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The YoHo Artist Community is a community of artists out of the two Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Historic District buildings, located at 540 and 578 Nepperhan Avenue in Yonkers, New York. Its membership has grown to more than 80 working artists since 2005.
The Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Historic District buildings originally housed the Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company. [1] The entire complex consisted of 38 acres with more than 40 buildings. Alexander Smith and Sons was in operation in Yonkers. During the Great Depression, it was agreed that employees' hours would be cut, but jobs were not. [2] In the mid-1950s, the Yonkers plant shut down entirely; an estimated 5,000 workers were without jobs. [2] The stronghold along Nepperhan Avenue and the Saw Mill River, and within the Yonkers community, was suddenly empty. [2]
With the deindustrialization of cities came the abandonment of buildings. [1] In this case, most of the 40-building complex stood empty for nearly 20 years. The two loft buildings that house the YoHo community were purchased in 1978 by Allan Eisenkraft of Yonkers Industrial Development Corporation, who spent a total of about $4.5 million in renovations. The buildings were then rented out to small businesses. The lower floors still operate in this manner. [1] The buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior in 1983. [3]
In 1986, Debra Sherwood was looking for an artist loft space. She was a sculptor relocating from Seattle to New York City. Industrial building floors for rent were advertised by Yonkers Industrial Development Corporation. After contacting the realtor, Sherwood agreed to lease the fifth floor of the building. She named the space YoHo Studios for "Yonkers above Houston". YoHo studios had four open studio events before 1991. [4] In the early 1990s, artists began to occupy the Westchester artist studios located within the former Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company Mills. [5]
Among the artists that rent or have rented space at YoHo are producers of murals, collages, sculptures, mixed media, and portraits. While the population is made up of primarily visual artists, specifically painters, there has also been a sculptor, a tattoo artist, and a former member of the Orange County Choppers, a creator of custom motorcycle graphics. [6] During the scheduled "open studio" events, members allow the community access to their private studios. [7] The Great Hall on the fifth floor is a gallery-like space where the artwork is displayed. Those areas, as well as the private studios, use the buildings' 14–16-foot ceilings. [8]
The community has earned recognition from New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins. State Senator Stewart-Cousins deemed April 18, 2009, to be "YoHo Artist Studios Day". [9] The mayor of the city of Yonkers, Phil Amicone, issued a dedicated day to the community as well. [10]
In early 2011, the owners began the creation of 25 new spaces that would occupy a fourth-floor wing. By early 2014, all spaces were occupied, along with the original 50+ studios at 540 and 578 Nepperhan Avenue. [11] In early 2014, the owners and developers of YoHo began collaborating with proprietors of neighboring buildings of the historic carpet mills to create Yonkers's first official arts district.
Yonkers is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York and the most-populous city in Westchester County. A centrally located municipality within the New York metropolitan area, Yonkers had a population of 211,569 at the 2020 United States census. Yonkers is classified as an inner suburb of New York City, immediately north of the Bronx and approximately 2.4 miles (4 km) north of Marble Hill.
SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and has also been known for its variety of shops ranging from trendy upscale boutiques to national and international chain store locations. The area's history is an archetypal example of inner-city regeneration and gentrification, encompassing socioeconomic, cultural, political, and architectural developments.
NoHo, short for "North of Houston Street", is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by Mercer Street to the west, the Bowery to the east, 9th Street to the north, and Houston Street to the south.
Tribeca, originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" is bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Chambers Street. By the 2010s, a common marketing tactic was to extend Tribeca's southern boundary to either Vesey or Murray Streets to increase the appeal of property listings.
Getty Square is the name for downtown Yonkers, New York, centered on the public square. Getty Square is the civic center, central business district, and transit hub of the City of Yonkers. A dense and growing residential area, it is located in southern Westchester County, New York. The square is named after prominent 19th-century merchant Robert Getty.
The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity 41 miles (66 km) from the Croton River in Westchester County to reservoirs in Manhattan. It was built because local water resources had become polluted and inadequate for the growing population of the city. Although the aqueduct was largely superseded by the New Croton Aqueduct, which was built in 1890, the Old Croton Aqueduct remained in service until 1955.
The Hudson River Museum, located in Trevor Park in Yonkers, New York, is the largest museum in Westchester County. The Yonkers Museum, founded in 1919 at City Hall, became the Hudson River Museum in 1948. While often considered an art museum by the public, due to the extensive collection of Hudson River School paintings, the museum also features exhibits on the history, science and heritage of the region.
Philip A. Amicone is an American politician who was the 41st Mayor of Yonkers, New York. He took office on January 1, 2004, after serving eight years as Deputy Mayor.
