Jennifer Famery-Mariani (left), organizer of Tribeca Art Night, with Nina Levent, CEO of Sapar Contemporary.
The owners of Sapar Contemporary, an art gallery that opened on North Moore Street just four months ago, already have big ideas for Tribeca.
That includes, in the future, a new moniker for the neighborhood—Tribeca Art District—and more visibility for the art and design galleries that have taken root here.
On Thursday, Sept. 29 they launched "Tribeca Art Night" an evening event of free guided tours that they hope to repeat about every six weeks as shows change.
The idea for an art night came soon after the gallery opened this spring and Nina Levent, an art historian and the gallery's CEO, began visiting and talking to fellow gallery owners.
At the time, Levent conceded in a recent interview at the gallery, she did not know many other galleries in Tribeca. "Visitors would say, 'I have a half hour what else should I do?' and since I didn't know where the other galleries were, I would say 'Go have a drink.'"
But Jennifer Famery-Mariani, who lives in Tribeca and organized Tribeca Art Night, did the sleuthing.
"I just walked every single street in Tribeca," she recalled. To her surprise, she said, so many businesses had "something dedicated to the arts—a gallery or show in a restaurant or bar. Art is part of the daily life of Tribecans."
The tours begin with a meet and greet at 6:30 p.m. at Sapar Contemporary at 9 N. Moore St.; the four tours, arranged geographically, take place between 7 and 8 p.m.
"They will be really educational and entertaining," Famery-Mariani promised, "and people will get a chance to meet the artists and gallery owners."
The 17 galleries participating will be showing a wide range of work that includes photos by Jady Bates exploring the transgender life experience at Soho Photo, a group show of 21 female artists addressing self-portraiture at Untitled Space, a 40-year retrospective of Italian designer Lapo Binazzi at R & Company and, at Taymour Grahne Gallery, Bruno Pacheco will show paintings on paper often based on found imagery from the internet and his personal photographs.
Levent is optimistic that the area will see more art and design galleries moving in. "People have to move out of Chelsea because of the high rents," she noted, and even Tribeca is more affordable.
"I think Chelsea could be seen as an art supermarket, Levent added. "We are lucky [in Tribeca]. We have more of a healthy mix—design galleries, art galleries, an art academy [New York Academy of Art], non-profit art spaces."
Steven Amedee, who displays art in his framing store on North Moore Street, called the event a "great idea."
"I'm looking forward to meeting some of the new people in the neighborhood,” he said. “And when I looked at the map that Tribeca Art Night put out, I was surprised that I didn't recognize a lot of places. This week I'm planning to go by and say, 'Hello.'"