The shifting landscape of the post-pandemic U.S. art market is leading some cities like Dallas to rival New York City, the long-time undisputed art capital of the nation.
Early migration during the pandemic saw wealthier individuals fleeing major cities for their vacation homes, according to the Financial Times. As such, major art galleries rushed to establish pop-ups in Aspen, Palm Beach, and the Hamptons.
Yet the major change in the art market occurred in the wake of tech and finance companies relocating to cities in states with favorable tax laws, such as Texas.
The Lone Star State notably attracted large corporations like Tesla, Chevron, Toyota, Oracle, TopGolf, Hewlett Packard, and Caterpillar.
Moreover, as The Dallas Express reported, Texas saw the nation’s biggest population boost in 2022, with an increase of 470,708 people.
Some of those newcomers were world-renowned art collectors.
Speaking with the Financial Times during the Dallas Art Fair in April, director Kelly Cornell said, “[We’re] seeing high-level collectors moving in from both coasts.”
As The Dallas Express reported, the 15th year of the Dallas Art Fair was its largest yet, with 90 galleries participating. They hailed from across the country and around the world. For instance, Los Angeles-based gallery Various Small Fires had a display.
“We’re at a point, since we’re maxed out on size, that we’re really working every year to refine the quality of dealers and make sure that we’re bringing what Dallas is asking for,” Cornell told Barron’s.
In fact, due to the arts district venue busting at the seams, an inaugural satellite fair — the Dallas Invitational — was also held thanks to the efforts of James Cope, owner of And Now.
While Dallas’ clout in the art world has clearly grown, it has long been recognized as the Lone Star State’s art market hub, according to The Art Newspaper.
This has been made possible not only through the presence of institutions like the Dallas Museum of Art and the Kimbell Art Museum but also through the strong legacy of local dealers.
“Their great-grandparents and grandparents were collecting art here in the 1920s and 30s with banking money and oil money and donating art. Their kids have grown up with it,” described Jason Willaford, who is the co-founder of Galleri Urbane, according to The Art Newspaper.
Dallas’ strong economy has played no small part in the city’s vibrant art scene.
“Even when the economy is not so great elsewhere, it’s always thriving in Texas because of all the different industries that come together here. It’s really conducive to a very successful art market and we’re really seeing that,” Nell Potasznik Langford, who co-runs Cluley Projects, told The Art Newspaper.
