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New York Artists Equity Association "Artists Equity" is an organization with the mission to promote opportunities for artists. For its artist-members, Artists Equity provides a community, various opportunities for professional development as well as a gallery space for members to exhibit work. In 1947, Artists Equity was founded in New York City by a group of artists and patrons with a goal of helping artists, and especially promoting opportunities for them. Artists Equity is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and the organization operates Equity Gallery, a gallery space located on the Lower East Side of New York City.

Equity Gallery
Equity Gallery opened at 245 Broome Street in October 2015. Equity Gallery functions as a traditionally gallery for artists to exhibit and sell their work; while it also serves as a space for professional workshops and innovative programming, as well as a gathering place for artists, curators and patrons. Equity Gallery was endowed by a gift from the painters Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight, both former members. Mr. Lawrence, who died in 2000, was also a past president of Artists Equity.

History
In March 1947, Artists Equity's was founded with the mission to promote opportunities for artists, and to help address business and economic-related related issues. The organization was initially called Artists Equity Association (AEA), and instrumental to its founding were more than 160 American artists of the 1940. Artists included Will Barnet, Thomas Hart Benton, George Biddle, Paul Cadmus, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Leon Kroll, Jacob Lawrence, John Marin, Louise Nevelson, John Sloan and the first President Yasuo Kuniyoshi, whom banded together to form this organization and to help enhance, and protect artists' economic well-being. AEA assisted artists, but also those related to art business--art dealers, galleries, museum curators and administrators, publishers and collectors.

In 1947, its founding year, membership was at 300 members, and by 1952 the organization grew to 1,800, with chapters also being opened in many other states. In 1965, the New York chapter of AEA, which had always had a significant majority of members, was the voice of AEA and was the driving force for the organization’s decisions, officially split with the national administration. In 1991, the organization, officially known as New York Artists Equity Association, Inc. (and referred to by its members simply as “Artists Equity”), became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Later that year, Artists Equity received a grant from the Robert Lehman Foundation enabling it to open the Broome Street Gallery at 498 Broome Street in New York City.

Although the Broome Street Gallery closed in 2011, Artists Equity has pursued its mission to promote opportunities for artists and to advocate for artists. It has continued to monitor legislative issues, disseminate information on legal rights and educate members on healthcare and immigration.