SOHO. At first glance it’s loud and touristy, but the best of SoHo can be found on the second and third floors of its buildings or in windows that appear to be empty. These “hidden” spaces hold the history of a neighborhood that was home to the most influential personalities of New York’s conceptual art scene of the 60s and 70s. SoHo was the city’s epicenter of culture and art during those decades: Fluxus cooperatives and artists like Philip Glass, Chuck Close, Donald Judd and Frank Stella, among others, lived here. Towards the end of the 70s DIA Art Foundation and Artists Space opened their main headquarters in SoHo. Recently many galleries moved to TRIBECA right below Canal St. and the Village right up from Houston.

CHECK websites for summer schedules

 
 

CANADA

DENNY DIMIN GALLERY

PPOW

BROADWAY GALLERY

KAPP KAPP

ISLAA

LUHRING AGUSTINE

JACK HANLEY

A little further up in the Village

MARINARO

KARMA

OTHER: 

You can see contemporary conceptual dance performance at the studio that belonged to Fluxus art movement, on Sundays at: www.cathyweis.org/calendar

Check our the program at the ANGELIKA FILM CENTER

 

CHELSEA. Birthplace of multiple artistic and social movements spanning much of the 20th century. In the 60s it was New York’s Theater District and home to the famous Chelsea Hotel, where figures such as Jackson Pollock, Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller, Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith, Sid Viscius and so many others stayed and lived. Andy Warhol filmed some of his movies in this hotel. During the 70s and 80s Chelsea was the epicenter of the city’s gay community and home to its first major political, social and cultural organizations. Much of the area between 9th and 11th Avenues was industrial until the end of 80s, when the commercial art scene started to move in. Today Chelsea has more than 300 galleries as well as the High Line, Rubin Museum, Graffiti Research Lab, DIA Art Foundation, New York Live Arts, Joyce Theater and The Kitchen. It has also become an attractive location for new architectural developments of architects such as Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid.

CHECK websites for summer & COVID schedules

 

DON'T MISS

PRINTED MATTER- Bookstore that sells exclusively art and artist's books, fanzines and limited-editions prints.  

DIA FOUNDATION- 545 w 22nd St. - You can find temporary installations in this location. ** On 22nd St. you can find Joseph Beuys' famous installation "7000 Oaks" with sculptures along both sides of the street.

WHITNEY MUSEUM

WHITE COLUMNS

RUBIN MUSEUM

DANCE, PERFORMANCE ART, and THEATER

NEW YORK LIVE ARTS

JOYCE THEATER

THE KITCHEN

If you walk along the HIGHLINE there are many works of art installed throughout the park. You can also visit the webstie to check for special programs and events.

 

LOWER EAST SIDE & CHINATOWN. During the 80s, a lot of alternative and experimental galleries started to open on the Lower East Side. After the 2007 inauguration of the New Museum on Bowery, a wave of art spaces and commercial galleries looking for a cheaper and livelier scene, opened in the area. The art scene kept moving south, taking over sections of Chinatown. The Lower East Side and Chinatown are both neighborhoods that have historically hosted large concentrations of immigrants, working class families and artists. These three demographic groups have given the area a unique eclecticism and rich ethnic diversity. The Lower East Side is also known for being home to some of the best places in the city to see live music and an endless list of vibrant and bars and restaurants. CHECK websites for summer schedules

 

THE CLEMENTE

601 ARTSPACE

LYLE’S AND KINGS

OTHER TIPS

ABRONS CENTER (for dance, theater and music performances) - 466 Grand St.

LIVE MUSIC at: Bowery Ballroom, Mercury Lounge, Bowery Electric, Rockwood, and Nublu. Also find live music in bars like Pianos, The Living Room and the Cake Shop.

 

UPPER EAST hosts all the true classics you cannot miss. Places like The Met, Guggenheim, Jewish Museum, and Frick Collection, but in the past 5 years you will also find new Museums and Galleries that have joined the existing crowd of Art Institutions. This area of Manhattan was crowned the art epicenter in the 1950s, when post-war New York became the art capital of the world. Numerous local and European galleries opened their venues in the Upper East Side. It was promising and prosperous, whilst simultaneously vibrant and classical. Although Chelsea became the promised land in the late 1980s, the Upper East Side continues to have it's place, lately reinventing and given itself over to new trends, it hosts some ambitious and experimental projects that draw artists and viewers from all around the world.

 
 

BUSHWICK has historically been a working class neighborhood of Latin American immigrants. More recently it has become home to a major art scene and was recently ranked one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world. Young art fills old warehouses, and factories have been transformed into studios and spaces for experimentation, performance, and street art. Bushwick Open Studios happens in June, a major event in which artists open their workspaces and/or host pop-up shows and parties. If you are around New York in early summer, don’t miss it!

BUT CHECK websites for SCHEDULES

 
 

OTHER

* If you want to know more about street art in Bushwick check out streetartwalk.com for STREET ART TOURS

 

RED HOOK, is one of the best-kept secrets in Brooklyn. Although it has become popular among locals and tourists since the city’s only Ikea opened in the area in 2008, until two years ago few people came for more than that. Today it is a cultural and gastronomic center. The neighborhood’s relative isolation is considered a luxury by locals who refuse to allow subway lines for fear of losing the intimacy, exclusiveness and privilege of being a resident. If you visit Red Hook, don’t miss the studios at Pioneer Works, Pioneer Books, Kentler International Drawing Space, the studios on the peer, the street art and murals, and the gastronomic delights. WE SUGGEST THAT YOU DO THIS TOUR ON THE SECOND SUNDAY OF THE MONTH, which is when PIONEER WORKS is open to the public with special shows and live music. - CHECK websites for SUMMER SCHEDULES

 

ART

KENTLER INTERNATIONAL DRAWING SPACE

PIONEER WORKS-

MUSIC @ SUNNY'S BAR- 253 Conover St. If you happen to be in Red Hook in June check out the Red Hook Jazz Festival.

 

TIPS

Coming from Manhattan, we suggest that you take the water taxi from downtown Manhattan to enjoy the view.  You can use the standard water taxi for $39 or take the IKEA’s water taxi for $5 each way during the week and it’s FREE on weekends (Both from Pier 11)

If you visit NYC in the summer and you like kayaking, don’t miss the change to paddle in NY harbor FOR FREE! http://www.redhookboaters.org/

 
 

HOW TO GET THERE:

Public transportation

Take subway A or C to Jay St. Metro Tech, then take the BUS B61 towards Red Hook on Smith St. Get off at King St. Stop

Take subway R, 2, 3, 4 or 5 to Borough Hall, then take BUS B61 towards Red Hook at the corner of Boerum Plaza and Fulton St. Get off at King Street Stop

Take subway F or G at Smith-9th St., then take BUS B61 towards Red Hook at the subway exit. Get off at King Street Stop

Bike:
Accessible via Brooklyn Greenway from York Street in DUMBO, ride to Van Brunt St in Red Hook.

Car:
Take Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to Atlantic Ave Exit. Turn left at Columbia St. and left again at Van Brunt.

Water Taxi:
From Manhattan to Ikea. For locations and schedules check: www.nywatertaxi.com or https://www.nywatertaxi.com/ikea

Taxis:
Eastern: 718.499.6227
Arecibo: 718.783.6465
Columbia St.: 718.834.6868