Philadelphia gallerist Megan Galardi is launching a new art fair called Elsewhere, set to debut June 4–6 at the Yowie Hotel on South Street. The fair will feature 27 exhibitors from cities including London, New York, and Philadelphia, with seven local dealers such as Fleisher/Ollman, Blah Blah Gallery, and Fjord. Galardi, who founded Blah Blah Gallery in 2023 and has participated in small New York fairs like Spring/Break and Future Fair, designed Elsewhere as a boutique, hotel-based event that offers a lower-cost, more intimate alternative to large-scale art fairs.
This launch comes at a time when major art fairs are reportedly struggling to fill booths, and smaller, hotel-based fairs like Arrival in Massachusetts and Neighbors in Chicago are gaining traction. Philadelphia, already home to major institutions like the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation, has not hosted a locally organized art fair in recent memory. If successful, Elsewhere could signal the city’s readiness to support a sustainable art fair ecosystem, tapping into a base of young collectors and leveraging the city’s growing reputation as an artist-friendly hub, as highlighted by artist Josh Kline's recent essay.