Artists Space began in 1972 as a pilot project for the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), with the goal of assisting young, emerging artists. The original Artists Space quickly became a leading organization in the downtown alternative arts scene in New York, which also included burgeoning institutions such as the 112 Workshop (later renamed White Columns), and the Institute for Art and Urban Resources (later named P.S. 1 contemporary Art Center ).

During its first year, Artists Space exhibitions were organized under the strict guidelines of artists chosen to select other artists to exhibit.  Other early efforts to engage and help artists included the Emergency Materials Fund, which assisted artists with the presentation of their work at an established nonprofit venue, and the Independent Exhibitions Program, which supported the needs of artists who were involve in the production and presentation of work outside the context of an existing institutional structure (discontinued in 1991).  Through the decades, Artists Space has adapted to the shifting needs and concerns of artists and audiences in and outside of New York, altering its modus operandi to become a center for new ideas in a radically changing world.

Artists Space has been the site of provocative discussion and experimentation within contemporary artistic debate, from identity politics (Adrian Piper’s It’s Just Art, 1981), to the AIDS crisis (Nan Goldin’s Witnesses: Against our Vanishing, 1989), to postmodern image (Douglas Crimp’s Pictures, 1977), and institutional critique (Michael Asher’s Untitled, 1988). Artists Space has introduced a number of artists to a wider public, amongst them Joan Jonas, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Sherrie Levine,  Louise Lawler, Lauri Anderson,  Barbara Bloom, John Miller,  John Baldessari,  Jack Smith,  Andrea Fraser, Haim Steinbach, Tim Rollins, Lyle Ashton Harris, Ashley Bickerton, Peter Halley, Lari Pittman, Group Material, Stuart Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Lauri Simmons, Anthony McCall, Fred Wilson, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mike Kelly, Judith Barry, Michael Smith, Robert Longo, and Jenny Holzer.

In 1983, The International Projects Program was initiated as a series inviting four art professionals from outside the United States to select one artist from their country to do site-specific installations at Artists Space.  Although the program no longer exists under this title, today, the curation-driven programming continues to facilitate between local and global debate, creating opportunities for international artists with little exhibition record in New York to exhibit in non-commercial settings, such as Marc Camille Chaimowicz (2009) and Duncan Campbell (2010).

Artists Space emphasizes dynamic programming to foster community and critical debate alongside its exhibition program, that range from readings (John Giorno’s poetry reading, 2009), to lectures (Luc Boltanski, 2010), to screenings of films new and old.

Artists Space moved from its original location at 155 Wooster Street to 105 Hudson Street in 1977, to 223 West Broadway in 1984, and to its current location at 38 Greene Street in 1993, where it shares a proximity to other venerable Soho nonprofits, including the Drawing Center (35 Wooster Street) and the Swiss Institute (495 Broadway).

Born out of the necessity to critique the imbalances of the New York art system, over the years Artists Space, like other alternative institutions, has had to ride the socioeconomic wave and suicidally doubt and reevaluate its mission, ironically, in order to remain in existence.
-Valerie Smith, 1998 (curator of Artists Space from 1981-1989)

True to its word, Artists Space provides alternatives; they constantly bring to our attention things that for one reason or another are being missed.  They remind us that there are other things going on than what is presented by more established institutions. Generally the role of the alternative space is to catch what falls through the cracks, between larger public institutions and commercial ventures such as art galleries; there is a kind of art on a certain scale that doesn’t get shown in New York’s major museums.
-Roberta Smith, 1998

Over the years I have experienced Artist Space as a venue that presents engaging work, often made by emerging artists who later become recognized as prominent visionaries. In the 1970s the space was a testing ground for the most advanced ideas in the art of the time. The combination of individual artist shows with thematic group shows organized by young spirited curators generated an intense exchange of ideas. Artists could participate by submitting their slides to the Artists File. I chose to take my chances and play, and this led to my first show there with objects, Display #7 in 1979.
-Haim Steinbach, 2008

AMCC (Artists Meeting for Social Change) had meetings at Artists Space on Wooster Street every Sunday night, or every first Sunday of the month, for about two years.  The were pandemonium sessions, it was great.  In the beginning, Sol LeWitt would be there, Carl Andre would get up and give speeches, people would just get up.  There'd be rip-roaring fights between Art and Language and The Fox folk...it was the most amazing education – very exciting.
-Tim Rollins, 1998