Club 57, former nightclub in New York City
Club 57 was a small nightclub housed in a church basement at St. Mark's Place in Manhattan's East Village, operating from 1978 to 1983. The compact space featured art exhibitions, film screenings, live music performances, and experimental shows most nights, filling the room with creative activity and energy.
Club 57 began in 1978 in an unused church basement when organizer Stanley Strychacki was asked to book punk and garage bands for the space. Over time it grew into a hub for experimental art and performance until economic challenges and social issues led to its closure in 1983.
Club 57 served as a gathering place for young artists and performers who showed their work and performed in front of a supportive audience. The space held special importance for the LGBT community and became a center for experimental art that had few other outlets in the city.
Club 57 was located in an easily accessible part of the East Village with many other nightspots and shops nearby. The space operated on a membership system where visitors paid a small fee, and it typically stayed open until dawn.
Artist Keith Haring performed here by emerging from a fabricated television set and displaying his characteristic symbols including his famous dancing rabbit and radiant baby image. The space was also known for unusual themed events where visitors built and burned cardboard models of airplanes and monsters as creative rituals.
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