This week's episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast features pioneering Lower East Side gallery owner James Fuentes. Host Traven Rice spoke with Fuentes about how growing up in the neighborhood influenced his creative aesthetics and the intention behind the gallery, which he opened in a live/work space on St. James Place in 2007. Those were the early days when the Lower East Side was just beginning to be recognized as an art gallery neighborhood. Fuentes was born on the Lower East Side to Ecuadorian immigrant parents and was raised on the Lower East Side, residing in the Vladeck Houses during his early years, and later in the South Bronx. The gallery moved to its location at 55 Delancey Street in 2010 and quickly became a lynchpin in the gallery scene. Its final exhibit in that space is a large group show curated by Arden Wohl titled "A Study in Form (Chapter Two)." The show closes on May 25th and a block party will ensue. Since its inception, James Fuentes has "championed a gallery program that is led first by exceptional contemporary artists who are atypical from the conventions of their field. The gallery is known for its focus on humanity, history, and society with a non-exclusionary approach, positioning itself as a leader in the field as our contemporary institutions seek to do the same. In the spring of 2023, the gallery opened an outpost in the Melrose Hill neighborhood of Los Angeles, and in March 2024 it inaugurated its new location at 52 White Street in Tribeca."

For this edition of The Lo-Down Culture Cast, host Traven Rice speaks with photographer Alain Levitt. Alain is well known in the neighborhood as an artist and the co-owner of the beloved restaurant Bacaro. Alain recently celebrated the publication of his first official photo book, "Alain Levitt, NYC 2000-2005," edited by Tim Barber. It features a series of photos of the downtown "creative class" in New York during the early 2000s and serves as a celebratory time capsule from this time period. Along with the book, Alain has a solo show at the gallery Whaam! (15 Elizabeth St.) on view through May 25. Alain talked with Traven about his arrival in early 2000 from Los Angeles. He ended up on the Lower East Side, working for the NY Post as a street photographer and then later at the (in)famous bar, The Cock. From there, he went on to co-host a party at The Hole, a bar where all sorts of creative people crossed paths and hung out, and eventually became co-owner of Bacaro with his wife, Kama Geary. Living Proof NY writes, "In the early 2000s, New York’s economic landscape created a world in which one could survive off of little. Artists, skaters, graffiti writers, poets & musicians inhabited the city, organically creating style & culture in a way that permeated into the life of the neighborhood. Common streets became legendary as the 14 block radius of downtown New York housed a thriving underground scene flourishing in a carefree time of unhindered creativity. At this time Alain Levitt was hanging out in the Lower East Side on a daily basis with a small film camera on his person. Spending the early 2000s living amongst the people, Alain shot the downtown New York Scene during an era that laid the foundations for events & people that went on to deeply influence the world of skate, graffiti, art & culture. His debut book 'NYC: 2000-2005' is a collection of these photos." Alain writes that he "grew up free range on the west side of Los Angeles. Skateboarding, Graffiti, Raving - the trifecta of 90’s subcultures- helped inform his world view and gave him a home amongst the outcasts. The same world he would focus his lense on after moving to New York in 2000. Not yet a photographer, Alain picked up a camera out of necessity. His first job in NY was shooting street fashion for his sister’s, Danielle Levitt, Sunday style column in the New York Post- a job that required carrying a camera 24/7. Alain recalls showing up to Max Fish and being gently made fun of for his oversized Paparazzi rig. His second job, at the infamous gay bar The Cock, gave him a front row seat to a wild NY that was quickly being choked out by Mayor Giuliani and provided enough income for this budding photographer to only work two evenings a week. More time to run the streets. Alain quickly found his community on the Lower East Side. Alife by day, Max Fish at night. And after starting a bi weekly party, with Spencer Sweeny, at The Hole, Alain planted his seed in the downtown scene."

