The South Street Seaport Museum Announces GOTHAM AND GUS WAGNER

The South Street Seaport Museum announces a two-day public program,Gotham and Gus Wagner, featuring a rare opportunity for participants to receive tattoos inspired by our historic collection of tattoo flash and ephemera. The weekend will consist of an evening lecture on Friday, September 21, at 6:30pm, and a day of live tattooing on Saturday, September 22, 12:00-8:00pm.Both programs will take place at the Museum's Melville Gallery at 213 Water Street, New York, NY 10038 and are organized by Daredevil Tattoo.

The Gotham and Gus Wagner events will highlight the Alan Govenar and Kaleta Doolin Tattoo Collection at the Seaport Museum, as well as the history of tattooing in New York in 1900, compared to today. Both events aim to make the case for the importance of researching, documenting, and preserving tattoo collections in today's museums, institutions, and the tattoo community.

The Seaport Museum's Alan Govenar and Kaleta Doolin Tattoo Collection examines the life and work of Augustus "Gus" Wagner's (American, 1872-1941). Wagner traveled the world as a merchant mariner and tattoo artist from 1898-1902, and then pursued a career as a professional tattoo artist and tattooed man, traveling across the United States, including New York City, between 1903-1941. The collection is the most comprehensive of a single American tattoo artist during the turn of the century.

The lecture will take place on Friday, September 21, 6:30-8:00 pm and will feature presentations by Daredevil Tattoo co-founder, Michelle Myles, and the Seaport Museum's Collections and Curatorial Assistant, Michelle Kennedy. Martina Caruso, the Seaport Museum's Director of Collections, will be moderating. Tickets are $10 for adults, and FREE for South Street Seaport Museum members. Myles will discuss the tattoo culture and scene in New York City and the Bowery around the time Gus Wagner came through, and she will talk about the artists in New York that Wagner had contact with. Kennedy will showcase digital artifacts from the Seaport Museum's tattoo collection that help us discuss the experiences of Gus Wagner as a merchant mariner visiting the tattoo mecca of the Lower East Side and the Bowery in 1900, including a selection of pages from the artist's scrapbook - a 400 page diary book composed of press clippings, postcards, business cards, sketches, and photographs.

On Saturday, September 22, 12:00-8:00pm the public will be offered the rare opportunity to receive a truly historic tattoo based on the nearly century-old collection of tattoo flash of the Seaport Museum's Alan Govenar and Kaleta Doolin Tattoo Collection. Renowned New York City-based tattoo artists from Daredevil Tattoo, 5 Points, Kings Avenue, Three Kings, Red Rocket, Saved, Greenpoint, Fun City and NYHC will be on hand inking designs inspired by Gus Wagner's original artwork.

Tattoos will be first come first serve, and there are a few ground rules for the day to help move things along and keep the day fun for everyone. The doors open up for tattooing at noon on the 22nd and the event will run until closing time at 8:00pm. Limit one tattoo per person, and only the designs on the selected sheets are available. Prices for tattoos range from $50 - $500 and it is a cash only event. Participants must bring valid state ID (driver's license, passport, military ID) with proof of 18+ age, no exceptions. Visit our website to learn more about rules of the day, and designs available: http://southstreetseaportmuseum.org/gothamandguswagner

All participants getting a tattoo will have free admission to the Museum that day, including the historic ships docked at Pier 16, exhibitions at 12 Fulton Street, and printing demonstrations at the Bowne & Co. print shops, at 209-211 Water Street.

All proceeds from Saturday's charity tattooing event, matched by the Communities Foundation of Texas, will be used to conserve, preserve, and promote the unparalleled Alan Govenar and Kaleta Doolin Tattoo Collection.

ABOUT SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM

The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, and designated by Congress as America's National Maritime Museum, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working nineteenth century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of "Where New York Begins."