Jason Andrew under the fluorescents in his new gallery, STOREFRONT. — Photos by Sarah Pappalardo

16 Wilson Avenue is not the first place you’d expect to see art. With a large blue awning sporting a “PM TAXES” blaze and a curiously narrow storefront, Jason Andrew’s new gallery is a unique addition to the neighborhood that he promises will be “more than just a gallery.”

“What you see is what you get,” Andrew says, from across the long, fluorescent-lit corridor. While the space is unquestionably small, this offshoot of the not-for-profit arts organization Norte Maar is proof that it’s not the size that counts. At least in art.

Andrew and artist Deborah Brown created STOREFRONT (allcaps, please) to promote up-and-coming and established Bushwick artists, as a separate entity from Norte Maar. The pair each have been in the neighborhood for four years and both serve on Community Board 4. After working out of his Wyckoff Avenue living room for so long, Andrew sought to start something completely different.

Norte Maar’s STOREFRONT at 16 Wilson Avenue.

“My apartment is beautiful and clean and great, but when you’re selling to a collector, you don’t always want to invite them into your living room. The big thing is Norte Maar doesn’t have a real space… to have an ongoing site or program and do unique things gets difficult,” Andrew said. While he and Brown were looking for an empty storefront to use as a temporary gallery to showcase her larger works, they decided to experiment with a longer-term project. “We found this space, and said, ‘let’s see what we can do for a year.’”

STOREFRONT has the fortune of building off of Norte Maar’s success, in a location well within the boundaries of the Bushwick-East Williamsburg gallery scene. This will allow Andrew to hold his events in better proximity to these other galleries than his apartment off the DeKalb L stop. Beyond its use as an art showplace, STOREFRONT will be open during the week for community events, readings, and workshops. They hope to put a bench and a bike rack outside, and “promote art on a more public scale than before.”

While STOREFRONT’s first opening was a hit — hundreds braved sub-20s temperatures to crowd into the space — Andrew is looking forward to getting rid of some of the more “charming” aspects of the space that PM Taxes left behind (read: 80s-reminiscent design flaws). Renovation of the dated space will begin in February, which will make it more conducive to displaying artists’ work. With these major improvements just around the corner, STOREFRONT could play an integral part in bringing more people (and more collectors) this side of Flushing Avenue.

The current exhibition is a hodgepodge of popular Bushwick area artists, as well as an antique catalog box filled with 30 artists’ worth of work. For a small space, STOREFRONT makes the most of it. “Even the landlord supports what we are doing,” Andrew notes.

The current group exhibition is running at STOREFRONT until February 6. STOREFRONT is open Saturdays 1-4pm, Sundays 1-6pm, or by appointment.