As we come to the end of our landmark show the ALG Visiting Artists Show “Own Your Story; Write Your Own Ending,” there is so much to celebrate and take forward to continue our mission of serving our creative community. We’d like to highlight some special moments, achievements, and of course people, the amazing people behind this triumph of a community-driven art initiative.
Curating the Collection
The Visiting Artists Show was designed to reflect the diverse and unique talent we have here in Dallas and the surrounding areas. The theme “Own Your Story; Write Your Own Ending” was inspired by the Brené Brown quote, “When we deny our stories, they define us. When we own our stories, we get to write the ending.” It gave the artists permission to be their most raw, honest and authentic selves, sharing artwork that provokes real feelings, realizations and action.
Our Gallery Director Anna Curnes took great care in curating this collection. With 52 applications of wonderful pieces of art to choose from, she blind-selected the final 23 Visiting Artists that would feature in the show alongside our 2 Resident Artists. As a result, we platformed a range of different artistic voices, some established and already pillars of the Dallas creative community and others emerging artists stepping into the spotlight for the first time.
Anna ensured each artist could shine, advising many on the price point that would reflect the value of their work and support them in their endeavor to make a living from their creative practice. It’s not only their art careers that are diverse. Their backgrounds, journey into the art world, and inspiration vary widely, taking the viewers’ minds in many different directions before the overarching narrative concludes and invites them to run with the baton of ownership.
The Reception
Before the first visitors entered the gallery, the Visiting Artists Show turned heads. Over 300 people joined us for the Opening Night Reception and celebrated with the Exhibiting Artists. The word soon spread as many more came to ALG Fine Art to see the show, captivated by the visual journey and empowered by the emotional narrative.
The response was so positive that we extended the show by an extra 2 weeks, letting the artwork dazzle audiences for a total of 5 weeks. Each visitor walked away with new ideas and inspiration to find their voice and use it to drive themselves forward. The Visiting Artists Show even caught the attention of Papercity who named the show as one of the best art events of the Fall in Dallas. This achievement gave an even wider platform to the Exhibiting Artists.
We can proudly share we have sold a record amount of art during this show. It has been such a joy to connect so many artists with local art lovers and future collectors. This was partly enabled by the online gallery we made of the show to reach even more people and make it convenient to purchase local artwork online.
Ultimately, the show really touched people. It told stories we can all relate to in some way. It brought us together as a community, appreciating, learning from, and supporting creative practices. It planted seeds that will bloom in the coming weeks, months, years and decades. Our very first Visiting Artists Show has been a resolute success and we cannot be more grateful to our Gallery Director Anna Curnes, the ALG team, everyone who visited, shared and purchased from the show, and of course, our amazingly talented Exhibiting Artists:
- Ray Beldner
- Brittany Bouyer
- Melanie M Brannan
- Hannah Brown
- Jackie Claudet Mitterer
- Anna Curnes
- Alec DeJesus
- Eric Esparza
- Tom Gilchrist
- Brenda Gribbin
- Jenny Grumbles
- Weeda Hamdan
- Margaret Harris
- Marilyn Henrion
- Odilia Iaccarino
- Barbara J Mason
- Kaitlin Merchant
- Christi Meril
- Suzy Moritz
- Patricia Saada Baumann
- Anastacia Sadeh
- Purvi Shah
- Julia Stanger
- Volta Voloshin-Smith
- Grace Woodall