Art Galleries

A contemporary art gallery is a location where contemporary art is shown. The term art gallery is commonly used to mean art museum (especially in British English), the rooms displaying art in any museum, or in the original sense, of any large or long room. This article deals with galleries exhibiting cutting-edge contemporary art.
Commercial galleries are for-profit, privately owned businesses dealing in artworks. Galleries run for the public good by cities, churches, art collectives, not-for-profit organizations, and local or national governments are usually termed Non-Profit Galleries. Many of these, such as the Tate Gallery have an aspect of charity. Galleries run by artists are sometimes known as Artist Run Initiatives, and may be temporary, or otherwise different from the traditional gallery format.
Contemporary art galleries are often established together in urban centers such as the Chelsea district of New York, widely considered to be the center of the contemporary art world. Most large urban areas have several art galleries, and most towns will be home to at least one. However, they may also be found in small communities, and remote areas where artists congregate, i.e. the Taos art colony and St Ives, Cornwall. Contemporary art galleries are usually free and open to the public, however some are semi-private and by appointment only.
Curators often create group shows that say something about a certain theme, trend in art, or group of associated artists. Galleries often choose to represent artists exclusively, giving them the opportunity to show regularly.