The Longwood Art Gallery, long a stalwart in the Mott Haven arts scene, is picking up the pieces after being evicted from Hostos Community College in September. The gallery moved its operations to the main office of the Bronx Council on the Arts in East Tremont, after school officials said the college needed the space the gallery had occupied for more than 20 years, to create more health and science space.
“It was an arrangement made many years ago,” said Hostos President Dr. Cocco Filippis. “It was supposed to last two years— it lasted 21 years. It became more of a shared space for students at the college.” Now, he said, the space is “still open to students, and the community for rentals.”
Artists and managers of the gallery, which first opened in 1981 at P.S. 39 on Longwood Avenue and moved to Hostos in 2003, say they were caught off guard.
“I got an email on June 25th, 2024 saying that the termination was effective right away, but that we had up until August 27th to move out,” said Viviana Bianchi, executive director of the Bronx Council on the Arts program since 2017. “We met with Hostos afterwards and they extended the termination date for one more month.”
Others involved with the gallery were similarly stunned by the news.
“The artists were shocked,” said Lucia Warck-Meister, director of the gallery. “They couldn’t believe that after all these years they will no longer have access to the space or be able to call it their home where they can showcase their work. Hostos is train accessible, easy access for commuting when visiting the art gallery.”
Sculptor Jake Alfieri expressed his frustration at the move.
“It’s a terrible, terrible, loss,” said Alfieri. “Not just because I’ve shown my work there, but because it was also a place where the art community could meet, get together and share ideas.”
Bianchi added that The Bronx Council on the Arts plans Longwood Art Gallery exhibitions years in advance. The move affected both the Council’s staff and the artists, along with their work.
“We selected less work for the artists to showcase in our current exhibit at BCA’s office, where we have more of an intimate gallery space,” she said. “The office studio space isn’t as big as the one at Hostos, but we learned to adapt.”
Bianchi said rent was now also an issue since Hostos didn’t charge rent for the gallery.
“The space was donated to us in kind because of the mutual support we would offer the college and vice versa,” Bianchi added. “We would probably look at a bigger space to rent, that will most likely have a financial impact on us.”
The added expense could also impact other services the gallery has offered, like its Youth Engagement Program.
“What’s happening a lot now is that funders aren’t really supporting art exhibitions,” said Bianchi. “We created this [youth] program to be able to do different workshops, bring the youth and community closer together with the art gallery. This program is really important because urban areas, especially [the South Bronx], lack resources for art education.”
At Hostos, the gallery also worked engaging students and professors with one another. They would construct art tours and show the students at the college how art was constructed. Along with film screenings and performances with panels.
The recent move and reflection on the collaboration between Hostos and the gallery have caused the Bronx Council on the Arts to reevaluate its objectives for the future.
“Hostos has helped us open up more doors for 2026,” said Bianchi. “We are looking to partner with other organizations, potentially looking at pop-up spaces, and use the art gallery space we currently have at the office as an incubator for the artists.”
The Council’s plans for the future include raising the Longwood Art Gallery’s profile, with a traveling exhibition outside of the Bronx, to help the artists expand their audience.
Artist Tijay Mohammed said that despite the loss the Council’s departure from Hostos can be viewed in a positive light.
“Every relocation is migration,” he said. “Bringing it close to the offices and headquarters of [Council] gives it more visibility, where you have people come in to see the art, but at the same time they will see the other activities that go on there.”
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