, making for a difficult commute without a car.
Re. 66– Can’t let this stuff get you down Easy; someday I’ll have to buy you a beer. The thing that concerns me is the belief of many that we have unlimited resources in this country. Consume and then consume some more. There are so many on this board who claim to be conservative, but have no idea what it means to conserve. I don’t want a bigger government, nor do I want shameless profiteering. I want private citizens and public servants to act in a responsible manner. I just don’t understand why profit and preservation seem so at odds with each other on this board; why can’t people understand that the two are not mutually exclusive?