This Event Planner Finds Art in an Incognito Bowery Building

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New York City has more stores than anyone could physically tackle, but somehow we always keep returning to the usual suspects. To break out of the rut, we've asked some local shopping and fashion gurus to provide their hidden retail gems—those unique stores around our fantastic city that we might not all know about. Cue the Beatles: We're about to get a little help from our friends.

Image via Artware Editions

Scott Drevnig produces fundraising events for the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA). This summer, his Bridgehampton event brought together fashion players like Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa, Vogue's Tonne Goodman, Cynthia Rowley, W's Stefano Tonchi, and Rachel Zoe, all hosted by photographer Steven Klein—not a bad turnout. A lover of fine art, Drevnig turned us onto Artware Editions, a relatively new space on Bowery where the two owners collaborate with visual artists to create functional design objects.

Hidden away in a new location smack dab across from the New Museum is Artware Editions. On the second floor of a nondescript building, Artware Editions is half gallery, half artist show house. I used to love the old location, but am now a fan of this bigger incarnation in the heart of the growing Lower East Side art district.

I am drawn to the eye-catching and decorative atmosphere, but for me it's about something more. When I visit, I know I will be there for a while chatting with the co-owner Jon Tomlinson. He is so knowledgeable about seminal 20th century artists and the artist-designed functional pieces that he produces and sources from t-shirts to towels, tables to fragrance. They're always partnering with visual artists interested in exploring design, so you end up walking out coveting Judd furniture or a bottle of Kiki Smith fragrance!

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Artware Editions

270 Bowery New York NY 10012