I can't believe Manresa Gallery has already been around for eight years. I kept telling myself over and over again to review it, but in order to review it, I needed to visit it, and every time I went to visit it, it was either closed or I meant to after Mass, but then Mass ended and I was halfway home on the 5-Fulton before I remembered.
If you're expecting a large art gallery, you'll be very disappointed. I don't remember whether they were side altars or old confessionals, but whatever they were, St. Ignatius took them out and replaced them with interconnected rooms for displaying art, artifacts, and religious items. They change the exhibitions quite regularly, and although they only run one show at a time, they can be all over the place thematically, which I love and expect from a Jesuit institution.
The gallery is inside the church, near the southeast corner (to your right as you enter the church from Fulton Street). Just remember that you're in an active worship space, so keep your voice down and try to watch your language. It's a very large church, so even if you think it's empty, it never really is. Someone is praying somewhere, probably near where you're standing, so don't be a rude person. read more