205 North 7th Street: Oh So Modern

I don’t understand why there are so many of these hideous buildings going up. Who wants to live in a glass house? Aside from the tacky-factor, it’s got to be a major pain to cover up those windows and I’m sure it’s probably the least energy-efficient material they could have used. Have fun with your sky-high heating bills!

I loved Wax. Having a cultural treasure on my block was something I really miss. The staff encouraged my son to come in and observe Dance, Art, Photography and Spoken Word. We now have a condo shown below coming in its place. And this is called progress.

Phil

Melissa Rodnon, Williamsburg Art NeXus (WAX), formerly @ 205 N 7th St.

It is a fiery young moment, terrific while it lasts, but the closure of WAX demonstrated the fragility of Williamsburg’s ad hoc ethic.
“The reason we lost the building was not because people weren’t interested, and not because people didn’t want to dance in Williamsburg anymore,” said Melissa Rodnon, a founder of WAX. “It’s because we couldn’t afford the building. Period.”

History – WAX the Building (1999 – 2004) 205 N 7th St.
WAX came to life in 1999 when circumstance brought co-founders Marisa Beatty, Brian Brooks, Melissa Rodnon and David Tirosh together with the opportunity to convert and manage a one story warehouse building in the heart of Williamsburg’s burgeoning arts community.
With negligible capital, the newly titled WAX Directors renovated 205 North 7th Street to accommodate rehearsal and a professional white-box theater. The Marley was laid, walls raised, electricity wired, plumbing installed, tech booth constructed, lighting and sound systems rigged and audience seating acquired to complete the transformation from storehouse to stage. While rehearsal and performance spaces in Manhattan continued to close from skyrocketing real estate prices, WAX quietly welcomed a steady stream of artists to come create, prepare, invent, share, polish, explore, refine, experiment and ultimately present their vision to eager audiences. Thousands of watts lit up the stage for the first performance on September 15, 2000.
From September 2000 to October 2004, WAX served as a multidisciplinary arts hub providing affordable rehearsal space, a visual arts gallery and a fully equipped, professional theater for productions in all artistic disciplines. During that time, over 250 artists made use of our low cost performance space for their creative endeavors. Nearly 500 creative minds have participated in WAXworks and Bridge programming. If you include rehearsal clients, collaborators, visual artists and audiences, the WAX family numbers in the thousands. [yes, that counts Rena, Louis, Mary and all the stoop sitters at 203].
They say all good things must come to an end. In 2004, our landlord, convinced that condos are more lucrative than the arts, sold the building to developers.
“…well, this IS a nice theater. An intimate black box, the seats descending on the proscenium, but not a nappy one: clean and simple, with about the most comfortable wooden chair backs I’ve ever sat in in a theater. It seats about 64.” – Paul Ben-Itzak, “Lemons for Loveliness” (2000, The Dance Insider)
“Williamsburg Art Nexus (WAX), which opened in September at 205 North 7th Street and is already booked solid through June, is among the applicants for these funds. WAX is a collective formed by Marisa Beatty, Brian Brooks, Melissa Rodnon, and David Tirosh, performing artists in their twenties who have made it their mission to create a viable, attractive performance venue in Brooklyn. Built in the 1950s as a factory, probably making garbage disposal parts, the one-story structure housed a small theater group until December 1999, when WAX took over the lease. The place was a shambles. The founders scraped together $13,000 to cover rent, security, and insurance, and began extensive renovations. So far, they’ve rewired the electricity, built a technical booth, stripped water-damaged boards from the ceiling to expose wood beams, installed a professional lighting grid, converted illegal living quarters into offices and dressing rooms, and created an art gallery at the building’s entrance.” – Jody Sperling, “Upward and Outward for the Arts” (2001, The Village Voice)
“Williamsburg is booming. Centered around Bedford Avenue, one subway stop from Manhattan’s East Village, this Brooklyn community has gradually become New York’s pre-eminent bohemian colony….WAX, or Williamsburg Art neXus is the home to performances – everything from tap to stand up comedy – almost every weekend of the year.” – Chris Dohse, “The Happening Neighborhood” (2002, Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch edition)
“The most visible addition was the Williamsburg Art Nexus, a black box theater affectionately known as WAX. A refuge for up-and-coming choreographers that opened in 2000, it reflected the neighborhood’s freewheeling, do-it-yourself roots. No site dedicated to dance has emerged in the area with the visibility and professionalism WAX had…” – Erika Kinetz, “Dance’s Vanguard Stakes Out Brooklyn” (2005, The New York Times)

Wow, nice building.