Christi Meril’s solo show “The Long Journey Home” opened at ALG Fine Art in Dallas on Saturday, October 3, 2026, to the biggest opening night crowd we have ever welcomed. The show runs until Saturday, November 14, and on Wednesday, October 28 we are hosting a Game Night among the work. Here is everything you need to know.
OPENING NIGHT
Thank You for Coming Home With Us
I have stood in this gallery on a lot of opening nights. None of them felt quite like October 3.
More of you came through our doors that evening than for any solo show opening in ALG’s history. The room was full from the moment we opened, and it stayed full until long after we were meant to close. People stood in front of the work and talked about their grandparents. Somebody told me about a campfire on a family trip forty years ago. Strangers swapped stories about the things they had carried from one home to the next.
That is the best thing a show can do. It gives people a reason to tell each other something true.
So before anything else, thank you. Thank you to everyone who came, and to everyone who brought someone with them. And thank you most of all to Christi Meril, who gave us a show worth gathering for.
ABOUT THE SHOW
What The Long Journey Home Is About
“The Long Journey Home” is a solo art show by Christi Meril, one of the Resident Artists at ALG Fine Art. It brings together paintings on canvas and linen, works on old-growth redwood and hand-cut paper sculpture cast in resin.
For years Christi has been on the move. Santa Fe, the redwoods of Northern California, the Rockies and New York. This show is what she brought home to Dallas. It is less about the places themselves and more about what they left in her.
At its heart is one simple question. What do we carry home from the places we love, and what do we choose to keep? Everyone who walks in seems to answer it for themselves. That is why the opening felt the way it did.
THE PROCESS
Made From the Places She Has Been
Almost nothing in this show came from a store.
Every charcoal mark in the show comes from a single campfire at Ghost Ranch in Santa Fe, the land where Georgia O’Keeffe painted. Christi has a habit of stopping at old campfires and wondering who sat around them before her. She took a little of that charcoal home, and it sat in her studio for months before it ever touched the work.
The redwood is old growth from the California coast. Those trees stood for centuries before they reached her hands, and she talks about joining a conversation that started long before she arrived. The paper sculptures begin as ordinary paper, cut by hand, and cast in resin until they hang like stone.
Christi builds from things that have already lived a life. You can feel that history in every piece.
STILL AVAILABLE
Works You Can Still Take Home
A number of pieces found new homes on opening night, and we are so happy for every collector who fell in love with one. Many works are still available, and these are a few of the pieces people keep coming back to.
“The Things We Keep”
Oil, acrylic and charcoal on paper, linen-mounted acrylic frame · 34.5W × 26H × 2.75D in
The heart of the show. Soft pinks and charcoal drift over paper like a memory you are trying to hold on to. It is the piece that gave the whole show its question, and it is still looking for its home.
View The Things We Keep on our website →
“Beautiful Disruption”
Oil, acrylic and charcoal on linen, custom steel hanging bar · 112W × 68.5H × 3D in
A triptych on raw linen that hangs from a steel bar, so the panels move a little as you walk past. It is the largest painting in the show, and on opening night it was the wall everyone gathered around.
View Beautiful Disruption on our website →
“What We Carry”
Seventeen hand-cut paper sculptures cast in resin, with old-growth redwood · 63W × 95H × 10D in
Christi takes plain paper bags, cuts them by hand, sews them back together and casts them so they hang like stone. Ordinary on the outside, with all the colour held inside. This installation gives its name to a whole body of work in the show.
View What We Carry on our website →
“Quiet Spaces”
Oil on canvas, framed · 72W × 72H × 2.5D in
A six-foot square of vertical colour, with charcoal from the Ghost Ranch campfire worked into the surface. It is calm and generous, and it changes as the light in the room moves through the day.
View Quiet Spaces on our website →
“Immersed”
Oil on canvas, framed · 45W × 59H × 3D in
A forest seen through streaks of blue light. It feels like standing among the redwoods at dusk, which is exactly where so much of this show began.
