If you’ve seen Dave Chapelle’s Block Party, you probably remember the eccentric couple, Arthur and Cindy Wood, that lived in the crazy fun house/art museum, Broken Angel. Well, apparently there was a fire back in October and the city of Brooklyn wanted to demolish this monument to creativity. The now-homeless couple and their son were fighting to turn the building, their home, into an art centre, appealing to Chapelle, director Michel Gondry and some of the other musicians (who no doubt profitted from the movie’s success) to perform at a benefit. No one responded, which really isn’t in the spirit of a neighbourhood block party now, is it? Good news however from a local developer who is going to redevelop the space as condos, working with family to realize their vision, and then build an art space next door. Check out the son’s Flickr site. Amazing.
This article appears in Feb 1-7, 2007.