The well-respect nonprofit arts organization Nurture Art signed a lease today for a new space at 56 Bogart Street, which is quickly transforming into the hub of Bushwick’s burgeoning nonprofit arts and gallery scene.
The building is already home to another local visual arts nonprofit Momenta Art, and commercial galleries Interstate Projects and Peter Hopkins’ newer Salon Gallery have also set up shop on the block, but the addition of Nurture Art is sure to guarantee the building as a must-see destination for art visitors to the neighborhood.
Deborah Brown (via Deborah Brown’s Facebook profile page)
“I think this is going to solidify Nurture Art and its future role by putting us at the heart of the Bushwick art world, which is the cutting edge of the city’s art scene,” says Deborah Brown, who has an art studio in the area, co-founded Bushwick’s Storefront Gallery, is a Nurture Art board member and head of the nonprofit’s fall benefit committee. “It’s a complete homerun. It’s going to be a wonderful space.”
She believes the move will increase foot traffic to Nurture Art, which is growing more international in its programming. Their current space further north on Grand Street has been able to attract big crowds for their openings but it has been less successful at attracting visitors during other times.
The new basement space will be a few steps down from street level on Bogart Street and have windows facing Harrison Place. Brown says their current lease on Grand Street will be up in October and they hope to inaugurate the new location around the same time after some renovations.
The new location, which will have a higher profile than their previous location, will also be encouraging the nonprofit to increase their fundraising efforts. Their 2011 fall benefit, which will take place on October 11 at the Chelsea Art Museum, already has over a hundred people on the benefit committee (the most ever) and Brown can’t hold in her excitement about the new energy that Nurture Art has attracted. “Our position in the art world is changing and people are taking notice,” she says.
i went to my first nuture art show in 2005 with some college friends. an art handler at the gallery where we interned was selected to be in one of their group shows. he didnt have formal representation in chelsea. he wasn’t top tier. And it meant so much to him to put his work in a smart curatorial context.