When the Artwork Sellers Affiliation of America canceled The Artwork Present this summer season, it left the Henry Avenue Settlement with out its most vital annual fundraiser for the primary time in almost 4 a long time. The nonprofit—based in 1893 to serve the Decrease East Aspect’s working poor—had co-founded the truthful in 1989 and raised greater than $38 million from its gala preview nights on the Park Avenue Armory.
Now, after months of uncertainty, Henry Avenue has discovered a brand new companion and a brand new residence. The 2026 gala shall be held not uptown however down on the Decrease East Aspect, at Unbiased’s spring truthful at its new location on Pier 36. The collaboration joins one in all New York’s oldest social-service organizations with one in all its most agile art-world enterprises.
“It’s energizing—we’re launching, not simply touchdown,” David Garza, Henry Avenue’s president and CEO, advised ARTnews. “All hope is native, and this brings that concept to life. Unbiased shares our values and our geography; collectively we will activate a whole constellation of stakeholders.”
The bridge between the 2 organizations got here by artwork supplier James Fuentes, who joined Henry Avenue’s board lower than a yr in the past. Fuentes grew up on the Decrease East Aspect, and ran his gallery within the neighborhood for almost 20 years earlier than relocating in June 2024, a transfer he says left him feeling “an actual loss” of connection to the neighborhood. “When David known as and requested me to hitch the board, it was a solution to keep tied to the group,” he stated. “And now, by this partnership, that connection feels stronger than ever.”
The partnership comes after a painful price range hole. When The Artwork Present was known as off in July, Henry Avenue’s fiscal yr had barely begun. The group rapidly mounted a digital marketing campaign that raised roughly $600,000—half of what the gala sometimes brings in—however the shortfall nonetheless compelled powerful decisions.
“These {dollars} straight help very important providers,” Garza stated, from meals applications to job placement to free arts courses for residents of close by public housing.
Federal cuts, together with the lack of a USDA initiative New York Meals for New York Households that funded produce for low-income households, make the timing even tougher. In earlier years, the Settlement would have used projected income from the gala to instantly assist offset dropping the federal {dollars}. However with out The Artwork Present, the group isn’t as nimble and desires to lift different {dollars} to fill in vital funding gaps.
For Unbiased founder Elizabeth Dee, whose truthful just lately moved from Tribeca to Pier 36, the alliance is each sensible and symbolic. “This isn’t only a new location for Unbiased—it’s a brand new dedication,” she stated. “The Decrease East Aspect is traditionally wealthy and economically various. Partnering with Henry Avenue permits us to acknowledge our interdependence as an artwork group and as New Yorkers.”
That civic-minded language isn’t new for both aspect. Henry Avenue sponsored the Fiftieth-anniversary exhibition of the 1913 Armory Present in 1963, lengthy earlier than “arts entry” was a funding buzzword. Unbiased, based in 2010, has constructed its status on a mission-driven mannequin that serves artists, writers, and establishments alongside galleries and collectors.
The Could 14 preview will now double as Henry Avenue’s thirty seventh gala—restoring an important supply of help and, Garza hopes, redefining what such a partnership can appear to be. “It’s neighbor serving to neighbor, on a bigger stage,” he stated.
