A Collectible Design Gallery Embarks Upon Its Next Chapter as AM Collective

Set to open on April 24, the by-appointment Villa AM occupies several floors and the back garden of a West Village townhouse on Bethune Street. This 2,600-square-foot space marks a transition for owner Amanda Pratt from her previous gallery, Salon Design (and its Tribeca storefront) into AM Collective, a platform that spotlights collectible design in context, including a site-specific collaboration between Italian wallcovering studio Pictalab and New York-based painter Amy Lincoln.

Pratt, an interior designer and art advisor, centers pieces crafted through heritage techniques, often with a contemporary edge. Within Villa AM, she will curate seasonal salon-style presentations, programming, and the release of exclusive collections. She’ll couple these with outdoor sculpture installations starting this May.

For the inaugural AM Collective exhibition in Villa AM, Pratt hosts the U.S. debut of Tapistlar, Giovina Carabba Tettamanti’s textile partnership with Colombian weavers. She also highlights a special collection of meticulously produced Chandigarh chairs from Phantom Hands, as well as recent works by Morii Design, Studio Kaytar, Eugenie Kawabata, Simon Leah, Studio Sana Benzaitar, Naomi Paul, and Ian Love. In addition to Pictalab’s Amy Lincoln collaboration, which depicts a series of dreamlike seascapes and landscapes, the Milan-based studio is also premiering in the U.S. their collection inspired by the Bulgari Hotel, known as Fabula.

Pratt envisions more than exhibitions for Villa AM. “It will be experiential. I want this to be about programming, and continuing to bring people into a space that feels like a home,” she tells Surface. The interior designer attributes Milan Design Week, where brands often pop-up in private residences, as inspiration for this model. She also notes that the shift from storefront to residential platform will free her up “to be more creatively focused, and it permits me time to develop programming that enhances our mission.”

This programming, in turn, allows her to connect with the people making Villa AM appointments—a different type of engagement than fielding a person passing through a store. “When I moved from Boston to New York City, I really felt like I needed a ground-floor space to legitimize the gallery and what I was doing,” she explains. “But my job is to build great relationships with top designers because they put the work of the people I represent in incredible projects. My goal is to get the work out there and do it in a way where people are educated as to why I think it is important or why I believe it will have longevity. I want the people that I am working with to be recognized in this way.”

Pratt complements Villa AM’s contemporary design pieces with a diverse art program. “I am working with a private art dealer named Nick Weinberg, founder of New Art Services,” she says. “He has brought in museum-quality pieces, alongside the emerging and mid-career artists that I work with.” This ranges from Willem de Kooning and George Condo works to pieces by Richard Prince, Andy Warhol, Mickalene Thomas, Victoria Gitman, Vivian Springford, Jesse Murry, Sara Anstis, Catherine Murphy, and more. Pratt’s contributions include works by Meagan Streader and Laura Winn Clark.

As for the name change empowering it all, Pratt says the AM is a nod to “Amanda” and demonstrates a desire to take further ownership of the work she does, while collective is about the community she’s building. She’s quick to note that, “not many women are doing this.” More than an observation, it was a call to action: 80 percent of AM Collective’’s collaborators and designers are women.