Why would folks want to visit the basement at Westbeth Artists Housing, which has been providing affordable places to live and work for artists and their families since 1970? The answer is bargains.
It’s the twice yearly Flea Market featuring art work and many other items from residents at the nation’s largest artists’ community, which has 384 apartments.
“The flea market started in 1984, and all of the proceeds from the flea market go to the Westbeth Beautification Committee,” Peter Madden, executive director at Westbeth, said.
The committee works to keep the entire city block Westbeth occupies, looking great on the streets and in its courtyards, which are open to the public.
Longtime resident and artist Parviz Mohassel is director of affordable art for the flea market, which is run by volunteers. He says it takes six months to collect the art works and prepare them for the sale, in many cases the work is donated by families of artists who have passed away.
“I’m actually privileged to go to these people’s apartments after they are gone, and sometimes it brings tears to my eyes that I have to go through all of these works, and I take them, but I love it because I save them and I give it another life to another person or family to enjoy,” Mohassel said.
Mohassel says he tries to keep the pricing affordable on the artwork and doesn’t even mind if the purchaser decides to resell it.
“I have a lot of people they come here and they buy a lot of work, and then two months later I see them on eBay or I see them on the internet that they are selling them, for three, four times the price they paid, and I love it, that’s fine,” Mohassel said.
Mohassel says the market, at times, allows art to flourish beyond the life of its creator and improve Westbeth, which has provided a place for the artists themselves to live and flourish for more than a half century.
