A pair of New York dealers, Rachel Carle Cohen of Shelter Gallery and David Fierman of Fierman, are launching Open Studio, a downtown gallery on Henry Street in the Lower East Side devoted entirely to artists with disabilities. The gallery will feature work from progressive art studios—supportive environments that began with Creative Growth in 1974—and opens July 10 with a solo show of John Tursi, an artist from the Living Museum at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center. A complementary group show, “Introducing Open Studio: New Art by Artists with Disabilities,” will run at Fierman’s gallery around the corner, featuring artists including Montrel Beverly, Chantel Donwell, Taneya Lovelace, and William Scott.
This initiative matters because it addresses longstanding accessibility issues in the art world while spotlighting a vulnerable ecosystem: many disability art studios rely on Medicaid funding, which faces cuts under the recently signed “Big Beautiful Bill.” By creating a dedicated commercial platform for these artists, Open Studio aims to blur the line between outsider and mainstream art, offering collectors accessible price points and a chance to support marginalized creators. The gallery’s founders see it as a timely intervention, bringing urgency and social purpose to a market often driven by self-conscious commercialism.