View Immersed on our website →
“Writes”
Banned books, charcoal and resin on a 1950s footstool · 18W × 19H × 16D in
A turquoise footstool stacked with banned books and topped with a piece of burnt wood. It is a small piece with a lot to say about the stories we choose to keep, and the ones others try to take away.
“Remember”
Mixed media on redwood with neon, made with Trent Atkinson · 70W × 56H × 9D in
A great slab of redwood with a single word glowing at its centre. If the show had one instruction for all of us, it would be this one.
View Remember on our website →
You can see every work in the show in our digital catalogue, and each piece links through to its own page. If you would like to talk about any of them, write to us at art@algfineart.com or book a private viewing and we will walk the show with you.
GAME NIGHT
Why We Are Bringing Your Games Into the Gallery
Every home has one. A Mahjong set handed down from a grandmother. A pack of cards that has been on every road trip. The Rummikub box with the lid taped back together.
We rarely think of them as treasures. They live at the back of a cupboard, and then one cold evening the box comes out and everyone finds their way back to the same table. A game holds the house rules nobody ever wrote down, and the voices of everyone who has ever played.
They are exactly the kind of thing this show is about. So on Wednesday, October 28, halfway through the show, we are bringing those games into the gallery and playing among the work.
Bring the game your family always reaches for. Mahjong, Catan, Rummikub, dominoes or a good old deck of cards. We will have spare games too. Book up to six tickets and we will seat you together, or come on your own and we will pair you up with other players. Play begins at 6:30pm, so come a little earlier to walk the show and say hello to Christi, who will be with us on the night.
Tickets are $14.64 per player, with sips and snacks included. The dress code is fall dress.
COME AND SEE IT
Visit The Long Journey Home
“The Long Journey Home” is on view at ALG Fine Art, 1302 Dragon Street, Dallas, TX 75207, in the Dallas Design District, until Saturday, November 14, 2026. The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, and private viewings can be arranged on request.
If you came on opening night, come back. The work reads differently in the quiet of a weekday afternoon. And if you missed it, there are still a few weeks to stand in front of it yourself.
I would love to see you there.
Anna and the ALG team
View the digital catalogue HERE
AT A GLANCE
The Long Journey Home in Brief
- Artist Christi Meril, resident artist at ALG Fine Art
- Show The Long Journey Home, a solo art show
- Dates October 3 to November 14, 2026
- Where ALG Fine Art, 1302 Dragon Street, Dallas, TX 75207, Dallas Design District
- Gallery hours Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, private viewings on request
- Materials – Charcoal from a single campfire at Ghost Ranch, old-growth redwood, hand-cut paper cast in resin, oil and acrylic on canvas and linen
- Opening night Saturday, October 3, 2026, the largest solo art show opening night attendance in ALG’s history
- Game Night Wednesday, October 28, 2026, 6:30 to 9pm, $12 per player, sips and snacks included
- Enquiries art@algfineart.com
GOOD TO KNOW
Questions We Are Often Asked
What is “The Long Journey Home?”
A solo art show by Christi Meril at ALG Fine Art in the Dallas Design District. It explores memory and home, and the things we carry back with us from the places we love.
When does “The Long Journey Home” close?
The show runs until Saturday, November 14, 2026. ALG Fine Art is open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, and private viewings can be booked on request.
Are works from “The Long Journey Home” still available to buy?
Yes. Some works are still available, including “Beautiful Disruption,” “What We Carry,” “Quiet Spaces,” “Immersed,” “The Things We Keep,” “Writes” and “Remember.” Every piece has its own page on algfineart.com, and enquiries go to art@algfineart.com.
What materials does Christi Meril use?
Charcoal collected from a single campfire at Ghost Ranch in Santa Fe, old-growth redwood from the California coast and hand-cut paper cast in resin, alongside oil and acrylic on canvas and linen.
What is The Long Journey Home Game Night?
A social evening at ALG Fine Art on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, from 6:30 to 9pm. Guests bring their favourite board or card game and play among Christi Meril’s work. Tickets are $14.64 per player with sips and snacks included, and up to six tickets can be booked together.
Can I come to Game Night on my own?
Yes. Solo guests are paired with other players, and the gallery has spare games for anyone who arrives without one.
