Wynn Handman By Josef Birdman Astor

Living among the other artists was always a comfort and an inspiration, even if it was simply about knowing they were there. The momentum my work took after moving there was a direct result of the unique qualities of the studio, and the environment around it. The studio with its northern skylight provided the setting for a theatrically staged style that I developed in that space. I often wonder had I not gone to the Pyramid Club that night in 1985, would I be making a different sort of pictures?

Who were your nearest neighbors and tell us a little about them?
To reach my 8th floor studio, you would take the elevator to the 6th floor (because there is no “8″ in the elevator ) exit on 6, and walk up a small set of steps, and you were inexplicably on the 8th floor – very typical of the labyrinth of the Carnegie Studios. The 8th floor was unique in that the studios sat on the roof directly above the concert hall – they had soaring ceilings and beautiful north-facing skylights. Across from my studio there was a trap door in the floor and if the workmen left it unlocked, I could sneak down inside the ceiling of the main hall among the dusty old pipes and hear the concerts — it was a very Phantom of the Opera experience.
     Just down the hall from my studio on the 8th floor was the massive pipe organ studio occupied since the 1930s by Emilia Del Terzo, who taught piano and organ, and used to play it in her peach-coloured robe. A turning point in the film is the demise of that grand organ studio. The Neubert Ballet