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The YoHo Artist Community works out of two of the Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Historic District buildings, located at 540 and 578 Nepperhan Avenue in Yonkers, New York. This population of artists and crafters has grown to more than 80 working artists since 2005.
The buildings were originally developed during the turn of the century[ when? ] and housed the Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company, as well as numerous ancillary plants. [1] The entire complex consisted of 38 acres with more than 40 buildings. Thousands of workers filed in each workday, some manufacturing Moquette and tapestry power looms and others using these looms to weave their share of some 50,000 yards of carpet daily. At the peak of production, the facility was the largest carpet manufacturer in the world. It employed more than 7,000 people and required wool from 15,000 sheep each day. [2] Alexander Smith and Sons was the largest carpet manufacturer in the world for much of the 83 years the company was in operation in Yonkers. During the Great Depression, it was agreed that employees’ hours would be cut, but jobs were not. The company was constantly increasing its output. [2]
The carpet mill maintained a good reputation and solid success until the end of World War II, when, after a number of employee strikes, the city’s largest employer relocated to Greenville, Mississippi, where workers were not unionized. In the mid-1950s the Yonkers plant shut down entirely. The massive complex was left vacant, and an estimated 5,000 workers were without jobs. [2] Many of the carpet mills employees had worked for 40 or more years with the company. [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 like Yonkers came the abandonment and deterioration of these massive buildings as communities developed an alternative economic purpose for their vacant properties. [1] In this case, most of the 40-building complex stood empty for nearly 20 years until developers and smaller manufacturers began to secure them for various uses. The two loft buildings that house the YoHo community were purchased in 1978 by Mr. Allan Eisenkraft of Yonkers Industrial Development Corporation, who spent a total of about $4.5 million in conversion renovations. The buildings were then rented out to small businesses, mainly for manufacturing or creative industrial uses. The lower floors still operate in this manner today. [1]
In 1983, the loft buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior. [3]
In 1986, Debra Sherwood was looking for an artist loft space at the height of the real estate market boom. 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 to obtain rental information about the building, Ms. Sherwood agreed to lease the fifth floor of the building. She used the space for her studio and sublet other portions of the space to fellow artists. She named the space YoHo Studios, for "Yonkers above Houston". YoHo studios had four lively open studio events before 1991. At the time, artists and Westchester artist studios were a rarity in the area, and YoHo was featured in several Westchester County journals as well as two articles in the New York Times. [4]
As artists sought larger spaces that they could afford, they were attracted to areas like Yonkers, which are within commuting distance to the traditional arts centers in SoHo and Chelsea, Manhattan. In the early 1990s, more and more artists and crafters 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 include producers of murals, collages, sculptures, mixed media, and portraits. While the population is made up of primarily visual artists and specifically painters, there has also been a sculptor utilizing expired medical products, a tattoo artist, and a former member of the Orange County Choppers, a creator of custom motorcycle graphics. [6]
During scheduled “open studio” events, members allow the community access to their private studios to view the creative process and environments in which the artists work. [7] The Great Hall on the fifth floor is a gallery-like space where artwork is displayed, and members gather. Common areas like this one, as well as the private studios, utilize the buildings 14–16-foot ceilings and factory-style windows. [8]
The community has earned recognition by 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 proclamation recognizing YoHo’s role in the growing artist community by dedicating a day to the community as well. [10]
The YoHo community has expanded since the property’s most recent acquisition in 2005. In the beginning of 2011, the owners began the creation of 25 new spaces that would occupy a fourth floor wing. By early 2014, all spaces were occupied by a diverse group of working artists. Combined with the original 50+ studios that were already occupied at 540 and 578 Nepperhan Avenue, this site has become known as Southern Westchester’s largest artist community. [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' first official arts district. The rallying of this group influenced the city's planning and development officials to begin the process of adjusting current zoning to incorporate and allow for the further establishment of this arts district. The zoning was expected to be finalized by the second quarter of 2015. The proposed zoning change would also allow for retail shops to operate at street level, with the intention of servicing the arts community and those attending the community's regularly scheduled events. [12]
Yonkers is a city in Westchester County, New York, and a suburb of New York City. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enumerated in the 2020 United States Census. It is classified as an inner suburb of New York City, located directly to the north of the Bronx and approximately 2.4 miles (4 km) north of Marble Hill, Manhattan, the northernmost point in Manhattan.
SoHo, sometimes written Soho, 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 outlets. The area's history is an archetypal example of inner-city regeneration and gentrification, encompassing socioeconomic, cultural, political, and architectural developments.
40.729°N 73.993°W
Liberty Village is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered to the north by King Street West, to the west by Dufferin Street, to the south by the Gardiner Expressway, to the east by Strachan Avenue, and to the northeast by railway tracks.
A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof, or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder. A loft apartment refers to large adaptable open space, often converted for residential use from some other use, often light industrial. Adding to the confusion, some converted lofts themselves include upper open loft areas.
The Silver Center for Arts and Science is the home of the New York University College of Arts and Science and NYU's Grey Art Gallery. The Dean of the College of Arts & Science and the college administration are located in this facility which forms an imposing landmark on the eastern border of Washington Square Park.
40.93377°N 73.89795°W
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."
Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. 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 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.
50 Moganshan Road or "M50" is a contemporary art district in Shanghai, China, that houses a community of more than a hundred artists whose studios are open to the public. It is often compared with New York's SoHo and Beijing's 798 Art Zone. The art quarter has become a popular cultural attraction for local and international visitors alike, and was named among the top ten things to do in Shanghai by Time Magazine.
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 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.
Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory is a historic factory building located at Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. It was built in 1874 and is a 3+1⁄2-story, eight-bay brick building. It was expanded about 1887.
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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.
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