Exhibition History at Gourmet Garage
Woodward Gallery was originally located in SoHo across from the first Gourmet Garage back in the 1990s. Director John Woodward had been a chef at the historic Four Seasons Restaurant and also a private executive chef. With this strong culinary background, Woodward had the idea to share epicurean themed art in his popular SoHo neighborhood by inviting Artists working in varied styles and mediums. Woodward set out to feature a new project called, Art By The Pound in the Gourmet Garage street level windows. The director’s goal was to build the relationship between viewing art and shopping for food, an infusion of both visuals as an enhanced experience. The ground floor window exhibitions were curated directly across from the Gallery. Seen by thousands of folks daily, the project soon became so popular that Woodward Gallery expanded this art program, a type of interactive display, inside that original SoHo space.
Woodward relocated its main gallery to the Lower East Side over the years. In addition to the rotating gallery exhibitions on Eldridge Street, Woodward broadened the art installations to additional Gourmet Garage locations throughout New York City at: SoHo (489 Broome Street), TriBeCa (366 Broadway) and Lincoln Square (155 West 66th Street). Director John Woodward curated Contemporary Art in the Gourmet Garage exhibition windows and within their 50,000 square feet of interior space each year. Dozens of exhibitions and countless artworks later, each store location featured the symbiotic gourmet food and fine art relationship.
This cultural collaboration concluded in June 2019 after nearly twenty years of installations. Thanks to all who participated in this fun project!