West Chelsea Artists Open Studios 2025

© 2025, West Chelsea Artists Open Studios

The West Chelsea Artists Open Studios presents its 16th annual artists open studios tour on Saturday & Sunday, May 10th and 11th, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event offers a look inside the art studios at the iconic building at 526 West 26th Street. Art Spiel conducted brief interviews with three artists who will participate in the event.

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Ellpetha Tsivicos + Camilo Quiroz-Vázquez

Grantee of Brooklyn Arts Fund

Project Profile: QUINCE

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Ellpetha Tsivicos (Director/Co-Creator) and Camilo Quiroz-Vázquez (Writer/Co-Creator) of QUINCE as Selena and Father Joaquin in QUINCE, photo courtesy of Catharine Krebs

Brooklyn Arts Council announced in March 2022 an allocation of over $1.3 million to 238 Brooklyn-based artists and cultural organizations. This year marks the highest number of grantees and awardees as well as the largest amount of funding BAC has ever distributed. Art Spiel in collaboration with Brooklyn Arts Council features some artists who received a Brooklyn Arts Fund, Local Arts Support, and/or Creative Equations Fund grant in 2022.

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Artists on Coping: Morgan Jesse Lappin

Morgan Lappin photographed by Hannah Bryan, 2012

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

Morgan Jesse Lappin b. 1979 is a visual artist, entertainer, musician and image-maker Lappin first started creating collage art in 2007 for a clothing company creating original designs. In 2008, Lappin moved to Brooklyn and began working with paper to create contemporary collages. His art, like his mind, is a combination of comedy and chaos with elements of music, vintage horror and sci-fi. Lappin’s work ranges from seven-foot- long cartoon metropolises, to fictional album covers, to take-out Greek diner coffee cups embedded with tiny paper worlds. He uses nostalgic material from his childhood from the 80s, such as VHS Tape boxes, video game cartridges, and any other 80’s household items that could cause you to experience flashbacks. Having a background in collecting and curating, he set out to assemble some of his favorite collage artists from NYC, and so in 2013 the Brooklyn Collage Collective was born. The BCC has now exhibited all over the world and has a strong global presence amongst collage makers and collectors alike.

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