“I want art to be in neighborhoods as opposed to a destination,” says Cheryl McGinnis, explaining why she has opened a gallery in northwest Tribeca. McGinnis knows from neighborhoods: She started in Soho at Central Fine Arts, then when she was ready to go out on her own, she began showing art in her Upper West Side apartment—the better to have a salon environment, where people could discuss the art informally. In 2006, she opened a second-floor gallery on Madison Avenue in Carnegie Hill. Then she spent two years in an interim space in Hell’s Kitchen. “It was the thing I never wanted—a white box. But it forced me to think about what I do want. And that’s to make good art more accessible.”

Courtesy Gwyneth Leech

McGinnis predominantly (but not exclusively) represents Chinese artists. “I was interested in Chinese artists when no one cared,” she says. “I’ve sold pieces for $500 that are now selling at Sotheby’s and Christie’s for hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

McGinnis also teaches kids “visual thinking” with her side project, Art E (the E is for “Enlightenment”). “Kids are always welcome here,” she says, and if the art isn’t a draw, her cocker spaniel puppy, Isaac Newton, certainly will be.

P.S. To see another show she’s curated, you’ll have to go to yet one more neighborhood: Inside the Flatiron Building’s Prow Art Space is Gwyneth Leech‘s “Hypergraphia,” featuring hundreds of drawings on coffee cups. You can watch Leech work Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Cheryl McGinnis Gallery is at 466 Washington (between Canal and Watts), 212-594-4066; cherylmcginnisgallery.com.

Recent New Kid on the Block articles:
• François Payard Bakery
• Laughing Man Marketplace
• JEM Café
• Lolë
• Jungsik
• Organic Modernism
• Sushein