A ‘Bustling Consumerism for Art’
“It’s not like Berlin, a sexy bohemian place to make art,” says one dealer who requested anonymity. “Compared with communities that are respected for having a volume of great artists—Berlin, London, New York—that’s hard to compete with. Support the artists, and make it not only sexy but a great place for them to feel supported and loved. I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Sniffs another: “Dallas is getting a lot of attention from the international art world at the moment because there are a lot of people buying art here. But they’re not necessarily buying art from local galleries. My peer group in New York and London say, ‘There must be a bustling art scene in Dallas.’ No, there is a bustling consumerism for art. It would be great if this were the next Berlin, but people aren’t coming here to be part of this creative scene. They’re coming to see super-wealthy people with art collections and great museums, but not to engage with a cool cultural dialogue that’s being created.”
Nasher board member Wilson, who has purchased works at the Dallas Art Fair, says she’s often asked if she buys locally. Her response: “When you are a collector—and collecting is something we work with on a daily basis—it doesn’t matter where it is. Most of these artists have four galleries that represent them, and when you are collecting someone you are usually in touch with all of them, whether they are in Dallas or Tokyo.”
Mega collector-philanthropist Deedie Rose has a similar view. “I buy absolutely anywhere,” Rose says. “I buy things that are interesting to my mind and that engage my eye and are emotionally resonating. It’s all about the work of art and, frankly, it’s not about the artist either. It’s about the work of art. I happen to have collected a lot of artists who live in the South American area, but I don’t collect them just because they are from South America, just like I don’t buy [Texas] artists because I live in Texas.”
“TWO x TWO has served as an amazing educational service and given a broader range of people the impetus to go to art fairs. … There’s a ripple effect.”
The Arts District is the city’s crown jewel, but residents and visitors alike have criticized its dearth of artists and street life. “You have a very pretty opera house and a very pretty symphony hall, but, basically, this is just a structure,” said Chinese artist Huang Rui, founder of the thriving 798 Art Zone in Beijing, participating last year on a panel at the New Cities Summit.
Flora Lofts on Flora Street aims to change this by offering housing to artists at below-market rates, and the city has ponied up $2 million in TIF monies to support the development. But the “usual developer speed bumps” have pushed the groundbreaking, originally set for last May, to the third quarter of 2015, according to Catherine Cuellar, executive director of the Dallas Arts District.
Other institutions also are nurturing artists, including the University of Texas at Dallas’ CentralTrak residency program and the hive of studios in the historic Continental Gin Building—both in Deep Ellum—plus the artist-in-residence program at South Side on Lamar in the Cedars.
In the Design Destrict, the Goss-Michael Foundation launched a local artist series last summer that has highlighted Nathan Green and Michelle Rawlings, the daughter of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. “Our FEATURE program is directed toward engaging significant Dallas-based artists within the international programming of the Goss-Michael Foundation by exposing them to visiting gallerists, curators, and other art professionals,” says Joyce Goss, who supervises the Goss-Michael gallery with her brother-in-law, co-founder Kenny Goss. “We plan to have three FEATURE artists a year.”
Goss-Michael also operates a two-year-old artist-in-residence program for mid-career artists of any nationality, and has hosted two Brits thus far. Visiting last fall, Neill Raitt made the connection via the Dallas Art Fair.
Museum Quality
Anderson, who joined the DMA in 2012, re-opened the museum’s doors to the public for free in January 2013. Nearly 670,000 people visited the DMA in the year ended in September 2014, up from 498,000 in 2012, while throngs at Late Night—monthly openings until midnight—rose 45 percent over the last two years to 5,000 on average, and one evening hit 10,000, according to a spokeswoman.
The DMA devotes more of its exhibition calendar to modern and contemporary art than most major museums nationwide, Anderson says. “I hope that has a salutary affect on artists and collectors,” he says. Although the institution has been criticized for failing to show area artists, Anderson argues that encyclopedic museums in general are “pretty slow” to that party, adding DMA curators are “ZIP-code agnostic.”
