Western Expansion!

The clusters on the sidewalk are the tip-off.  People spill out of the glass-fronted galleries onto otherwise deserted side streets along Manhattan's Tenth Avenue, the crowds like signs pointing toward free wine and new art.  More leading contemporary-art galleries are located in less than one square mile of Chelsea than anywhere else.  Everyone-from uptown, downtown, and out of town-flocks to see the shows, with opening nights drawing the largest crowds.  Thousands of people who come through Chelsea every week.  On an average Saturday there are probably 10 to 50 people in the space at any time.

A decade ago, west Chelsea was an industrial area of garages, warehouses, and taxi stands, notable for a few big dance clubs and prostitutes working on streets.  But as rents escalated in SoHo and as galleries began to outgrow uptown's prewar buildings and downtown's lofts, Chelsea's raw, open spaces began to look appealing.  Now, more than 170 galleries are in Chelsea, and the area keeps expanding with new arrivals.  The art nexus runs roughly from 13th Street in the Meatpacking District to 29th Street, and from the Hudson River on the west to Seventh Avenue at the eastern edge.

It's clear that things have shifted westward.  Most of galleries in Chelsea are big enough to allow for more versatility in exhibitions.  With its high ceilings and single-business dwellings, Chelsea is the right neighborhood for the New York's new art scene.  This is where someone interested in art goes.  Artists, critics, philosophers, and writers all come here.

----- to be continued