The word is that, with the art industry so flush, nonprofit alternative spaces are thriving.

The exhibition was organized by Doug Ferrari, an artist who founded the institute and mortgaged his home two years ago to open the nonprofit space.

And the modestly scaled Dorsky Gallery, a nonprofit space devoted to independently organized shows, recently set up shop.

The results, seen on computer terminals in a nonprofit space devoted to media, add up to a strong New York solo debut (Cotter).

Under the direction of Robert Lee, this nonprofit space has given many Asian-American artists, young and old, exposure impossible to find elsewhere.

For several years, this nonprofit space in Harlem has been after the artist to do an exhibition, of new work or old.

Private collectors, too, occasionally organize exhibitions in nonprofit spaces and include their own artwork, interspersed among museum-collected pieces.

A growing number of artists see this type of gallery as a viable substitute for commercial and nonprofit spaces.

The lack of representation in the inner circle of successful commercial and nonprofit spaces does not necessarily mean the work is mediocre.

The change of status is significant for Long Island, where there are few privately operated nonprofit contemporary-art spaces.