Artists by the River by Carl Glassman It has neither the renown of Soho nor the cachet of Tribeca, but the South Street Seaport has long drawn artists to its own cobblestone streets and raw, 19th century lofts. Though the creative community may be smaller than other artist enclaves—mostly limited to a few blocks of Front Street, Water Street and Peck Slip—its pedigree likely goes back further, with the likes of Agnes Martin, Barnett Newman, Robert Indiana, Ellsworth Kelly and Robert Rauchenberg having called the area home or a place to work. Today, it remains the center of an impressively diverse array of artists, from conductor Gary Fagin to sculptor Mark DeSuvero to painter Polly Apfelbaum and war photographer James Nachtwey. There could be no better testament to that creative spirit than “By the Gladness of the River,” an exhibition of superb portraits organized by Harold Reed and mounted on the fourth floor of the South Street Seaport Museum’s new Schermerhorn Row galleries. “It’s fascinating that in such a condensed area as the Seaport, there is so much creativity represented,” said Reed, a former art dealer and theater producer. “When you enter the gallery and see all those portraits you feel that energy,” It took a year for Reed to collect the 60 photos on display. For the portraits of past Seaport artists, it was a matter of research. For the contemporary pictures, he paired Seaport photographers with their subjects. Art photographer Zeke Berman, for example, photographed his next-door neighbor, Broadway set designer David Gallo. Berman spent a week preparing for the photograph and was happy to do it. “The show is a tribute to the work being done in this community,” he said. While that community was mainly drawn to the Seaport for its big, cheap abandoned spaces, some artists say it is a place of inspiration as well. “ The environment was so powerful that it captured something in my consciousness,” said photographer Barbara Mensch, who moved to Peck Slip from Soho in 1980 and published a book of photographs of the area. “On a sunny day you get much more reflection off the river,” says painter Kit White. “The buildings are low, revealing much more of the sky. You see this magnificent edifice, the Brooklyn Bridge.” White moved to the Seaport in 1974, among the fish mongers and, comfortingly, a small group of artists. “There was always a sense that you could go outdoors and find a little clutch of people engaged in a similarly lonely pursuit.” “By the Gladness of the River” is at the South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton St. through March 4. Open daily, 10 am–5 pm. $8; $6 seniors/students; $4 children 4–12. >