WATCH THIS SPACE

A dynamic young vanguard of American gallerists are diversifying the collectible market for designers and collectors alike

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If the idea of a design gallery conjures up images of a whispery white cube filled with plinths and prim collectors clutching their pearls, then it’s time you visited Tiwa Gallery on the fifth floor of a lofty Tribeca building, preferably for one of founder Alex Tieghi-Walker’s opening night dinners. You'll find a similar energy of ‘hugging, gossiping, kids and dogs’ at a Marta opening in Los Feliz, Los Angeles. Further up the Californian coast at Blunk Space in Point Reyes Station, JB Blunk’s daughter Mariah Nielson is keeping her father’s democratic spirit of make, do and blend, alive and thriving. And further north still, at Landdd in Portland, you can consider your collectible investments while participating in a sound bath or some flower arranging.

There’s a fascinating shift underway in America’s design gallery sector, proactively driven by a group of socially minded, enterprising young curators who value craft and community engagement as much as commerce. They are inspiring possible routes to market for an emerging generation of designers, and attracting new collecting audiences in their wake. It is, quite possibly, the most interesting development in America’s current design landscape, and there’s much that the rest of the world might learn from their attitudes towards connection.