RAT Peculiar Works Project presents...

[Pwpny@aol.com]

PECULIAR WORKS PROJECT
Presents
THE JUDSON HOUSE PROJECT
A Performance Celebration of the History and Legacy of Judson House
Before the Wrecking Ball Strikes!
Four Days Only! Thursday, July 27 - Sunday, July 30!

Peculiar Works Project presents THE JUDSON HOUSE PROJECT, a site-specific 
celebration of the history and legacy of Judson House, for four days only, 
Thursday, July 27 - Sunday, July 30. There are seven performance tours per 
night, beginning every half-hour, from 7PM - 10PM. Tickets are $15. On 
Saturday and Sunday from 4PM - 6PM, there will be an Installation Open House, 
for a suggested donation. Reservations are required for the tours and can be 
made by calling (212) 529-3626, ext. 44. Judson House is located at 237 
Thompson Street (at the corner of West 3rd Street).

Throughout its history, Judson Church has been a breeding ground for social 
and cultural action. Since the turn of the 19th Century, they have sponsored 
a number of health and social service organizations, many of which have been 
based in Judson House. In the late 1950s, Judson House expanded its community 
services to include providing a home for experimental artists of all 
disciplines. The first site of the NYC "Happenings" in the ‘60s, its 
ground-breaking Judson Gallery, Dance Theatre and Poet's Theatre were an 
integral part of the early Off-off Broadway, contemporary dance, and 
performance art movements. Such avant-garde legends as Claes Oldenburg, Yoko 
Ono, Carolee Schneemann, Yvonne Ranier, Robert Rauschenberg, and Maria Irene 
Fornes worked or lived at Judson House. In 1999, Judson Memorial Church made 
the difficult decision to sell this historic house to New York University. 
The building is scheduled for demolition in August.

Peculiar Works Project, the brainchild behind BIG ART in small places, is 
honoring this legendary mecca for avant-artists with THE JUDSON HOUSE 
PROJECT, a multi-disciplinary art and performance event. Consisting of eleven 
performance and installation works in different spaces throughout Judson 
House, the audience is taken on a guided tour throughout the performances. 
Commissioning new artists from the fields of theatre, dance, performance and 
installation art, THE JUDSON HOUSE PROJECT creates contemporary responses to 
the heritage of Judson and the ground-breaking work that took place there.

The artists who are headlining this one-time-only event are: Laurel Jay 
Carpenter; Yanira Castro; Soliton (Chris Burney, Fran Kirmser, Michael 
Paller); Nancy S. Chu; S.M. Dale; Steven Dean; Diane Dwyer; Funkopolis (Tim 
Brown, Shannon Maddox, Gabriel Shanks); and Renee Philippi.

Peculiar Works Project, now in its eighth season, generates original 
performance that is accessible and fun for a diverse audience. Challenging 
the conventions of medium, structure and process in an alternative theatre 
context, Peculiar Works Project encourages collaboration, experimentation and 
a rebel spirit in emerging artists by providing them with the tools and 
opportunities necessary to grow throughout the creative process. Performing 
in non-traditional spaces, they have taken their work directly into NYC 
communities by presenting site-specific productions in landmark buildings, 
gutted storefronts and other peculiar sites in the Village, Soho, TriBeCa, 
the Lower East Side and, most recently, cyber-space.

THE JUDSON HOUSE PROJECT is funded, in part, with public funds from the New 
York State Council on the Arts, and with generous private support from The 
Peg Santvoord Foundation, the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, 
The Village Voice and Poland Spring.

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