Local Legends
The icons of the neighborhood. Trusted, exciting, and always worth stepping into.
Last updated Oct 28, 2025
These are the art spaces with devoted followings,
that, over reams of zeitgeist-defining shows, have come to underpin the art soul of the neighborhood. Some spotlight trailblazing local artists; others have launched artists who now headline major museums. All of them draw in newcomers and keep the creative energy of the surrounding streets vibrating, and we’re grateful to them for it.
Local Legends
14 Venues
MuseumEast Village
Swiss Institute
Get your brain whirring with global, intellectual art at this free museum that is smack dab in the center of St Mark’s Place.
38 St Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
MuseumNoHo
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
GalleryNoHo
Eric Firestone Gallery
Bold, colorful work by artists who have been making waves since the ‘70s. Much like that decade, the energy is groovy, sensual, and rebellious.
40 Great Jones Street
New York, NY 10012
GalleryEast Village
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
GalleryLower East Side
Westwood Gallery
A neighborhood-embedded gallery showcasing artists whose work will transport you to the factory lofts and artists’ studios of iconic 1970s and ‘80s Bowery.
262 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
GalleryLower East Side
Sperone Westwater
Bathe in the meditative light of world-celebrated artists in this breathtaking, Sir Norman Foster-designed gallery.
257 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
GalleryEast Village
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
GalleryLower East Side
Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba
Where Black artists, communities, and movements have been nurtured, honored, and lifted for generations.
219 East 2nd Street
New York, NY 10009
GalleryLower East Side
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
Art Project SpaceLittle Italy
PARTICIPANT INC
A locally loved, black box (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
These are the art spaces with devoted followings,
that, over reams of zeitgeist-defining shows, have come to underpin the art soul of the neighborhood. Some spotlight trailblazing local artists; others have launched artists who now headline major museums. All of them draw in newcomers and keep the creative energy of the surrounding streets vibrating, and we’re grateful to them for it.
Local Legends
14 VenuesMuseumEast Village
Swiss Institute
Get your brain whirring with global, intellectual art at this free museum that is smack dab in the center of St Mark’s Place.
38 St Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
MuseumNoHo
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
GalleryNoHo
Eric Firestone Gallery
Bold, colorful work by artists who have been making waves since the ‘70s. Much like that decade, the energy is groovy, sensual, and rebellious.
40 Great Jones Street
New York, NY 10012
GalleryEast Village
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
GalleryLower East Side
Westwood Gallery
A neighborhood-embedded gallery showcasing artists whose work will transport you to the factory lofts and artists’ studios of iconic 1970s and ‘80s Bowery.
262 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
GalleryLower East Side
Sperone Westwater
Bathe in the meditative light of world-celebrated artists in this breathtaking, Sir Norman Foster-designed gallery.
257 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
GalleryEast Village
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
GalleryLower East Side
Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba
Where Black artists, communities, and movements have been nurtured, honored, and lifted for generations.
219 East 2nd Street
New York, NY 10009
GalleryLower East Side
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
Art Project SpaceLittle Italy
PARTICIPANT INC
A locally loved, black box (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
GalleryLower East Side
Miguel Abreu Gallery
Poetic, philosophically-minded art in a cavernous floor-thru loft on Eldridge Street, where the ethereal light of the space meets the light behind the work.
88 Eldridge Street
New York, NY 10002
GalleryLower East Side
Ramiken
The Lower East Side’s punk past is alive and well at this gallery, where beauty and decay dance in tandem.
389 Grand Street
New York, NY 10002
GalleryLower East Side
Reena Spaulings Fine Art
The brainchild of a 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
GalleryChinatown
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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