We spoke with Roxy Hunt, Co-Founder of The Lower East Side Film Festival (LESFF), for this week's episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. Roxy talked with host Traven Rice about the festival's beginning, founded in 2011 in an interactive storefront, and how they have continued to engage devoted movie fans by creating unique live experiences and surprising programming for the last 14 years. The festival features the innovative work of creative, up-and-coming filmmakers, and showcases those low budget, independent films. They offer a week of curated films, panels and parties "with a focus on diversity, originality, quality, and impact." And they always find new ways to celebrate counter culture spirit. The team's production company, BFD Productions, recently launched the Stay Indie Project as a way to connect visionary independent filmmakers with development, financing, and production support. Their first cohort includes four narrative feature projects and two documentaries, all at various stages of development and production. Learn more about the festival and get tickets here. If you know local "culture changers" that you think deserve to be spotlighted on The Lo-Down Culture Cast, send us a note here: tips@thelodownny.com

Host Traven Rice spoke with Hester Street Fair's manager and producer Janine Ciccone for this week’s episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. Hester Street Fair kicks off its 15th year next weekend down at the Seaport. Formerly located at Seward Park on Hester Street, off Essex Street, it moved to the Seaport four years ago after losing their lease.  It's been an incredible incubator for small business over the years and The Lo-Down has featured many of the vendors that have successful "brick and mortar" shops in the neighborhood today. Some of the creative food, fashion and art makers that started at the fair include, Melt Bakery, Cheeky’s, Kopitiam, Round K, Petee’s Pie, Party Bus Bake Shop, La New Yorkina. In a preview of what's ahead, they write: "As always, the 2024 season will offer visitors a world of creativity, craftsmanship, and culinary delights. Visit veteran vendors like Hanzawa Market and Red River Vintage for a trove of vintage treasures, or indulge yourself with exquisite handcrafted jewelry from Mottive and Eden’s Harvest. Turn up the heat with Cantina Royal Hot Sauce, or turn down the mood with The Mantel NYC’s signature candles. And discover goods from a lineup of new vendors this year like ceramics from Dune Brooklyn, beauty products from Clear Morning Wellness, and brownie delights from Snack Lab BK. And to our beloved food enthusiasts: indulge in a culinary voyage from the savory delights ofTacos El Guero to Brooklyn’s own Big Mozz, who will make their triumphant return in a newly revamped food truck. For cheese connoisseurs, Sunday is your day to cruise by Coluccio Cooks for a taste of Southern Italy with their Caciocavallo Impiccato — a delicacy dating back centuries. If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing gooey, soft cheese suspended over a grill, be sure not to miss."

Host Traven Rice spoke with Author-Illustrator Ellen Weinstein for this week's episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. Ellen's vibrant picture book, Five Stories (for children and adults alike) is being released this month. The story features five children, from five different cultures (Russian, Italian, Dominican, Puerto Rican and Chinese) through five different decades, who grow up in the same tenement building on the Lower East Side of New York City. Ellen is a third-generation resident of the LES, and the story begins with her grandmother and continues to the present. Her grandparents and great-grandparents came to the Lower East Side as part of the Great Wave of Immigration from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. She writes: "Research for this book was conducted over eighteen months, during which time I met with and interviewed historians, curators, and librarians at the Tenement Museum, Eldridge Street Synagogue, Henry Street Settlement, Seward Park Library, and the principals and students at Public School 1 and Public School 42. I asked my neighbors and friends about their stories of migration and the stories of their parents and grandparents. While listening to all these different stories, I found they had much in common." The book is a love letter to the neighborhood and a poignant depiction of the diverse cultural heritage that continues to make the Lower East Side such a fascinating place.

Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, PhD, is the Abbot and co-founder of The Village Zendo, a contemporary Zen center based in downtown Manhattan. A Soto Zen priest and modern day American Zen Teacher, O'Hara integrates traditional meditation and koan practice with social engagement and peacemaking.  A Founding Teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order, she taught for many years at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, centering on new media technologies, media ecology and social justice. Her focus is on the expression of Zen through caring, service, and creative response. (Host Traven Rice has studied formally with O'Hara for many years.) Roshi O’Hara’s writing has appeared in Tricycle, Lion's Roar, Shambhala Sun, Buddhadharma and other Buddhist journals, as well as her books, Most Intimate, A Zen Approach to Life’s Challenges and A Little Bit of Zen. Her numerous talks can be found on YouTube here. She was an early pioneer in the field of teaching Zen - and Engaged Buddhism - in America. Today she continues to encourage practitioners from all walks of life to incorporate social action, compassionate care-taking and creative expression into their daily practice.

