HTG WILLIAMSBURG Brooklyn NY

THE FIRST HOLLAND TUNNEL GALLERY,
1997 - 2019  NOW CLOSED

’The smallest gallery of New York’ (NYT)

In November 1997 Dutch artist Paulien Lethen used the Home Depot garden shed in her backyard - model Chelsea, 8 x 10 ft./ 2 ½ x 3 m, -for an exhibition in a Williamsburg art tour weekend and Holland Tunnel Gallery was born. From 1997-2007 Lethen presented a monthly show schedule. Every exhibition became a unique installation with interaction between the art and the unusual space. The gallery gained recognition in the international art world and became a neighborhood icon as a microcosm of local and international talent.
Roberta Smith, art critic of The New York Times, reported: "One of the quirkiest spaces in Williamsburg is Holland Tunnel, on South Third Street, a front-runner for first place as the tiniest gallery in the metropolitan area.”
Music and events always added a lively element to Holland Tunnel Gallery. As the gallery only accommodated six people at a time, the parking lot between the adjoining brownstones served as meeting point, bar location and stage - no matter what the weather was! Visitors were found dancing to live jazz, rock and blues often, and the space became a cultural hub of the community.

Learn more about the original Holland Tunnel Gallery through the book, as well as the film Requiem for Williamsburg, about Paulien Lethen & the Holland Tunnel Gallery.