Public Arts International/Free Speech

Public Arts International/Free Speech was a downtown art performance festival in 1979 that spanned from May 15 to May 19 at 75 Warren Street in Tribeca New York City. All proceeds collected at the door ($2.50 entrance tickets) went to the artists.
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."
Cultural Legacy
As a DIY multidisciplinary collaborative activity, Public Arts International/Free Speech was a key formational factor in the creation of Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine that Nechvatal and Parkinson would go on to form in 1983.
Performers Included
* Theodora Skipitares
* Jill Kroesen
* Mitch Corber
* Liza Béar
* Coleen Fitzgibbon
* Tom Otterness
* Ann Messner
* Alan W. Moore
* Charlie Morrow
* Charles Moulton
* Peter Fend
* Ned Sublette
* Yoshi Wada
* Disband (Ilona Granet, Donna Henes, Ingrid Sischy, Diane Torr, and Martha Wilson)
* Jackson Mac Low
* Willoughby Sharp
* Youth in Asia
* Judy Rifka
Footnotes
 
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