Credit the Nasher’s popular lecture program, music series, and packed garden happenings to Jeremy Strick, who has been the director there since 2009. He has also showcased prominent local artists Swenson and Bates and made a point of collaborating with area museums, including the DMA, the Kimbell Art Museum, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Across the street from the Nasher, meantime, the free Crow Collection of Asian Art installed a sculpture garden in 2013 and is renovating its entrance to make it more prominent and inviting. In addition to the usual lectures, concerts, and family activities on most museum calendars, the private Crow Collection presents an extensive wellness series of free classes on everything from tai chi and cooking to meditation.
Nancy A. Nasher began expanding NorthPark’s longtime public art program last year, layering in works from her own collection, rotating others, and arranging for intriguing temporary installations by Ivan Navarro and Jim Campbell. In November, she added an arts manager to her staff charged with creating student programming, plus in-depth signage and collection materials. An art-tour app is under development.
Her parents, Patsy and Ray Nasher, boldly chose to display artworks at the mall despite warnings that it would be desecrated. (It wasn’t, though a rambunctious toddler accidentally wrecked a Joel Shapiro sculpture of colorful wooden blocks a few days after its installation in 2006. The artist rebuilt it, and it’s now elevated and buffered by cacti.)
The family of Gene Jones—she’s the wife of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones—encountered the same resistance when they sought to place monumental art in the new Cowboys stadium. And worse. “They were a little skeptical that an artist would want to put their art in a big public space where it might not be appreciated,” recalls Gene, who led the effort. As for the artists themselves, she adds, “It took a little convincing that the art would not be abused.”
The family invited Olafur Eliasson, who was in town for his 2008 exhibition at the DMA, to visit the unfinished arena. Impressed, he accepted the first commission. Curated by a panel of experts in contemporary art, the mostly sports-allusive collection of 16 commissions and 42 acquisitions has been wildly successful. More than 3 million people have toured the sports facility, including 12,000 from museums and special interest groups.
Sculptor Anish Kapoor, whose $10 million “Sky Mirror” is an attraction at the Arlington stadium, told the family they were “extremely courageous” to place art at a sports arena, Gene Jones recalls, adding: “I said, ‘Yes, we were nervous for a couple of years, because you didn’t want the art world to say, ‘What are they thinking?’ ” Also in the private sphere, Howard Rachofsky and Vernon Faulconer established The Warehouse in North Dallas two years ago to house and display their modern and contemporary art by appointment.
High-Profile Events
TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art—a charity auction benefiting the DMA and amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research—unexpectedly became integral to the creation of a collecting community. The soiree has lured a chic flock of buyers, celebrities, and artists to an auction of contemporary art at the architecturally glorious Rachofsky House every year since 1999, grossing a total of $52 million so far.
“In terms of overall volume, it’s still a relatively modest sum,” says Rachofsky, a former hedge fund manager. “I do think TWO x TWO has served as an amazing educational service and given a broader range of people the impetus to go to art fairs in New York and London. There’s a ripple effect.”
Thanks to Rachofsky’s stellar connections, the art has steadily grown more impressive and valuable. Among the hot artists who have donated and attended the annual event are Robert Rauschenberg, Julian Schnabel, and Joel Shapiro. Merely offering a piece in the sale has become a badge of honor for an up-and-coming artist.
“We do a preview in New York and Dallas so thousands of people see it,” Rachofsky says. “It gives the dealers around the world a bit of an outpost, and they have responded with better and better quality work. That develops relationships.”
At TWO x TWO in October 2014, eight people bid up a Wade Guyton inkjet-on-linen painting to a whopping $2.6 million—six times its estimate. Several in the tent sought the work, but the winner nabbed it by phone from another city.
Five years ago Goss-Michael introduced another high-profile charity auction of contemporary art. MTV: ReDefine, which funds AIDS prevention programs and the Dallas Contemporary, has also garnered multimillion dollar pots and an impressive roster of donors, including Schnabel, Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, and Richard Phillips. The art community is abuzz about the scheduled appearance at this year’s shindig by Michael Craig-Martin, a British artist and educator credited with igniting the YBA fire.
Increasingly, it’s clear, art of all stripes is moving people not only within North Texas, but also to the area. After all, executives say, art was one of the factors figuring in Toyota North America’s recent decision to move its headquarters to Plano. Says Toyota spokesman Javier Moreno: “It makes such a big difference when a city has so much to offer.”
