The national and international program for studio artists at P.S.1 in the mid- eighties was a great place to be. Thousands of people attended the openings (held three times a year) and our studios had to be open for these events. Of course, visitors throughout the week would simply knock or peek in a studio out of curiosity. The first thing I did was build a screen door so that visitors would feel more comfortable.

Over the course of two years the most important element became the relationships that developed, both with the other artists and the NYC art scene. The authorities had just cleaned up the East Village so my apartment was where everyone else went at the time, the Lower East Side, on the corner of Clinton and Stanton.

In addition to my studio being constantly open, I exhibited at the Clock Tower, Queens Museum, with Lily Vander Stokker at her gallery, the Storefront for Art and Architecture, and even won a Jurors award at the small works show at the Grey Gallery at NYU. My studio was smaller than I had been used to and combined with the compression of the city itself, helped me become much more efficient.

The roof at PS1 was redone the first year I was there and I dove in the dumpsters for the slate tile that was been thrown out. Salvaged doors from the facility and many other materials came directly from the street. The forms these materials took were generated from ideas that were presented to me on a daily basis in Manhattan and from the various blue-collar jobs I had to support myself. I continue to walk the city on a regular basis when visiting and the Brooklyn Bridge remains my favorite entrance.