The Saw Mill River is a 23.5-mile (37.8 km) tributary of the Hudson River in Westchester County, New York, United States. It flows from an unnamed pond north of Chappaqua to Getty Square in Yonkers, where it empties into the Hudson as that river's southernmost tributary. It is the only major stream in southern Westchester County to drain into the Hudson instead of Long Island Sound. It drains an area of 26.5 square miles (69 km2), most of it heavily developed suburbia. For 16 miles (26 km), it flows parallel to the Saw Mill River Parkway, a commuter artery, an association that has been said to give the river an "identity crisis."
Andrea Alice Stewart-Cousins is an American politician and educator from Yonkers, New York. A member of the Democratic Party, Stewart-Cousins has represented District 35 in the New York State Senate since 2007 and has served as Majority Leader and Temporary President of that body since 2019. She has previously served twice as acting lieutenant governor of New York under Governor Kathy Hochul, for 16 days in 2021 and between April and May 2022. Stewart-Cousins is the first Black woman to serve as the New York lieutenant governor, although in an acting capacity. She is the first woman in the history of New York State to lead a conference in the New York State Legislature and is also the first female Senate Majority Leader in New York history.
Pace University is a private university with three campuses in New York: Pace University in New York City, Pace University in Pleasantville, and Pace Law in White Plains. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about 13,000 students as of fall 2021 in bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs.
The Yonkers Public Library in Yonkers, New York, consists of three branch libraries. The main branch is the 'Yonkers Riverfront Library' which overlooks the Hudson River and New Jersey Palisades. Yonkers Riverfront Library is located in one of the former Otis Elevator buildings and it is across the street from the Yonkers train station. The new main library was opened in 2002, contains an area of 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) and 4 stories.
John E. Flynn was an American politician a from New York. He served as the 31st Mayor of Yonkers from 1961 to 1966. He then was elected to the New York State Senate from 1967 to 1986.
The U.S. Post Office for Yonkers, New York, is located on Main Street downtown, opposite the city's train station. It is a two-story stone building erected in the late 1920s. It is located in the 10702 ZIP Code, but serves the entire city, which has other ZIP codes between 10701 and 10710. In 1989 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with many other historic post offices in the state.
The former Yonkers Trolley Barn is located on Main Street in Yonkers, New York, United States. It is a massive steel frame brick building in the Renaissance Revival style built at the beginning of the 20th century. In 2002 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the last remaining trolley barn in Westchester County and the only remnant of Yonkers' trolley system.
The Delavan Terrace Historic District is located along the street of that name in Northwest Yonkers, New York, United States. It consists of 10 buildings, all houses. In 1983 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Historic District is a national historic district located at Yonkers, Westchester County, New York. It includes 85 contributing buildings. It encompasses 19 stylistically varied mill buildings and six rows of workers' housing. They were developed between 1871 and 1930 in the vicinity of northeastern Getty Square along the banks of the Saw Mill River. The main mill building was originally built in 1871 and expanded between 1876 and 1883. It is a three-story, rectangular building, 52 bays wide and five bays deep in the Second Empire style. It features a four-story tower and a five-story tower. The workers' housing, known as Moquette Row, North and South, was built between 1881 and 1886. Many workers that lived in this housing originally were immigrants to the United States. They came from Scotland, Ireland, and Ukraine. The carpet works were developed by Alexander Smith (1818-1878) The company closed the Yonkers mills and relocated to Greenville, Mississippi, in 1954. At the time of its closing, there were 2,400 who worked at the carpet mill. At the time of World War II, there was 7,000 employees who worked at the mill.It was later absorbed into Mohawk Carpet, later Mohasco Corporation. The carpet weaving industry was revolutionized by looms invented in this plant by Alexander Smith and Halcyon Skinner. Skinner, an engineer, designed a loom known as the Axminster power loom, which revolutionized the production of carpets. A patent for this loom was created in 1877 and royalty rights were sold to European and American companies at the rate of twenty cents per yard of carpet produced.
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site is a historic house museum located in the Getty Square neighborhood of Yonkers, New York. Originally the family seat of Philipse Manor, and later Yonkers city hall, it is Westchester County's second oldest standing building after the Timothy Knapp House. Located near the Hudson River at Warburton Avenue and Dock Street, it is owned and operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Alexander Smith was a Yonkers, New York, businessman and political figure who founded the Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet Company and won election to the United States House of Representatives but died hours after being informed of his victory.
The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation is a non-profit organization incorporated in 1989 dedicated to the study of modern American sculptor Chaim Gross (1902–91), his contemporaries, and the history of 20th-century American art. It is located in the sculptor's four-story historic home on LaGuardia Place in Manhattan's Greenwich Village neighborhood and is open to the public. In addition to the artist's sculpture and drawings, it also exhibits important works of American, European, Pre-Columbian and African art that the artist collected. In 2015, the Foundation won a Village Award from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation for its contributions as a resource to the downtown community.
