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Community Profile - Debra Singer
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 Debra Singer is the executive director and chief curator of the Kitchen, a West Chelsea based non-profit arts organization and performance and exhibition space. The Kitchen, founded in 1971 by experimental video artists, has played an important role shaping the American avant-garde movement. It has supported an impressive roster of artists in the visual, musical, performance, media, and literary arts, including Phillip Glass, Bill T. Jones, Laurie Anderson, Vito Acconci, Kiki Smith, Charles Atlas, the Talking Heads, and Sonic Youth. Singer came to the Kitchen in 2004 after serving as a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
FHL: Can you tell me a little about the building we're in?
DS: The Kitchen's building is an old icehouse, which is why we have very few windows. It's also why this building is so close to the High Line. Ice would be unloaded from the icehouse onto the trains, because we're actually only 50 feet from the High Line.
FHL: You have been working here for a little over a year. What is your vision for the Kitchen, and how do you hope to change it or to fulfill the mission?
DS: We're updating what was so special about the Kitchen originally. I'm looking at the balance and connections between the disciplines, and at a re-commitment to local artists. Some of the most exciting and energetic things we've been doing have been informal evenings with local artists—short performances that are not about the "grand presentation," but just about it being an open space again. Intermission and talking in the breaks become as energized as the performance itself. Another goal is reestablishing the Kitchen to be as much as a daytime destination as an evening one, so we are expanding our exhibition program. We hope people will get familiar with stopping by 19th Street, even though you have to walk upstairs, to come see our exhibitions during the day. It's free like all the other galleries here in Chelsea.
FHL: One of the articles written about you said that you're not afraid to take chances. Why is it so important to take chances?
DS: There's such a rich artistic and cultural life in New York, but the stakes seem to be quite high all the time. There are very few small, safe places left in the city where people feel comfortable enough to take a risk, whether it's an emerging artist trying to take a leap forward or a more established artist trying to pursue a more unusual project. That's why it's so important for the Kitchen to keep filling that role. More and more spaces are in a "bigger is better" mode, which lends itself more to conventional artistic choices, because you start worrying about the bottom line in a different way.
FHL: Before coming to the Kitchen, you worked at the Whitney. What was it like to come to Chelsea from Madison Avenue?
DS: It's such a treat to be in Chelsea every day, because if I want to go see other people's shows, I can just take a lunch break and go see a few gallery shows, as opposed to making a really conscious effort to come in and do the rounds all in an afternoon.
FHL: What is your favorite spot around here to go for lunch?
DS: Well, the staff orders in a lot, but we are all fond of Melva and [her restaurant] La Lunchonette. The staff teases me because I'm a big fan of Billy's Bakery, so after work I often stop by to pick up dessert, which I bring home. I'm quite fond of the icebox cake.
FHL: Amid all the change going on in West Chelsea, what do you hope remains the same?
DS: Hopefully the way that Chelsea will evolve in the next few years will add to the complexity of the neighborhood. When there are more residential options, more eating options and more cultural options, it will have a different feel as a neighborhood and particularly a different feel at night. Obviously we have some residential buildings already, but when that starts to increase, it may give a greater sense of vitality and diversity of options. It will have a more "neighborhood" feel, too, on top of what's already a kind of cool industrial-cultural area.
The Kitchen is located at 512 West 19th Street, just West of the High Line. For more information, performance schedules, and exhibition hours, go to www.thekitchen.org.
Join Friends of the High Line and the Kitchen on September 17 for the Kitchen High Line Block Party, a West-Chelsea street fair featuring local artists, performances, music, and food in the shadow of the High Line. This family event is a West Chelsea take on the traditional New York street fair. West 19th Street between 10th and 11th Aves. 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm, rain or shine. FREE. Go to www.kitchenhighlineblockparty.org for more information.
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