About Us

In 1996, a group of artists took over two abandoned lofts in Long Island City, near the Queensboro Bridge, converting the industrial spaces into the communal studio and living spaces: L’Atelier and Moo Art.  Within a few months, the vital community had attracted artists from Italy, France, Germany, Israel, Korea and Venezuela, as well as from within the United States.  An annual event called Across the Bridge provided an opportunity to exhibit artwork, open the studios to the public, and strengthen a network of communication that already extended well beyond the walls of each space. 

In 2000, zoning laws forced the artists out.  Although the artists dispersed to different locations within the metropolitan area, a core group of nine maintained the sense of community and artistic dialogue. Uli Brahmst, Pedro Cruz-Castro, Serena Depero, Stevenson Estime, Kay Gordon, Nancy Saleme, and Marc Sylvester took the name Across the Bridge as their own, transforming it from its literal meaning into a metaphorical bridge across time, space and cultures, and exhibiting in the United States, South America and Europe.