self guided tour
The Artist’s Eye
From classic to the vanguard, Village art is everywhere.
The Village has a rich history of artists both living here and displaying their work. This itinerary will take you through some of the highlights in one full day, or can be broken into multiple days for a more leisurely pace. Be sure to check venue website for days and hours of operation, as they change regularly.
Start your day at the New York Studio School (8 West 8th St.), set among eight historic buildings, including the original Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney mansion. The School features free year-round art displays and lecture series among the original art deco galleries.
After perusing the galleries, continue up Fifth Avenue to the Forbes Magazine Galleries (62 Fifth Ave.), for exquisitely curated displays of fine and decorative arts, jewelry and manuscripts. One block north on Fifth Avenue is the Sheila Johnson Design Center (66 Fifth Ave.), part of the Parsons The New School for Design campus that includes ground floor galleries featuring everything from art and graphic design to film and fashion.
Back downtown on Fifth Avenue, the next stop is the Salmagundi Club (47 Fifth Ave.), founded in 1871 as one of the oldest art organizations in the country. The club offers classes, painting demonstrations and exhibitions in a beautiful historic brownstone mansion. Once back outside, walk east on 11th Street to University Place for lunch along one of the city’s busiest neighborhood restaurant rows. We can recommend Jack Bistro (80 University Pl.), Nanoosh (101 University Pl.) or Knickerbocker Bar & Grill (33 University Pl.) to name a few.
From here head to University Place where the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit hits the streets over the Memorial Day and Labor Day holidays. Walk south along University Place to Washington Mews to check the public schedules of La Maison Francaise and Deutsches Haus, New York University’s cultural institutes that are housed in a rare row of carriage houses. At Waverly Place, turn briefly to the right and note No. 3 Washington Square North among the meticulously restored Greek Revival rowhouses, where Edward Hopper lived and kept his studio from 1913-1967.
Continue walking south along Washington Square Park to reach NYU’s Grey Art Gallery (100 Washington Square East) and 80 Washington Square East Galleries. Then head east along Washington Place to Broadway to view the Tisch School of the Arts Gulf + Western Gallery (721 Broadway) specializing in photography and imaging.
Head north along Broadway for the final leg of the itinerary, and make a right on Astor Place. Tony Rosenthal’s popular 1967 sculpture, Alamo, is the focal point of this vibrant public space. After turning “the cube” as locals call it, turn right on Fourth Avenue to visit one of the many public galleries and exhibit spaces at the Cooper Union campus, including the stunning 41 Cooper space.
While you’re exploring Greenwich Village download the Village Access app to see what merchants around you offer exclusive deals!
