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Clockwise, from upper left: Doreen W atts with %u201c BareEssentials;\with %u201cReclining Nude;%u201d and Paul F. Welsh with \(Phoenix/Kirk Photos)Greenpoint/Williamsburg Artists Open Studios:Neighborhood Helps Make PointBY ELIZABETH FOSTER%u201cYou come from Greenpoint, go back to Greenpoint,%u201d said gangster Johnny Friendly (played by Lee J. Cobb) as he slapped one of his thugs across the face in Elia Kazan%u2019s 1954 classic film, %u201cOn the Waterfront.%u201d The smalltime hood was thus reminded of his lowly origins and how fast he could return to oblivion. But Johnny Friendly would be surprised if he could see Greenpoint today.Artists are especially attracted by Greenpoint%u2019s low rents and spacious loft space. The weekend of November 8 marked the second annual Open Studio Weekend of the Association of Williamsburgh/Greenpoint Artists (AWA). The paintings, sculpture, photography, dance, and music of this burgeoning coalition of local artists were displayed in 16 studios and storefronts dotted across Greenpoint and parts of Williamsburg.The two-year-old AWA is a non-profit organization formed to promote the work of member artists and to strengthen the relationship between the artists and their neighbors, many of whom are long-time residents of the area. AWA began informally, according to founding board member and longtime Greenpoint. resident Valerie Clark. %u201cWe knew there were a lot of artists in the area,%u201d she said, %u201cso we began puttingup fliers and organizing.%u201dMore than 50 artists participated in last weekend%u2019s sprawling open studio event, which covered studio space and storefronts from Manhattan Avenue in northern Greenpoint to the warehouse section in a western neighborhood of Williamsburg. The AWA event was designed as a walking tour of artists%u2019 studios to familiarize visitors with the area as well as the work of Brooklyn artists. The tour began at 128 Greenpoint Avenue with a large group show, featuring the works of Glenn Reed, Charles Glickman, Maria Levitsky, Doreen Watts, Lee Nolan and others.Styles ranged from mainstream to the more avant-garde. At the group show, a whimsical oil painting by Barbara Foster featured a blue-garbed angel perched on a banister in an apartment stairwell. Bill Moakler%u2019s %u201cCandy Apple%u201d was a brilliantly colored, abstract work of shiny layers of paint. Sasha Yungju Lee%u2019s %u201cTenement Yard%u201d and %u201cWomen of Orinocco%u201d combined a strong folk art sensibility with an impressionistic painting style in intense pastel shades.The tour wound north from Greenpoint Avenue past the 190-foot spire of St. Anthony of Padua Church, to the Minor Injury gallery at 1073 Manhattan Avenue. Thegallery features minority artists and is receptive to those who are recent immigrants from troubled or developing countries. The show at Minor Injury, entitled %u201cThe Move to Brooklyn,%u201d included the work of eight local artists, including a talented high school student, Arianne GardenVazquez, whose clay sculptures of shrieking humanoids reflect a disturbing maturity.With the area increasinglythreatened bygentrification, we might beforced out.At the Citibank Gallery, 836 Manhattan Avenue, dancers Laura Led well and Susan Koch performed their %u201cEve Being Bom Upon a Summer Mom,%u201d a work exploring the myth of the fall. Rope sculptures by Beth Goldwitz composed part of the set. At Bedford Avenue and 5th Street, the works of three abstract painters graced the walls of the newlv renovated Williamsburg Music Center.An inspiring stop along the tour was the El Puente youth center, at 211 South 4th Street, a former cathed, 1 that now offers anetwork of services for local youths. Inside, under the vaulted ceiling, AWA members Beth Goldwitz and Nancy Buffum worked with children who busily colored large chalk murals. Juan Beltran, a talented young photographer, exhibited recent works entitled %u201cNew York Scene,%u201d taken in and around the area.Valerie Clark noted that the artists of Williamsburg and Greenpoint are interested in developing a good relationship with the community. The AWA has already painted several murals in public spaces around the neighborhoods. But the low rents that originally attracted the artists in the first place may become a thing of the past.Minor Injury director Mo Bach pointed to an October 15 article in the New York Times stating that Greenpoint rents have risen 500 percent in the last five years alone. %u201cMinor Injury is the only art gallery in Williamsburg and Greenpoint,%u201d he said, %u201cand with the area increasingly threatened by gentrification, we might be forced out.%u201d Association of Williamsburgh/ Greenpoint Artists, 128 Greenpoint Ave.,------1-------------x o -------%u25a0 ---- ---------<*--------a...u a t u iu a j au u o u u u a j , u w u -v |iu i, tu iu u gllNov. 23. For information, call 388-9844.FOR THE TOTAL PICTURE,TURN TO ART STORY, PAGE 16;November 13, 1986, THE PHOENIX, Page 15