The venue that we chose for our Rocks Against Cancer fundraising event Benefitting EIF cancer programs is the the Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts, situated on Norfolk Street and in the former Ansche Chesed Synagogue. The building is notable for being one of the few synagogues ever built in Gothic revival style, the oldest surviving synagogue building in New York, and the fourth oldest surviving synagogue building in the United States.

Ansche Chesed was built by a congregation of German Jews. The synagogue was designed by architect Alexander Saeltzer. When it opened in 1849, it was the largest synagogue in the United States and could hold up to 1,500 worshippers. From 1886 until 1921, the synagogue was home to Congregation Ohab Zedek. A Polish congregation, Anshe Slonim, worshiped there from 1921 until 1974. By 1974 the Slonim community had dispersed and the synagogue was abandoned and was being vandalized. Spanish sculptor Angel Orensanz purchased the property in 1986 for $500,000 and converted it into an art gallery and performance space. The “Shul of New York” holds its weekly services in the synagogue. The building was designated an historic landmark by the City in 1987. Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick were married here.

The Angel Orensanz Foundation, Inc. was established in 1992 by a group of artists and scholars, inspired by the work of this Spanish/American artist (1942) and the unique architecture of his space in Lower Manhattan. In a short period of time it has affirmed itself as a strong anchor of the visual arts and performing arts and artists in New York. Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Bang on a Can, The Institute for the Humanities at NY, The Goethe Institute, The Italian Institute, the British Council, PS1 and various departments of NYU, Columbia University, Princeton University, as well as The State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg), Mass Moca, The Whitney Museum, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Il Ministero per I Beni Culturali of Italy and many other institutions develop there shows and presentations.

The Foundation has just opened an international department and workshop for digital arts: graphic design, web development and video editing as well as exhibition systems and presentation. It produces the quarterly arts magazine Artscape through its subsidiary Artscape Publishers; a weekly TV program (MNN) Arts from the Orensanz airs weekly through MNN, and a series of classical recordings “Live from the Orensanz”, as well as an international exhibitions programs of the work of Angel Orensanz.

To learn more about the foundation please go to www.orensanz.org.

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