This week on The Lo-Down Culture Cast we spoke the trio behind the new documentary, Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World. Filmmaker Michael Fiore, who wrote, directed and produced the film, joined host Traven Rice, along with Tom and Jason Birchard, the 2nd and 3rd generation owners of Veselka, the restaurant, to talk about the experience of making the film right as the Ukrainian war broke out. The restaurant has been around for 70 years on 2nd Avenue and E. 9th Street and has been a refuge for Ukrainian immigrants, not to mention generations of New Yorkers living downtown, since it's beginning.  As a neighborhood hub focused on community and refugees, we also talked about what it's been like to keep the business running during these tumultuous times.

This week on the Culture Cast we spoke with Steven Matrick, Co-Founder of The New Colossus Festival, which is happening at eight different venues on the Lower East Side from March 6 - 10. Over 130 bands from all over the world will be playing at Arlene's Grocery, Pianos, Rockwood Music Hall, Mercury Lounge, Heaven Can Wait, Berlin and Baker Falls. The festival was started in 2019 in an effort to bring live indie music back to the Lower East Side. Steven manages the band A Place to Bury Strangers and recently started his own label, Dedstrange. We talked about the challenges of surviving as an indie rock band in the post-pandemic era, and in the new "Spotify-social media-landscape," as well as what new creative models for musicians might look like and we got a preview of some of the lineups he's most excited about at this year's festival. You can listen to the 2024 Festival Playlist here.

An assemblage piece in Bonnie Lucas' exhibit, "Small Worlds," currently showing at Trotter&Sholer (168 Suffolk St.) This week we spoke with artist Bonnie Lucas, who currently has a show at the gallery Trotter&Sholer on Suffolk Street. Bonnie has been creating intricate assemblages, collages, drawings and paintings that deconstruct the cliches of girlhood for the past five decades.  We first met Bonnie in the early days of The Lo-Down (in 2011!) when she had a show that caught our interest at Esopus Gallery.  Her work is described by Trotter&Sholer as being "focused on feminine themes: domesticity, identity, and childhood. She dismantles feminine objects and reassembles them to new configurations of art." The imagery and stories she creates with found objects and material she scavenges from dollar stores seem sweet and child-like at first glance, but upon closer examination reveal the disturbing and often violent experience of girlhood in our American culture. You can see more of her work on her Instagram page here. Small Worlds is on view at 168 Suffolk St. through March 2nd, 2024.

Kicking off our next series of interviews with culture changers in downtown New York is our conversation with gallery Founder and Director Hannah Traore. She's an up and comer in the NY art and fashion scene who's been widely recognized for taking "old guard" gallery owners to task, especially when it comes to artist representation. Host Traven Rice spoke with her about putting down roots in the neighborhood, becoming involved in the community and what she looks for when deciding to feature boundary-pushing artists in her space on Orchard Street. One of Hannah's early shows, "Beghairati Ki Nishaani: Traces of Shamelessness, a solo exhibition of work by Misha Japanwala," featured a bold new collection of the young Pakistani artist's breast plates and custom nipple moldings. Japanwala molds the body to create casts that are worn as sculptural garments, and notes that her "practice is an insistence for marginalized bodies to occupy physical space, emphasizing the notion that our bodies shouldn’t need to prove anything other than being allowed to simply exist." Hannah's most recent show, "Chella Man: It Doesn't Have to Makes Sense," features the 25-year old deaf, trans, bi-cultural artist, Chella Man, and was his first solo show in New York. Hannah Traore Gallery, located at 150 Orchard Street, opened just over two years ago. It is a space "committed to advocating for and celebrating artists who have been  historically marginalized from the mainstream narrative. Whether underrepresented, overlooked, or  exploited, HTG is building a path forward to share their extraordinary visions with the world."  Born and raised in Toronto, Hannah Traore developed an affinity for art and an appreciation for diverse  perspectives from a young age. Her mother, an art collector and fiber artist, infused art into every part of  her life while her father, a Malian immigrant, immersed her in his culture, which introduced her to issues of representation in the art world  and beyond. Hannah was recently included in the 2023 "Forbes 30 under 30" list in Art & Style and Apollo Magazine’s 2023 "40 under 40" USA list.

