The Go-To's
The anchors of the neighborhood. Trusted, reliable, but always exciting and fresh.
Last updated Aug 30, 2025
These are the art spaces with devoted followings.
They tend to show artists already deep into their careers, with a clear voice, and their wheels are firmly on the tracks. Whether you're new to art or new to the neighborhood, these are the doors you’ll want to walk through again and again.
The Go-To's
15 Venues
Swiss Institute
Get your brain whirring with global, Intellectual art, at this free museum smack dab in the center of St Mark’s Place.
38 St Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
Grey Art Museum
Global, diverse, and interdisciplinary exhibitions propel the conversation forward at NYU’s museum in history-drenched Cooper Square.
18 Cooper Square
New York, NY 10003
Eric Firestone Gallery
Bold, colorful work by artists who have been making waves since the ‘70s. The energy, like the 70s, is groovy, sensual, and rebellious.
40 Great Jones Street
New York, NY 10012
The Hole
Joyful, irreverent, and unfiltered. The Hole is where the conversations never end, and the party is just getting started.
312 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
Sperone Westwater
Three exhibition spaces across a five-story, starchitect designed building. The best of American and Italian conceptual art and photography since 1975.
257 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
Karma Gallery
This gallery, bookstore, and publishing house is pioneering a genre. Enjoy gentle, slow art that invites you to pause and step back from the fast pace of life.
188 East 2nd Street
New York, NY 10009
Perrotin
A former fabric shop turned global art playground, Perrotin keeps Orchard Street buzzing with color, wit, and spectacle.
130 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
PARTICIPANT INC
A locally loved, black box (i.e. not white cube) alternative art space with superb shows of historic activist work and underground emerging artists.
116 Elizabeth Street, Floor One
New York, NY 10013
Bridget Donahue Gallery
Playful, boundary-merging art reflecting on the rituals of everyday life, set against the backdrop of an old-school loft space on the Bowery.
99 Bowery, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10002
601Artspace
Free-thinking young curators and artists light up the truth at this experimental non-profit on Eldridge Street.
88 Eldridge Street Rm 1755
New York, NY 10002
These are the art spaces with devoted followings.
They tend to show artists already deep into their careers, with a clear voice, and their wheels are firmly on the tracks. Whether you're new to art or new to the neighborhood, these are the doors you’ll want to walk through again and again.
The Go-To's
15 VenuesSwiss Institute
Get your brain whirring with global, Intellectual art, at this free museum smack dab in the center of St Mark’s Place.
38 St Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
Grey Art Museum
Global, diverse, and interdisciplinary exhibitions propel the conversation forward at NYU’s museum in history-drenched Cooper Square.
18 Cooper Square
New York, NY 10003
Eric Firestone Gallery
Bold, colorful work by artists who have been making waves since the ‘70s. The energy, like the 70s, is groovy, sensual, and rebellious.
40 Great Jones Street
New York, NY 10012
The Hole
Joyful, irreverent, and unfiltered. The Hole is where the conversations never end, and the party is just getting started.
312 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
Sperone Westwater
Three exhibition spaces across a five-story, starchitect designed building. The best of American and Italian conceptual art and photography since 1975.
257 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
Karma Gallery
This gallery, bookstore, and publishing house is pioneering a genre. Enjoy gentle, slow art that invites you to pause and step back from the fast pace of life.
188 East 2nd Street
New York, NY 10009
Perrotin
A former fabric shop turned global art playground, Perrotin keeps Orchard Street buzzing with color, wit, and spectacle.
130 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
PARTICIPANT INC
A locally loved, black box (i.e. not white cube) alternative art space with superb shows of historic activist work and underground emerging artists.
116 Elizabeth Street, Floor One
New York, NY 10013
Bridget Donahue Gallery
Playful, boundary-merging art reflecting on the rituals of everyday life, set against the backdrop of an old-school loft space on the Bowery.
99 Bowery, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10002
601Artspace
Free-thinking young curators and artists light up the truth at this experimental non-profit on Eldridge Street.
88 Eldridge Street Rm 1755
New York, NY 10002
Francois Ghebaly New York
At this LA transplant, artists eschew fantasies of fame for surreal reinvention in this single room gallery behind a mid-century shopping mall.
391 Grand Street
New York, NY 10002
Miguel Abreu
Poetic, philosophically-minded art in a sun-flooded storefront on Orchard and a cavernous floor-thru loft on Eldridge. The light in the space meets the light in the work.
36 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
Museum on Eldridge Street
Neighborhood history is revived in rotating exhibitions at this restored Synagogue from 1887. Don’t miss the glorious starry night rose window by contemporary artist Kiki Smith.
12 Eldridge Street
New York, NY 10002
Reena Spaulings Fine Art
The brainchild of a very real collective of artists that is every bit as glamorous and mysterious as its fictitious literary namesake.
165 East Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10002
56 HENRY
There’s a renegade spirit at play here. A feeling that the party is just about to get started. And it's infectious.
56 Henry Street
New York, NY 10002
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