Ideal Glass Studios

By Roger Paradiso

Willard Morgan is operator of Ideal Glass Studios, a small film stage/flexible space. The artist-run film and TV production studio was founded in 2004 by Morgan, a native New Yorker, actor, and artist. The website calls this space “extremely fun, decadent, and ultimately breathtaking.” The upstairs rooms look like an old brownstone parlor where you can film different sets, have a party or hold a fashion show.

Morgan’s family home was 6 West 9th Street. In my mind he is a throwback Village artist to the decades before the Village became gentrified, and condos replaced clubs and hipsters took over the arts. This place takes you back to the ‘60s with modern sensibilities that make it quite interesting.

How did your mother inspire you?
Suzy was a classically trained, extremely gifted soprano. In the classical world, she was referred to as a Met Semi-Finalist. This means she was literally the recipient of the biggest singing gig in the world. At the time, auditions were broadcast on the radio and she got raves from the New York Times. I inherited some of her skills and studied classical voice. I also write, produce and direct, so it’s in the blood.

Why did you start Idea Glass?
I spent 10 difficult years in L.A. trying to do something in Hollywood. When I returned in 2004, I took over my uncle’s two-bay garage building on East 2nd Street, which is now the Karma Gallery. I ran Ideal Glass as an arts complex until 2015 at which point, we rented it to Karma Gallery and did our programming at the East 2nd Street location. We called it Ideal Glass in honor of my grandfather’s glazier workshop in Chelsea and my uncle’s industrial space on East 2nd Street.

I began doing a show about Hollywood called Saint Hollywood. It was a multi-character, one-man show on the denizens of the boulevard of broken dreams. I did it in New York and L.A. and I still perform in repertory. Other groups came in and performed in this wonderful 22-foot-high performance space, now a gallery. We worked with 3-Legged Dog, Kevin Cunningham’s company (an award winning experimental multimedia artist.)

What other shows have you done at Ideal Glass?
I have a lot of collaborators in a European art collective who would come and present their collective works. Art is much more collective in Europe. One of the great things about working with European artists is they’re not as competitive.

Ideal Glass was a wonderful place where you could experience live music from around the world until two in the morning, every night for 30 years. Now it’s a dress shop—but that’s where I met a lot of international musicians as well as local people. I would also perform there.

I worked on a show called Vestiphobia (fear of clothing). It was about psychedelic trips in space, time, your closet, the fashion industry and a designer going out of his mind. It was done here and in Europe on an independent circuit of venues. There’s still a lot of content on that show on YouTube.”

In 2017, Morgan opened The Atrium and The Mansion in NYC’s West Village at 9 West 8th Street. Here, high-profile film, TV, music, fashion, and art vanguards gather regularly to collaborate. The original space’s DIY vibe lives on in its caring and eccentric team, encouraging creators to present their ideas clearly and express their vision freely.

With Ideal’s upcoming move to West 8th Street, are you doing anything different?
I’m continuing to present avant-garde art. We’ve had a concert or two with Japanese avant-garde musicians. Despite the high cost of our daily expenses, I do give artists shows here regularly wherever possible. We also present comedy in the cellar where there is also a digital gallery that hosts rising artists.

Also, Susannah Perlman put on a portrait exhibit of COVID care providers who passed away working in the battle against the pandemic. It went all the way to the mall in Washington, DC. She got a $250,000 grant to continue to work because I gave her room to promote the show.

We also do an enormous amount of corporate events. That’s our big payday and it allows us to give the space away. Even though our overhead is enormous, I don’t charge any of the gallerists beyond expenses.

I’m now looking to perpetuate the work of Louis and Bibi Barrett. Bibi was known as the ‘Queen of Electronica’ in the ‘50s. They were the ones who scored (the movie) Forbidden Planet. They were known as one of the five centers of electronic music back then.

9 West 8th Street
idealglassstudios.com/about-us