By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WEST VILLAGE — The collected works of action film star Vin Diesel and photographer Diane Arbus don't have much in common, but the two are nevertheless alums of the same artists residence on West Street.
The Westbeth Artists Housing, a group of 13 interconnected buildings that once housed Bell Labs, formed in 1970 as subsidized housing for artists on the Village waterfront. The buildings were protected as landmarks in 2009.
In a fundraising effort to keep the lofts, apartments and studios at the 55 Bethune Street buildings affordable now that the neighborhood has become more expensive, the artists group will open its doors for tours to the public Nov. 14.
Over the years, artists like Diesel, Arbus, Merce Cunningham and Moses Gunn have hung their hats at the community.
More than 300 artists continue to live in the buildings, which retain details from its past as a the Bell Labs headquarters.
Artist Isabel Borgatta's studio was once the executive office for the company and still has the 1930s-era marble fireplace and is home to many of her sculptures.
The smallest studio on the tour, belonging to Greg Kessler, features a cutout in the roof from the days when the high line railroad ran through the neighborhood.
Serving as both a studio and gallery space, Valentina DuBasky and Andrea Piccolo's first-floor space features their art as well as that of the at-risk youth they work with through their non-profit organization, Art in the Box.
The tour, which covers 20 living and working spaces, will run from 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 14.
Tickets for members of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation will cost $25 in advance and $35 at the door, non-member tickets run $75 in advance and $85 at the door.
