May 23, 2024 at 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

Join us celebrating the history of legendary CLUB 57.  In 1978, a Polish émigré Stanley Strychacki rented a basement space of the Holy Cross Polish National Church at 57 St. Marks’ Place with an intention “to create an environment for artists so they could meet, collaborate, and create.” With founder Stanley Strychacki, Dany Johnson, Ande Whyland and April Palmieri. Moderated by Frank Hentschker. Event is co-curated by Tomek Smolarski (Polish Cultural Institute NY).

Club 57 thrived on St. Mark’s Place from 1978-1983 and offered an early platform for the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, as well as composers and musicians like Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Cyndi Lauper and performers: Ann Magnuson, Joey Arias, Wendy Wild, RuPaul, John “Lypsinka” Epperson(who started doing drag there), Dany Johnson, Fab Five Freddy, Holly Woodlawn (a Warhol superstar), Michael Musto, and April Palmieri. Dany Johnson, Ande Whyland and April Palmieri performed regulary at the Club 57 and Pyramid as members of the all-female band, Pulsallama. Additionally, Dany appeared as a DJ at both clubs, while Ande and April documented the scene as a photographers.

Zbigniew “Stanley” Strychacki was born in Piotrkow Trybunalski in 1937. He spent his youth in Klimontow, and after the war he moved with his parents to Gdansk, where he graduated from a construction technical school and worked as a construction manager. Disillusioned with the communist system, he emigrated to the United States in 1972 on the MS “Batory” ship. He began his career in the US as a salesman. Later he ran a Polish restaurant located on First Avenue in Manhattan (today there is a Korean restaurant there). In 1973 he founded a Polish cultural center – the “Renesans” club in New York’s Greenpoint. The income from concerts held there fed the Rosa Czacka School and Educational Center for Blind Children in Laski.

In 1978 Zbigniew Stanley Strychacki opened the “East Village Club” in the basement of the Polish church at 57 St. Marks Place. The club changed its name over time to “Club 57.” It was the place where Cyndi Lauper, Klaus Nomi, The Cramps, B-52s gave their first concerts, and performers RuPaul, Lypsinka performed. Installations and paintings were created by artists such as Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Every Tuesday, it hosted the weekly “Monster Movies Club,” where horror films were shown. Until it closed in 1983, the club was a place where alternative and punk culture flourished. You can also learn about its history from Zbigniew Strychacki’s website.

In 2017, the Museum of Modern Art in New York organized a temporary exhibition “Club 57 – Film, Performance and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983” dedicated to the club’s history.