7. Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe had a studio in NoHo
On the otherwise unassuming facade of 24 Bond Street, dozens of small golden statues dance up and down the wrought iron fire escapes and brick exterior. Artist Bruce Williams has resided in the building for over twenty years and began installing the sculptures in 1998. In 2008, 24 Bond Street was added to the NoHo Historic District Extension to officially recognize the 1893 building’s architectural significance. To celebrate, Williams added more statues climbing up the side of the building, but was required to attend an official hearing for approval because of the building’s new landmark status.
24 Bond Street enjoys an even more significant artistic legacy that precedes Williams’s sculptures. Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe occupied a studio on the fifth floor of the building from the 1970s until his death in 1989. Mapplethorpe photographed many of his famous subjects in the space, including his former lover and artistic collaborator Patti Smith, and shot their film “Still Moving” there in 1978. After Mapplethorpe’s death, the Gene Frankel Theatre moved into the ground floor of the building. The theater supports emerging actors and produces bold and progressive works, continuing to operate out of the space with a mission to support new playwrights and artists and to “revive NoHo as a cauldron of LGBTQI art and ideas.”