Vincent McBride, the founder of McBride Contemporain, was visiting his birth city of New York during the winter of 2024 to see an exhibition and noticed a run-down storefront on Henry Street for lease. He returned the next day to see a new storefront being installed and the broker on site. He signed the lease the next day and met Ashley Dillman, a 20 year veteran of the New York City galleries on the same trip. McBride / Dillman was formed over the course of several conversations between the two and opened May of 2025.