[3] One of the space's earliest offerings created by the founders and choreographer Stephanie Skura was Open Movement, a weekly, non-performative, improvisational dance event.

122 doubled its programming in 1986 when it converted the old gym on the first floor into a performance space to be used for extended runs of small theater groups and as a site for community meetings.

Vallejo Gantner succeeded him in the position with the 2005–2006 season through 2017 and notably created Performance Space 122's annual winter series, the COIL Festival.

The updated name is meant to signal "an ambition to be relevant and accessible to all of New York,” in Schlenzka's words, and to actively collaborate with the local community in its programs.

Schlenzka's first full season of programming began in February–June 2018 with a series of performances, discussions, film screenings, and other presentations specifically themed around the East Village.

Past recipients include Tim Etchells, Richard Maxwell, Rabih Mroué, Young Jean Lee, National Theater of the United States of America, Radiohole, and Heather Woodbury.

Recipients include Dane Terry, Mike Iveson, Taylor Mac, Julie Atlas Muz, Justin Vivian Bond, Jennifer Miller, Vaginal Davis, John Kelly, and Peggy Shaw.