Recently, Jeff Bailey announced his gallery’s plans to leave Chelsea by early August in order to focus on the Hudson, New York outpost he’d opened earlier in 2014. (Bailey plans to still keep an office in Manhattan.) He’s got good company upstate, from Retrospective (helmed by Zach Feuer and Joel Mesler) to John Davis Gallery, Jack Shainman’s School (technically in Kinderhook, but close enough) and that ego-temple known as the Marina Abramović Institute. Hudson—easily accessible by train, and a bit over a 2-hour drive by car—continues to be the art-world émigré town of choice. (It doesn’t seem to have affected property values as of yet—a cursory check of real estate listings turns up plenty of multi-bedroom houses that are considerably cheaper than a closet in Brighton Beach would be.)

Bailey has had roots in the area for around two decades: A former weekend home in Durham, some fifteen miles away, and now a property in Old Chatham, about twenty miles from Hudson, that he shares with his husband, John. Since the debut of his Hudson space in May, he’s found a number of New Yorkers passing through — for The School, he said, as well as those who are en route to popular Amy Sillman and Anne Collier shows on view at Bard.

There are easier commutes to the city to be found, but Bailey cites several factors in Hudson’s favor: the architecture; the density of galleries along Warren Street; a growing culinary scene; and ongoing events at Basilica Hudson, a revamped 19th-century factory hosting film screenings and concerts. (The weekend of September 12 sees the return of Basilica Soundscape, a curated festival featuring bands like Deafheaven and Tim Hecker, and artistic contributions from Sterling Ruby.) For visitors, proximity to Frederich Church’s Olana property. “There, you can see vistas that the Hudson River School painters saw,” Bailey said. “The majesty of that is hard to beat.”

Bailey’s Hudson space at 127 Warren Street currently has a two-person show with Jackie Gendel and Julia Kunin, open through August 10. (Sculptures by Allen Glatter are on view in the gallery’s back garden, pictured above). On August 16 he opens a group show with work by Irena Jurek, Austin Lee, Lisa Sanditz, Holly Coulis, and others.