Host Traven Rice speaks with Niki Russ Federman for episode 11 of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. She's the 4th generation co-owner of the esteemed appetizing shop, Russ & Daughters. Known for the best bagels, lox, herring, caviar babka and other traditional baked goods and smoked fish in New York City, the landmark shop has been in the same location at 179 East Houston Street since 1914. Russ & Daughters was the first small business in the country to add "& Daughters" to its name and ownership. Federman and her cousin, Josh Russ Tupper, took over the family business in 2009. They opened their first-ever sit-down cafe in 2014 and have now expanded to Brooklyn and the west side of Manhattan. Rice and Federman discussed what it takes to turn an established shop, that was once considered common place, into what is now known as an iconic destination on the Lower East Side.

Host Traven Rice speaks with tattoo artist and historian Michelle Myles. Michelle started tattooing on the Lower East Side in the early 1990's, before it was legal. She opened Daredevil Tattoo in 1997 with her business partner, Brad Fink. Michelle was one of the first female tattoo artists around. Brad has always been a collector. They ended up with so many interesting historical tattoo artifacts on hand, they created The Daredevil Tattoo Museum, which features artifacts amassed over the last 30+ years of tattooing. Tattoo flash, machines, and ephemera from the early roots of modern tattooing, which was established by sailors on the Bowery in the 1800's. The shop is located on the border of the historic Lower East Side and Chinatown just a few blocks east of the Bowery and Chatham Square where O'Reilly, Charlie Wagner, Millie Hull and other legendary tattoo artists plied their trade. The museum is part of the tattoo shop and is viewable during regular business hours. Michelle is now a licensed New York City tour guide and regularly hosts tattoo history walking tours of the Bowery which can be booked online through Airbnb experiences.

This week we spoke to Orchard Street Runners Founder, Joe DiNoto.  DiNoto created a weekly running group that has blossomed into an organization that is known globally for its creative, high intensity, late night (threshold pace) races that take place on the live streets of NYC. A born and raised New Yorker, Joe DiNoto founded Orchard Street Runners after a successful yet unfulfilling career in architecture. Growing up, Joe spent his spare time helping his Dad out on his bread route, playing basketball, oil painting, and drawing.  Today, his passion for running, design, and knack for bringing people together has enabled him to create a culture-driving NYC running community that emulates both the grit and energy of the city. Entering OSR’s twelfth year, Joe’s creativity and background continues to permeate everything he does, and has led to a series of world-renowned, unsanctioned running races.

Host Traven Rice speaks with Whitney Browne, an experimental and commercial photographer whose work explores themes of movement and gesture as reflections of mental states. Best known for her involvement in the dance community, she currently works in New York City and Los Angeles. She has spent the last decade developing her own experimental movement photography methods, working to build a visual language between photography and performance. Browne joins host Traven Rice to talk about witnessing modern dance master Paul Taylor working with his dance troupe during the last years of his life, her many hours spent working with and documenting Ray and the people at Ray's Candy Shop in the East Village (which is now a book of portraits ready for a publisher) and photographing her own family, capturing them in the midst of movement - her grandmother, mother and sister are all dancers.

