Reimagining the Gallery: 13 Hybrid Spaces on the Rise

A new crop of small, hybrid spaces has emerged in recent years—part gallery, part shop, often run by artists themselves. They are neither the traditional white cube nor the concept store, but something in between: art shown alongside furniture and design objects.

As galleries and institutions contend with shifting markets, these spaces propose an alternative. Their scale is modest but resilient—folding art, design, and craft into settings that are tactile, accessible, and personal. Together they suggest a future for galleries less about expansion than refinement, where showing and encountering art is reimagined as a practice of exchange and experimentation.

BCMT in Kingston

BCMT Gallery is an artist-forward gallery championing craft and the processes and people behind it. Based out of Kingston, New York, the gallery was founded by artist and furniture maker Joshua Vogel and Blackcreek Mercantile & Trading Co. co-founder Kelly Zaneto. BCMT Gallery has sought out a growing collective of artists who share in the investigation of the elemental—offering both functional and collectible works.

Blue Mountain School in London

Spanning six floors in East London, Blue Mountain School is a multidisciplinary platform conceptualized as more than a store or gallery but a place for cultural exchange. Exhibitions, a listening room, a restaurant, and curated shop unfold across all floors—a conversation between art, design, and daily life.

Blunk Space in Marin County

Established by the Estate of pioneering Northern California artist JB Blunk, Blunk Space was founded in 2021 by Blunk’s daughter, curator and design historian Mariah Nielson. The Point Reyes Station space champions artists and designers working in a spirit of experimentation and tactility. Exhibiting contemporary and historical art and design, Blunk Space is made up of a gallery, studio space, and shop with a collection of homeware, jewelry, publications, and artwork.

Francis Gallery in Los Angeles

Founded by Rosa Park, co-founder of Cereal, Francis Gallery brings a contemplative, editorial eye to art presentation. With its latest Los Angeles outpost, Casa Francis, Park reimagines the gallery as a domestic setting, pairing a no-social-media-policy with an emphasis on lived, in-person experience.

Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery in New York

Based in New York, Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery is a decorative arts and design gallery commissioning editions from contemporary designers around a concept. The space maintains a balance between commerce and curation, presenting work in a way that feels approachable yet considered.

Landdd in Portland

From Javier Reyes and Lillian Hardy, Landdd operates at the intersection of studio, gallery, and community. Their Portland showroom features curated collections of objects, textiles, and interior elements while hosting workshops, installations, and site-specific gatherings.

Marta in Los Angeles

Founded by Benjamin Critton and Heidi Korsavong, Marta in Los Angeles redefines the gallery as a testing ground for functional objects at the edge of art and design. Exhibitions unfold as installations—chairs, vessels, and sculptural works placed in dialogue—making the everyday feel speculative and charged. Located in Los Feliz, the gallery includes a small studio apartment for visiting artists and is built around the intersection of home, art, design, and community.

Pallas in San Francisco

Writer and curator Elizabeth Snowden established Pallas in San Francisco as a studio, project space, and gallery. Pallas hosts and collaborates on exhibitions and events, spatial installations, and social gatherings—welcoming work that opens the lines between art, design, and the possibilities of beauty in everyday process. Rare books and ephemera form a quieter counterpart, extending the space’s commitment to ideas as well as objects.

Shooster in Sag Harbor

Shooster Arts & Literature is a living gallery of fine art, antiques, and rare books, housing works by over 300 artists, writers, and designers. Founded by former Image Director Lauren Shooster, the gallery spans a location in a historic ship chandlery building and a nearby 1840s whaler’s cottage which houses works in an intimate, domestic setting.

Studio Ahead in San Francisco

Founded by curators Homan Rajai and Elena Dendiberia, Studio Ahead is a design studio with a focus on both contemporary and historical work from the Bay Area and beyond. Their occasional exhibitions bring together artists and designers, dissolving the distinctions between object, furniture, and fine art. What emerges is a hybrid studio that moves easily between formats.

Tiwa in New York

Founded in 2021 by curator-maker Alex Tieghi-Walker, Tiwa operates as a hybrid live/work gallery in Tribeca. The space is inviting—objects are meant to be handled, rearranged, furniture moved—and the line between display and domestic is intentionally blurred. Tiwa maintains an interest in the threshold between function and presence, bridging commerce, craft, and experimentation.

Tooth and Nail in Milwaukee

Tooth and Nail in Milwaukee is an artist-run studio gallery founded by Janelle Gramling. Exhibitions, workshops, shows, installations, and events here encourage experimentation. Equal parts project space and community hub, it extends the gallery format into something more agile and immediate.

Working Loose in Maine

Founded by Em Gift, a retail-and-arts veteran, Working Loose is a concept shop and multidisciplinary gallery in Blue Hill, Maine. The space pairs an eclectic edit with immersive exhibitions and community events.

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