Public Arts International/Free Speech

Public Arts International/Free Speech was a downtown art performance festival in 1979 that spanned from May 15th to May 19th at 75 Warren Street in Tribeca New York City.[1] All proceeds collected at the door ($2.50 entrance tickets) went to the artists.

Cover of the documentary booklet for Public Arts International Free Speech (1979)

Organized by artist Joseph Nechvatal, musician Carol Parkinson and dancer/artist Cid Collins, Public Arts International/Free Speech presented an array of young artists in New York that would go on to establish Colab no wave group activities (such as The Times Square Show) and the general postmodern art scene. A documentary booklet was produced for the event by the organizers in conjunction with Willoughby Sharp (financed by Frederick Steinway Jr. of Steinway & Sons) that states on the first page: "It is Time for Artists to Intervene and Demand a Re-evaluation."[2]

Cultural Legacy

As a DIY multidisciplinary collaborative activity, Public Arts International/Free Speech was also a formational factor in the creation of Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine that Nechvatal and Parkinson would go on to form in 1983.

Performers Included

Footnotes
  1. [] PUBLIC ARTS INTERNATIONAL/FREE SPEECH PRESENTS A PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL, MAY 15-19, 1979: CATALOGUE
  2. [] Between the Covers: Two Performance Anthologies Ken Friedman, Performing Arts Journal, The MIT Press, LIVE performance art magazine 3 pp. 30-32
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