Precursors In the early 1960s, artists from all over the country moved to
Lower Manhattan's lofts and warehouse buildings, in what used to be known as "Hells Hundred Acres", which became large and inexpensive studios. Dealers and gallery owners opened new gallery spaces nearby. By 1966, SoHo was a growing artist community, and Park Place Gallery became a meeting ground for artists. Especially crowded and popular were the music performances and other special programs hosted by the gallery. During the mid-to-late 1960s and the early 1970s
Max's Kansas City on Park Avenue South between 17th and 18th Streets and the St. Adrian's bar on lower Broadway became hangouts for young artists, writers, poets, and creative people in downtown Manhattan.
Early Park Place Gallery The first location of the gallery was near Park Place in Lower Manhattan. The Park Place Gallery was founded in 1962 as a cooperative art gallery by 10 artists, including
Mark di Suvero, Dean Fleming,
Robert Grosvenor,
Forrest Myers,
Peter Forakis,
Leo Valledor, Tamara Melcher, Tony Magar, and Edwin Ruda. The first director of the space was John Gibson (1933–2019), subsequently of John Gibson Gallery. Later artists to join the cooperative community included
David Novros, Jonathan Baldwin, and Gay Glading. The gallery showcased works by younger, less established artists with an emphasis on
Geometric abstraction,
shaped canvas,
Hard-edge painting,
Op Art, paradoxical geometric objects, sculpture, and experimental art. Many of the sculptors, painters and other artists who exhibited in Park Place Gallery were interested in
cutting edge architecture,
electronic music, and
minimal art.
Later history In 1965, the gallery moved to 542 West Broadway, on what is now
LaGuardia Place just north of
Houston Street adjacent to the neighborhood that is now called SoHo. By 1965, Paula Cooper served as director, and Park Place became a lightning rod of attention for the downtown art scene. It became a center for the downtown
avant-garde as well, with weekly poetry readings, concerts by new electronic composers, and openings that always drew large crowds of young artists. They had attracted funding from the Lannan Foundation. == Closure and legacy ==