Sasha Wolf and Artifact Galleries Sprout on Orchard Street

How about more Lower East Side galleries?

The Orchard Street gallery district just added two new showrooms to its ranks. Both commercial storefronts had only been vacancies for a short period of time, bucking the usual trend around here.

First up is Artifact gallery at 84 Orchard. Until a couple months ago, this space had been “blacked out” from the community; the shades drawn during business hours evoked a sense of mystery. This was center of operations for Jeff Staple and his Staple Design studio, the parent company of the successful Reed Space brand. No longer.

Artifact took over last month, and is actually a new incarnation of the former New Art Center in midtown. Its current exhibition is called “Aftermath,” and features artwork by Emili Ametller, Meg Hitchcock, Dorothy Robinson, Suzanne C. Nagy, Kirck Stoller, Kurt Steger, and Patricia Smith.

On the same block, just a few doors closer to Grand Street, Chelsea refugee Sasha Wolf just opened her eponymous gallery. The crosstown transplant had been in the market for a new home since closing last spring, and 70 Orchard apparently fit the bill. Wolf showcases “contemporary photography by emerging and mid-career artists.”

70 Orchard last housed James Coviello which shuttered a few months ago after three years in business.