art251 is expanding eastwards to the Trinity River basin in Dallas! Our new location is in the gorgeous Trinity River Audubon Center in Dallas. Need directions? Click here.

art251 Trinity River will be operated by our good friend and partner, T Hanson. The doors open tomorrow, on April 30. The store hours are Wed-Sun, 11am-3pm. Watch for some grand opening events in May!

art251 Trinity River, Audubon Center, Dallas. Image courtesy of Jeremy Woodhouse.

art251 Trinity River in the Audubon Center will offer a range of age-appropriate gifts, fine art and souvenirs for kids and adults. We will emphasize local, green products in concert with Audubon?s educational strategy, and at an affordable price point. art251 Trinity River will feature roughly 25% fine art and 75% unique gifts. A number of art251’s artists will have their works featured at this new location, including Brian Davis, Sean Fitzgerald, Ashley Akers, Marnie Vollenhals, Katy Fenley and Faith Scott Jessup, and others to come. We’re excited by the opportunity to expose our talented local artists to a broader audience in the Big D.

The mission of the Audubon Center is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity. Audubon’s national network of community-based nature centers, scientific, educational and advocacy programs engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in positive conservation experiences.

Time to vote!

Throughout 2009 we’re hosting a number of free events including half-a-dozen opening receptions. At a reception you get to see fresh new art before anyone else, meet the artist(s), mingle with fellow art lovers, and relax with a fine drink and appetizers.

The opening reception is the first day of a month long show featuring each artist and his or her new work. Typically we unveil 8-12 new works by each artist.

We’d really like you to come. So, please tell us which day of the week you’d prefer. Fill out the survey below to let us know – it will take you only a couple of seconds (2.51 to be precise). We really appreciate it, and hope to see you at the next show!

Which day of the week do you prefer for our Opening Receptions?

• Wednesday, 6-9pm
• Thursday, 6-9pm
• Friday, 6-9pm
• Saturday, 6-9pm
• Not my thing

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Mr. Clark Whittington, artistic impresario, grand poo-bah, chief-innovation-officer, head (TPB) supervisor of Artists-in-Cellophane, and the all-round creative spark behind the Art-o-mat will be “deconstructing” his invention at the Dallas Society of Visual Communication (DSVC) on May 6.

Clark will be discussing Art-o-mat to an audience of (ex-)fellow graphic designers at the CityPlace Convention Center in downtown Dallas. The event starts at 6pm.

In case you don’t know what an Art-o-mat is read on. Art-o-mat is a machine. It’s actually a retired and lovingly restored cigarette machine that’s been converted to vend art. In 1997, Clark Whittington used a recently-banned cigarette machine to create the first Art-o-mat. He used the machine to showcase his own black & white photographs which he sold for $1 each. The concept proved so popular with the host of the first machine and other artists that the project soon took on a life of its own. Art-o-mat, the organization, has now grown to around 90 Art-o-mat machines featuring over 400 contributing artists from 10 different countries. If you’re still not satified, check out Clark’s recent video interview with FLYP digital magazine, right here.

And, best of all we have a beautiful blue Art-o-mat machine right here at art251, in Keller. Remember, it only costs $5 to purchase an original work of art from the Art-o-mat. So, as Clark would say, “Don?t go ?round artless!”

The Dallas Art Dealers Association, otherwise known as DADA, is hosting its annual Spring Gallery Walk on April 18, 2009 from 2-8pm. The event covers 30 of Dallas’ most innovative contemporary art galleries, including: Craighead Green, Artizen, Cameron, HCG, Afterimage, The MAC, and Bath House Cultural Center.

Download the complete 2009 DADA Gallery Guide, here.

Now, remember we’re talking about Dallas, so many of galleries are geographically dispersed – except the ones on Dragon Street. Therefore, you’ll need a car or bicycle or jetpack for your gallery “walk”.

art251 isn’t a member of DADA yet. We’re still working on it. So, if you live west of Dallas, or don’t care much for acronyms, come and really walk around Keller Town Center and visit your very local art space. You’ll be surprised to discover “big city” art on show right under your nose, in the suburbs.

18th-century Church of Santa Maria del Suffragio. Image courtesy of The New York Times.

The earthquake in central Italy last week zeroed in on the beautiful medieval hill town of L’Aquila. It claimed the lives of 294 young and old, injured several thousand more, and made tens of thousands homeless. This is a heart-wrenching human tragedy. It’s also a cultural one. The quake razed centuries of L’Aquila’s historical buildings, broke the foundations of many of the town’s churches and public spaces, destroyed countless cultural artifacts, and forever buried much of the town’s irreplaceable art under tons of twisted iron and fractured stone.

Like many small and lesser known towns in Italy, L?Aquila did not boast a roster of works by ?a-list? artists on its walls, ceilings and piazzas; no Michelangelos or Da Vincis here, no works by Giotto or Raphael. And yet, the cultural loss is no less significant, for the quake destroyed much of the common art that the citizens of L?Aquila shared as a social bond. It?s the everyday art that they passed on their way to home or school or work; the fountains in the piazzas, the ornate porticos, the painted building facades, the hand-carved doors, the marble statues on street corners, the frescoes and paintings by local artists hanging on the ordinary walls. It?s this everyday art – the art that surrounded and nourished the citizens of L?Aquila – that is gone.

New York Times columnist, Michael Kimmelman put it this way in his April 11, 2009 article:

Italy is not like America. Art isn?t reduced here to a litany of obscene auction prices or lamentations over the bursting bubble of shameless excess. It?s a matter of daily life, linking home and history. Italians don?t visit museums much, truth be told, because they already live in them and can?t live without them. The art world might retrieve a useful lesson from the rubble.

The annual Art in the Square festival in Southlake Town Center in just around the corner. Please mark your calendars for the weekend of April 24-26. Over 140 local and nationally recognized artists will descend on Southlake to display their original works in a broad range of media. Art in the Square always draws a fine group of artistic talent, so it’s sure to be a great event – rain or shine.

Image courtesy of Art in the Square – Southlake Women’s Club.

This year Art in the Square features a Youth Art event with participating student artists from local high schools. Winners of this juried event will get to hang their art in art251.

Remember, not only do you get to see some great art, and sample fine local food and entertainment, the event benefits a number of northeast Tarrant County charities, including: ARTSNET, Community Enrichment Center, Metroport Meals on Wheels, and Tarrant Area Food Bank.