Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

In his journal entry for January 22, 1961, Indiana records that dancer/choreographer Paul Sanasardo, whose loft he had sublet in the summer of 1955, came down for his first visit in around two years. He writes: "an affable, enthusiastic, almost uncommitted Paul—apparently liking my new work—even extending an invitation to exhibit in his Studio for Dance Gallery (after Dick Tyler and Bob Natkin)."

Indiana would exhibit at Sanasardo's studio in March and April of that year, alongside Stephen Durkee and Richard Smith.

Indiana also notes that Stephen and Barbara Durkee came over, and that they all went out to eat at the D/H (the Seamen's Church Institute, frequently referred to as the Doghouse). They then returned to the loft for coffee, and Indiana and Barbara Durkee gave Sanasardo an I Ching reading.