In November 1980, Debbie Harry, calling in on the telephone, introduced the first rap performance to happen at The Kitchen—or anywhere in downtown Manhattan—when the Funky 4 + 1 closed one installment of a three-night “extravaganza” called Dubbed In Glamour, organized by the art critic Edit deAk. Harry couldn’t be there in-person that night (she wished she had known it was happening sooner), so instead a recording of the telephone conversation between her and deAk played over the PA…

When an artist becomes part of an art institution, they often bring in other artists with whom they have established connections in the past. For instance, Robert Longo served as Acting Video Curator at The Kitchen from fall 1977 to spring 1978 and, during that time, was able to organize programming with artists from his own communities…