Attend the Opening Reception of an Exhibition About NYC’s Historic Storefronts

A new art exhibit will be on display for the public starting August 1st at the Little Underground Gallery in the Village’s gorgeous Jefferson Market Library. The exhibition is called “Capturing the Faces & Voices of Manhattan’s Neighborhood Storefronts”, and highlights the cultural impact of small mom-and-pop stores in the Manhattan borough and the communities within it. The exhibition features photographs of local storefronts and oral histories collected by participants of two workshops run by local photographers James and Karla Murray, in partnership with the Neighborhood Preservation Center.

Untapped Cities got a look at some photos from the photographers’ solo exhibit, “STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York” at The Storefront Project Gallery, which is on display now through August 12th. Both the “Store Front” exhibit and the exhibition at Jefferson Market Library focus on capturing the essence, diversity, and history of New York storefronts.

Photo by James and Karla Murray

The opening reception for “Capturing the Faces & Voices of Manhattan’s Neighborhood Storefronts” is completely free to attend, and is part of the gallery’s continuous workshop/exhibition program. Attendees will learn more about photography and oral history as tools for raising public awareness, which has become more important as so many mom-and-pop shops are closing.

This exhibit, created in partnership with the Neighborhood Preservation Center, seeks to increase advocacy for struggling mom-and-pop shops, and to show the cultural significance of mom-and-pop shops in New York. The exhibit will feature work created by participants of the Murray’s hands-on workshop. There they learned how to capture images of neighborhood shops and record insightful oral histories from local shop owners themselves. You can even see work created by some of our very own Untapped Cities Insiders, Rachel Fawn Alban and Diana Zuluaga!

The reception will also include a smorgasbord of food, including a cheese platter from Murray’s Cheese, pastries from the famous Veniero’s Pasticceria, candies and chocolates from the historic Economy Candy and See’s Candies, beer from Lagunitas, as well as cold brew coffee from Joe’s Coffee.

All you need to do in order to attend is sign up on the exhibition’s Eventbrite page, as space in the library is limited.

Next, check out Keeping the Integrity of Days Gone By-On Sullivan Street in SoHo, and Life-Size Art Installment Honors Mom-And-Pop Shops of the LES.