Alternative spaces are exhibition spaces or non-profit galleries run by and for artists that thrived in the 1970s in American cities. It is non-traditional venue to exhibit the diverse artistic issues, experimentation, and commodification when every artist could not get an opportunity to exhibit his/her work. It presented works of women artists and artists of non-European descent.
Some alternative spaces have grown into very organized institutions with large staffs and funding from foundations, and government entities such as the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The names most current for alternative space are "artists' organization" and "artist-run organization." Representing them in Washington, DC, is the National Association of Artists' Organizations (NAAO).