The Society of Arts and Crafts opened its doors Thursday to the burgeoning arts community developing in Fort Point.

There is no possibility of innovation without creativity, and there’s no creativity without artists.

Its new 20,000 square-foot gallery occupies two floors inside 100 Pier 4 Boulevard. After a dry launch last month, the 119-year-old Society of Arts and Crafts opened to the public with a night of champagne, music, art and the blessing of the Mayor Marty Walsh.

The space’s inaugural exhibition, “Radius,” was viewed by over 300 attendees on opening night, according to Katy Myers, the Society’s communications director. The expansive show features items including wood-slat chairs, ceramic vases and hand-sewn textiles made by hyper-local craft artists, each of whom Myers said live or work within one mile of the Society’s new Fort Point home.

Behind the gallery space is a multi-use room that will be used for community events, lecture series and classes that will help artists to showcase their work and allow the community to discover new forms of craft art, Myers said.

“When you make the connection that real human beings used their hands to make what you’re holding,” said Myers. “That’s a really special feeling.”

Founded in 1897, the Society of Arts and Crafts is the nation’s oldest nonprofit crafts organization, according to its website.

But after new owners hiked their rent on Newbury Street, where the Society stood for 40 years, Myers said they had to look for new digs.

The Fort Point location was secured through a competition organized by the Boston Planning and Development Agency, which has pledged to make available 127,000 square feet of Waterfront real estate for civic and cultural institutions.

The BPDA, formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority, is expected to call for proposals on another project later this fall, 13,000 square feet at Fan Pier, a parcel being developed by The Fallon Company.

“Affordable housing is a challenge for everyone, nonprofits included,” said Myers, whose organization now neighbors cultural institutions including the Institute Contemporary Art, Artists for Humanity and the Fort Point Arts Community. “We feel very fortunate to have a space in such a culturally relevant neighborhood.”

Despite the city’s efforts to sculpt a new hub of the arts in Fort Point and the Seaport District through such development projects, artists are still struggling to make rent on studio and exhibition spaces.

“We’re seeing that arts organizations and nonprofits, and even small businesses, they have to be flexible and nimble and resourceful,” said Boston’s Chief of Arts and Culture Julie Burros. “Having a vibrant cultural community cultural sector is a key ingredient in terms of urban success, health and wellbeing. I firmly believe that there is no possibility of innovation without creativity, and there’s no creativity without artists.”