MM Serra joins host Traven Rice to talk about her career as an avant garde and experimental filmmaker. Serra has been based on the Lower East Side for over three decades. She is also an author, curator, and professor at Parsons at the New School. For 32 years, she was the Executive Director of the Film-Makers’ Cooperative, the world’s oldest and largest archive of independent film. Serra has created over 34 films, and her first five films were preserved and digitized by Anthology Film Archives. In Fall 2010, Serra co-curated, Counter Culture, Counter Cinema: An Avant Garde Film Festival, a seven program, three day event at the Pacific Design Center with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. In 2007 - 2008, Serra was the curator of a six-part experimental film series titled “Cinema of the Unusual” at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center.  Her film, Chop Off,premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and the Museum of Modern Art’s Documentary Fortnight Series in 2009.  In 2021, her films were screened at various international festivals and venues, including a retrospective entitled MM Serra: Portraits curated by Devon Narine-Singh.

Host Traven Rice speaks with the folks from Nonhuman Teachers, a new non-profit that takes a creative approach to ecological storytelling.  Executive Director Christian Cummings, Events Coordinator Joey Valley and Board Director Sandeep Rangi spoke with host Traven Rice about the newly formed project that aims to help deepen the relationship between humans and the natural world. The non-profit sprang out of their creative studio and Cactus Store based in LA. They opened an east coast Cactus Store here in the Lower East Side, which includes a seasonal greenhouse and gathering space at 5 Essex, next to the old Schames Paint Store, a few years ago. Their events are always surprising and experiential, and the programming engages a wide array of people by offering creative ways to talk about ecology.

Host Traven Rice speaks with Yin Kong, Director and Co-founder of Think!Chinatown. Yin is a community-based designer and curator living and working in Manhattan's Chinatown. Think!Chinatown is the culmination of her work in urban design, museum, culinary & cultural instruction, and community engagement.  Think!Chinatown is an intergenerational non-profit based in Manhattan’s Chinatown, working at the intersection of storytelling, arts & neighborhood engagement. Kong talked about different ways to envision the future of Chinatown, the upcoming Chinatown Arts Festival and expansive ways to hold space in the midst of rapid neighborhood change.

Host Traven Rice speaks with Alex Knowlton, Director of Joe's Pub at The Public. Joe’s Pub is an eclectic downtown cabaret space that was named for Public Theater founder Joseph Papp. Since it opened in 1998, Joe’s Pub has been supporting an array of artists at different stages of their careers, offering an intimate space to perform and develop new work. They present a wide variety of live music, comedy and performance nightly. Knowlton was named Director in 2018, after being part of the Joe's Pub team since 2009.

Host Traven Rice speaks with photographer Destiny Mata for the latest episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. Mata is a rising star who grew up in the neighborhood. She is a Mexican American photographer and filmmaker who focuses on issues of subculture and community. After studying photojournalism at LaGuardia Community College and San Antonio College, she spent 2 years as Director of Photography Programs at the Lower East Side Girls Club. Mata and has had work published and featured in The New York Times, The Nation, VICE, The Culture Crush, and Teen Vogue. She recently led the LES : Free Film initiative, which we featured here.  It was a monthlong project offering free roles of film to local residents and students in the area. People interested in documenting their neighborhood were encouraged to pick up a free role of film distributed at an “Airstream-darkroom” parked outside the Lower Eastside Girl’s club this past spring.  Mata also has an exhibition up on the fences at the Martin Luther King Jr. Garden as part of Photoville 2023. (In)Visible Guides connected her with residents of a Lower East Side shelter for domestic violence survivors to explore notions of memory, safety, and loss. The exhibition features photography taken by shelter residents. Be sure to check out her work on Instagram here.

Host Traven Rice speaks with artist and documentarian Clayton Patterson. Patterson has been living and working on the Lower East Side since 1979. He's known for his portraits of the wide array of people representing the street culture of the LES in front of his front door on Essex Street as well as his rebellious designs for what became known as the "Clayton Cap," which he created with his long-time partner, Elsa. Clayton is a street photographer who has always been interested documenting outsiders, renegades, activists and people creating art on the fringes of the cultural mainstream. The New Yorker has dubbed him "The Lower East Side's Folk Historian." For a photo exhibit called “Clayton Patterson: L.E.S. Captured” in 2009, Clayton told the New York Times, “I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was capturing the last of the wild, free, outlaw, utopian, visionary spirit of the Lower East Side.”