LMCC’s 50-Year Arts Impact: Residencies Across NYC, including WTC in the 90’s

In honor of our 50th Anniversary, we’re exploring LMCC’s role in NYC arts over the past 50 years! For decades, artist residencies have been a central component of our work. LMCC has hosted residencies throughout Downtown New York and Governors Island, including two residencies in the 1990s at the World Trade Center.

LMCC worked to transform the WTC into a cultural anchor for Lower Manhattan. From 1997-2001, the 91st and 92nd floors were the beating heart of LMCC's residency programs—The Perceptual Painters and World Views. Artists thrived in their unique home and studio spaces, experiencing FiDi as local workers and contributing to the rich tapestry of downtown Manhattan.

Like so many other New Yorkers, the lives of our artists and our organization were completely transformed when the World Trade Center was destroyed on 9/11. Not only had we lost a creative hub serving NYC artists, we had also lost an artist-in-residence, Michael Richards, who was working in his World Views Studio on the 92nd Floor of the North Tower when the plane struck.

As we celebrate 50 years of creativity, community, and resilience, let's pay tribute to the indomitable spirit of our artists and remember those whose lives were forever changed.