Galleries and art

The galleries left for SoHo, then Chelsea. A good number have come back.

New York's commercial gallery scene has migrated repeatedly — from 57th Street to SoHo in the 1970s, from SoHo to Chelsea in the 1990s as SoHo rents rose and retail moved in, and more recently a substantial number to Tribeca.

The reasons are the usual ones: ground-floor space in cast-iron buildings with high ceilings and good light, at rents below Chelsea's, in a neighbourhood with the right associations. The result is a genuine gallery district again, concentrated on and around Walker, White, Franklin and Lispenard Streets, in the blocks just below Canal.

How to visit

Commercial galleries are free and open to the public, which a surprising number of people do not realise. You walk in. Nobody will ask you anything. There is usually a printed price list at the desk if you want it, and looking at it commits you to nothing.

Most are open Tuesday to Saturday, roughly 10 or 11 until 6, and closed Sunday and Monday. August is unreliable — many close or run reduced hours.

Opening nights

Galleries in a district tend to coordinate openings on the same evening, usually a Thursday, so that visitors can walk between several. This is the best time to go if you want the neighbourhood at its liveliest, and the worst if you actually want to look at the art.

Practical advice

The density is the point. Because the galleries sit within a few blocks of each other, an afternoon covering eight or ten of them is easy on foot. Exhibitions typically run four to six weeks, so a visit a month apart shows you an entirely different set of work.

Galleries open, close and relocate constantly — this page deliberately does not list individual spaces, because any such list goes stale within a season. Check current listings before you go.