The Lo-Down Culture Cast

Clayton Patterson

Host Traven Rice speaks with artist and documentarian Clayton Patterson. Patterson has been living and working on the Lower East Side since 1979.
He's known for his portraits of the wide array of people representing the street culture of the LES in front of his front door on Essex Street as well as his rebellious designs for what became known as the "Clayton Cap," which he created with his long-time partner, Elsa.
Clayton is a street photographer who has always been interested documenting outsiders, renegades, activists and people creating art on the fringes of the cultural mainstream. The New Yorker has dubbed him "The Lower East Side's Folk Historian."
For a photo exhibit called “Clayton Patterson: L.E.S. Captured” in 2009, Clayton told the New York Times, “I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was capturing the last of the wild, free, outlaw, utopian, visionary spirit of the Lower East Side.”

Natalie Kates of Kates-Ferri Projects

Host Traven Rice kicks off The Lo-Down Culture Cast with a conversation with gallery owner Natalie Kates. She's the founder of Style Curator, Inc. and co-founder of Kates-Ferri Projects.
An early supporter of urban art, Natalie has established herself as a leader in discovering and promoting emerging artists.  She has curated numerous exhibitions and site-specific art installations, developed close relations with artists, galleries and museums and produced art events for both corporate and non-profit clients.
In 2020 Natalie Kates, with her husband Fabrizio Ferri, launched Kates-Ferri Projects. A nomadic Artist Residency program committed to supporting and mentoring the next generation of creatives.
Starting in 2022 KATES-FERRI PROJECTS opened their anchor location at 561 Grand Street, NYC, in the heart of the Lower East Side - a creative community that continues to serve as a cultural and artistic incubator.
The Lo-Down NY is a local news site dedicated to covering news, events and – most significantly – the people who live and work in one of the world’s greatest neighborhoods, the Lower East Side.