Long before audiences began immersing themselves in experimental art or delivering verdicts at The Jury Experience, the Roulette building in Brooklyn was already a place where New Yorkers gathered to debate, organize and shape public life. Its history stretches far beyond Roulette’s adoption in 2010, and in many ways, the venue stands today as a bridge between its Tribeca origins and the broader evolution of the New York avant-garde.
From YWCA Memorial Hall to Roulette
Roulette was created in 1978 by a group of artists and Urbana-Champaign graduates, who were looking for a venue where experimental music and intermedia work could unfold without the constraints of traditional concert halls. But like many spaces in Manhattan, it eventually ran up against zoning laws and real‑estate pressures, so it moved to a more affordable and flexible space in Brooklyn, which was also the place to be for emerging artists.
The current Roulette theater is part of the Art Deco YWCA complex built in 1928. It was designed by Frederick Lee Ackerman and Alexander B. Trowbridge, and served as a multi‑use facility with a theater, a pool, community services, and around 214 units of low‑income housing for women.
It was a major community center that played an important role in the borough’s social history. From USO dances during World War II and civil‑rights organizing to anti-Vietnam War meetings and early Black Panther and women’s rights gatherings, its Memorial Hall became part of Brooklyn’s wider political history through the mid‑twentieth century.
An evolving space for the arts
Since then, the organization has firmly established itself as a home for experimental art in NYC, and turned the hall into a vibrant cultural hotspot—all while keeping its signature Art Deco character intact. Roulette has hosted a long list of influential artists from the avant-garde world, as well as experimental, jazz and contemporary music scenes, such as Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, John Zorn and Kaija Saariaho.
Every season, it welcomes new commissions and collaborations, alongside long‑term relationships with artists and performers. Highlighted performances to look forward to include ‘John Zorn’s Simulacrum‘, a three-day festival called ‘NO FUN: NEW PERSPECTIVES’ and two new courtroom dramas by The Jury Experience.
