The biannual event, which is organized by the (FWADA), is where several galleries, museums and retail spaces across Tarrant County invite the public to visit their spaces and take in art in a more laid back atmosphere; some places offer refreshments and live music. The event is on Saturday, March 26.
Between permanent galleries, pop-ups and restaurants there are more than 30 spots outlined in this year鈥檚 .
One of the new additions is , a recently-opened community art space in the Near Southside.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never had our own true community art space,鈥� Megan Henderson, director of events and communications at , said. 鈥淲e wanted a community art space that felt like artists could really take their time. They could envision the space and have some of the tools that they needed to be supported. So we built a during the pandemic when all of the festivals were canceled.鈥�
The gallery is on the street-level of the Everly Plaza on Eighth Avenue. Right now the space is hosting works from glass artists.
Two miles north, will also be opening their doors for Gallery Night.
Cufflink, which is co-owned by Doug Gault and Joey Luong, opened during the early days of the pandemic. They participated in other gallery nights, but those events were modified to stagger entries to minimize the potential spread of COVID-19.
This time around, they鈥檙e eager for the opportunity to welcome more people into the space at one time.
鈥淲e cater to people who are just now getting into the knack of collecting to people that are seasoned collectors, so we try to remove that layer of intimidation,鈥� Gault said.
With the furniture in the space, the lighting and gray-blue walls, they鈥檙e hoping people will envision the art as if it鈥檚 in their own homes, rather than a traditional sparse set up.
Over in Camp Bowie, the cooperative art gallery , has been participating in gallery nights since the late nineties.
Jennifer Stufflebeam from the co-op said gallery night has been an important way for them to build relationships with new customers without the pressure to buy.
鈥淲e鈥檝e gained a lot of permanent clients from gallery nights. It鈥檚 just kind of unnerving to walk into a gallery,鈥� Stufflebeam said.
Shasta Haubrich, the executive director of , also understands that it can be intimidating to walk into a gallery alone, so she got the idea to organize a bus to charter people around to different galleries throughout the night.
鈥淚 would go by myself and I would wonder, 鈥榃here鈥檚 everyone else going to go?鈥� You kind of want to hang out with people and look at art together, so you can talk about what you saw,鈥� Haubrich explained.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to feel like, 鈥業f I鈥檓 the only person in this gallery, is that weird?鈥� And then you have 50 other people with you, it鈥檚 not weird. It can鈥檛 ever be weird.鈥�
The Art Tooth bus at seven different areas and its passengers will be able to see about a dozen galleries throughout the night.
For others who want to chart their own course, Shea Patterson Young, campus curator for the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth and the executive director of FWADA, recommends people look at the early.
Patterson Young said that FWADA wants to make the event as accessible as possible.
Throughout the pandemic some galleries offered virtual tours, while others posted stills of their current works online. They also temporarily shifted gallery night into to make social distancing easier.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want it to be an activity that people feel like doesn鈥檛 include them. It鈥檚 for artists. It鈥檚 for art teachers. It鈥檚 for students. It鈥檚 for collectors. It鈥檚 really for anyone who has an interest in that realm,鈥� Patterson Young said.
She said it鈥檚 unique for a city to have collaboration between nonprofits, for-profits, museums, universities and private galleries. But she says that speaks to the strength of the community at large.
鈥淚 feel like it鈥檚 truly a collaboration and not a competition,鈥� Patterson Young said. 鈥淚n many cases, Fort Worth is a community that feels like a high tide raises all ships.鈥�
