Ritz Hotel Project

The idea started when two groups collaborated to produce an event similar to COLAB's Times Square Show (1980), where the New York group occupied a building in the then-dilapidated red-light District that Times Square was in 1983.

The Ritz took place in downtown Washington, D.C. in the Spring of 1983 at 920 F St., one block from the Martin Luther King Memorial Library.

Artists removed the plywood covering the building's entrance and entered the space furnished with artworks and supplies, turning the abandoned residence hotel into a temporary museum.

Despite the presence of Washington Color School artists Gene Davis, Ann Truitt and Sam Gilliam.

At the time, most of Washington's alternative culture was to be found on the city's independent music circuit and its primary venue was the 9:30 Club, just five doors away, then located at 930 F St. N.W.