Gallery East

Gallery East is an art and performance network based in Boston, Massachusetts notable for being one of the first venues to host hardcore punk rock shows for an all-ages audience. Founded in 1979 by Duane Lucia and Al Ford, it closed its location at 24 East St. in 1983, but re-emerged in 2006 as a driving force that continues to support up and coming artists and performers.

Gallery East opened in December 1979 and quickly gained prominence as the home for Boston’s avant-garde and alternative culture. Founded by artist Al Ford and DIY pioneer Duane Lucia, Gallery East occupied a 5000-square-foot storefront at 24 East Street in Boston's Leather District near South Station.

Early shows featured up and coming visual artists such as David Barbero, Al Ford, Armand Saiia, Susan Shup and Pablo Hurtado, with some intermittent music performances by Gary Koepke, Samm Bennett, Paul Shapiro, and others. In the fall of 1980 the gallery expanded its performance programming to include poetry, dance, independent film, performance art, and photography. New young artists included Walter Tamasino, Mark Morrisroe, Steve Stain, Kevin Porter, Pia MacKenzie, Susan Hellewell and Robert Dombrowski.

By late 1980 it was the broad variety of live music that set the gallery apart from other art and performance venues in New England. In November, Wild Stares, Dangerous Birds, and The Neats staged shows at the gallery called Propeller Parties, an endeavor which later led to the founding of Propeller Records. Other bands who played these shows included Mission of Burma, Bound and Gagged, V, and The Stains.Art music, jazz and world sounds were also represented at the gallery with performances by Warren Senders, Raqib Hassan, Tony Vacca, Scott Robinson, Julian Thayer and others. Gallery East began to draw critical acclaim from local media, including the Boston Globe, who called it a "home for the avant-garde."

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