The Dallas Art Fair is bigger and better than ever as it returns to the city for its 15th year. The fair, which kicks off Thursday with a Foundation Preview Benefit, features contemporary artwork from 90 different galleries.
The process for determining which galleries will show artwork at the fair is selective and competitive, and participation is by invitation only. This year’s gallery participants come from around the world, including Italy, Mexico, London, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. Nine galleries from Dallas are also participating.
Most of the galleries attending have been previously invited to the fair; however, there will be some new ones.
The fair offers the artists exposure, whether to Dallas’ long-time collectors or new buyers, and to the city’s many art museums, such as the Dallas Museum of Art, the Meadows Museum, Dallas Contemporary, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Crow Museum of Asian Art.
The Dallas Art Fair will be held at the Fashion Industry Gallery building in the Arts District, just as it has since the fair’s inception. The venue was only partially filled in the event’s early years, hosting about 35 galleries. However, the event has grown so much over the past decade that the venue is now “busting at the seams.”
“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,” Fair Director Kelly Cornell told Barron’s.
The opening night of the fair is a preview event that serves as a fundraiser to benefit local art museums. Ticketholders to the Thursday night event will have early access to view the artwork and can enjoy drinks from Champagne Lallier and Campari RARE.
Proceeds from preview night tickets will go toward the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and Dallas Contemporary.
In addition, the DMA is the beneficiary of an acquisition fund created by the Dallas Art Fair Foundation. The foundation collects funds from donors and adds a matching gift from the foundation, which the DMA can use to purchase new artwork for its permanent collection.
DMA staff gets the first pick of the art displayed at the Dallas Art Fair.
The fair is open for general admission from April 21-23. Its hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets for one-day access are $25; seniors and students pay $20. Three-day access passes cost $55.
Tickets for the 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. preview event on April 20 are $250.