I had just moved to NYC, it was 2011. I stumbled into a reading at an art gallery off the Bowery, and when I walked in, it was full. Wall to wall. Standing room only. I watched from the back as this older man got up to the microphone and spoke. His voice shaky but strong. He read a poem that was so beautiful, so stunningly powerful that my eyes welled up and I cried. The words now forgotten, but the weight of the words in my heart will remain forever. It was the first time I had cried at a poetry reading. Later, I found out this man was the one and only Jonas Mekas. The man whose films were poetry in and of themselves. Jonas is known as one of the founding members of Anthology Film Archives. It opened in NYC on November 30th, 1970. For me, it is a place I started calling home when I moved to NYC and discovered it. I joined with a membership because it allowed me to watch all their Essential Cinema for free. At the time, it was $70 a year and worth it for the many free films that were offered there weekly. I basically got my film education in that building. I found out later that Jonas and others had created this programming for this very reason. A true NYC blessing. As much as I enjoy film, I also enjoy art. It was a hot day in August. A true smelly, filthy, beautiful NYC summer. I rode my bike up to the Guggenheim to catch the last day of the Moholy-Nagy show. It cost $25 to get in at the time, and I had no money. When I got in line, I kept jumping out when I had an idea of how to get in for free and then back in when I wasn’t sure if this scheme would work. After about three times of doing this, a man behind me asked me what I was doing. When I said I couldn’t afford the ticket, he offered to buy it for me. (Thank God for the kindness of strangers.) I was thrilled to get in. I walked up the rotunda and looked at every photo, every drawing, every single piece as if it were the last time I would ever look at art. I stopped at one, and I just started laughing because it was so stunning. A man next to me began to laugh too. We turned to look at each other. He looked at me, and we smiled in the beauty of the beauty we were witnessing together. It was Jonas. A moment I will never forget. Sharing the joy of art with him. I love NYC.
-Jen Fisher