Lower East Side Gallery Walk

This weekend my Mom and I...

...set out on an adventure!  We went on a Lower East Side Gallery Tour.  It was a really interesting event put together by the Brown Club of New York (I'm a Brown graduate).  

We met up with a small group on the Lower East Side to explore a number of galleries.  The Lower East Side is kind of a new area for galleries and many of the galleries that are there represent emerging artists rather than established ones.  Quite exciting!

At each of the galleries the gallerist gave us a quick talk about the art currently hanging, the gallery's mission, as well as answering any questions we might have.  I have to confess that I had a bit of an "emperor's not wearing any clothes" reaction to much of the art.  That said, I think it's important to expose yourself to what's happening in the art world, even if it's not your cup of tea.  

And, as with much of contemporary art, it's interesting to hear the background behind the artwork.  I find that a great deal of contemporary art's interest or importance can't be seen, but rather has to be understood based on either history or the artist's process.  It's a really different way of thinking about art.

One of the special moments of the tour was seeing a gallery space under construction.

I enjoyed getting to peek at the raw space and hear all about the plans for the space.  Essentially, the gallery is expanding and creating a show space, party space, office space, and even working space for visiting artists!  It's going to be a little art complex.  Pretty cool.

In general, the architecture and design of the galleries was one of my favorite parts of the tour.  Most of the galleries are in old buildings that have been converted into a show space and they're filled with lovely old wood and original details.  Here's a staircase I fell in love with:

And a beautiful exposed beam ceiling:

As we strolled between galleries, there was plenty of NYC to see as well.

But my hands down absolute favorite part of the tour was the lunch we had at the end.

The meal wasn't particularly special, but it was fantastic to have the opportunity to chat with everyone about what we saw, why they came on the tour, and to hear all about each person's personal connection to art.

There are so many different ways to spend an artful afternoon -- this was an intellectual one.  I really enjoyed expanding my horizons and opening up my mind to some new ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!