Though Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood is easily accessible, full of artist lofts, and synonymous with Robert De Niro’s famous film festival, its gallery scene has long been overshadowed by those of SoHo and Chelsea. Yet over the past decade, thanks to its unique architecture and comparatively low real estate prices, Tribeca has become a leading area for emerging and established galleries to plant their roots.
Unlike the commercial Chelsea arts district, Tribeca features a robust ecosystem of residential housing. The neighborhood’s name, in fact, comes from the legendary housing rights organization, the Triangle Below Canal Block Association, that opposed rapid redevelopment plans in the 1960s.
This communal, grassroots atmosphere still permeates the neighborhood and appeals to the galleries that have decided to move here. They team up for biannual iterations of the Tribeca Gallery Walk (TGW), an evening when they extend their hours to 8 p.m. In advance of the forthcoming fall TGW, on September 29th, Artsy spoke to TGW organizer Anna Peterson (who also works as a gallery associate at Bortolami), along with several other Tribeca-based galleries. They shared how Tribeca’s community orientation allows new and established galleries to flourish.