Welcome to the Club
We are pleased to announce that our August grant has been awarded to artist Molly Woodward's Welcome to the Club, a documentary photography project that explores the interior lives of New York City’s social clubs, from newly-formed groups on Bushwick rooftops to those that have been meeting in upscale clubhouses along 5th Avenue for generations.
For a city of nearly nine million people, many of whom have spent the better part of the past two years in isolation, socializing has taken on a new significance. Sharing the ways in which New Yorkers are actively combating isolation is a perspective that’s been missing from documentation of the past few years. Through this project, I want to show that, whatever your background or interests, New York has a club for everyone.
The work will live on a website and include medium format film portraits alongside interviews with club members about what belonging means to them. More importantly, it will provide an open forum to encourage anybody anywhere to find or form their own community.
We are excited to be able to support Molly as she shares the stories of the communities that make up New York's most well-known and obscure clubs, from the Explorers Club and the Polar Bear Club to the Tall Club (a club for, you guessed it, Tall New Yorkers).
Are you a member of a club that Molly should know about? She's always looking for new clubs to photograph. You can get in touch with her at her website mollywoodward.com. Let her know that AwesomeNYC sent you!