Thanks to you, our art loving customers, supporters and friends we’ve gained another accolade. Recently, art251 was voted best art gallery in Tarrant County, and 3rd overall in the entire Dallas-Ft.Worth area.

Now, we’re featured in D Magazine’s annual Best of Big D 2009 (that’s Dallas for our non-Texas based readers). And, we’re not even based in Dallas!

art251 is sited for it’s “Best Cheap Art”, courtesy of our beautiful blue art-o-mat machine.

Here’s what D Mag had to say:

“The best part about the Art-o-mat, a retrofitted cigarette machine that sells small pieces of art for $4 to $7 a pop, is that the machine itself is a work of art. Not necessarily in the sense you might immediately think of. The vending machine itself is just a vending machine, same as any other, really. The Art-o-mat, located at the art251 gallery in Keller, is more conceptual in nature, speaking to, among other things, the idea of art as a commodity. More than that, though, it?s practical, leveling the playing field and sparking the interest of those who think they can?t collect art because it?s too expensive. And that is much better for you than a pack of cigarettes. 251 Town Center Ln., Ste. 2109, Keller. 817-898-1444. www.art251.com.”

It’s official. We’re the third best art gallery in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area, and Number One in Tarrant County! In fact, art251 was the only gallery in Tarrant County to make the top 5.

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We beat out many bigger name, established galleries and art spaces. So, considering we’ve only been around for just under a year, we are ecstatic and humbled.

So, a very BIG thank you, no THANK YOU! to all our loyal customers and friends. Many of you voted for us in the WFAA poll, and we enjoyed reading all the wonderful reviews as well! And thank you WFAAList on WFAA.com for running the 2009 Best of the Best A-List contest, with 60,485 voters from all over North Texas!

Wondering what all the hoopla! is about? Well, we have an exhibit by Trish Biddle, a local and nationally recognized artist. We’re featuring a range of her decadently stylish originals and prints. The show runs until August 8. Also, we’re home to the only art-o-mat in North Texas. And, of course, we’re a beautiful shell housing original works from over 40 talented local artists who work in clay, oil, ceramic, silver, wood, glass, polymer, ink, fabric and more.

We are fortunate enough to live in a democracy. That means, you get to choose when, where and to whom your precious votes go. Except, when it comes to voting for “best art gallery”.

So, it’s time to cajole and coax you into voting for the 2009 best art gallery in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area. The vote is run by local media WFAA and CityVote. It profiles local businesses and allows consumers to vote across a broad range of favorites from art galleries to zoos.

You can vote online here at WFAAList.

The competition in the art gallery space is tough this year, with numerous nominations, none of which I’ll mention here, except for, of course, art251. So, please check out the site, and give your favorite art gallery in Keller (or any other) your considered and important vote.

Voting ends on July 3, so don’t delay.

By the way, the WFAAlist is a great resource for finding lots of other unique and highly recommended businesses in all manner of categories.

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.

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.

For the month of November Society Life magazine published its annual Top Gifts For Her and Him. So we we were delighted when the editorial staff invited us to include one of our beautiful artworks in the guide. Now gift givers this season will find art high on the list of possible gifts “for her”, alongside more traditional items such as an evening of wining and dining, a spa massage, a favorite gadget, and of course diamonds!

Society Life magazine isn’t online, so I’ll quote the printed article, complete with a picture of Faith Jessup’s beautiful work:

Gift of Art — Lizard with Peonies

“Denton based artist Faith Scott Jessup is a realist painter, but her interest lies in creating a world of impossibilities. In her fluid paintings she often juxtaposes animals with everyday objects, imagining them as actors on a darkened stage with a single source of light. Lizard with Peonies is an oil on canvas, gallery wrapped, 48 inches high by 36 inches wide. This painting and others are available at art251 located at 251 Town Center Lane #2109 in the Keller Arthouse.”

By the way, the original is gorgeous. So, while the image of “Lizard with Peonies” looks good online and in print, the full scale original is fluid and luminous and lush and subtle and romantic and…

Well, perhaps you should just come and see it for yourself, and then buy it “for her”.

What better time than Election Day, a time that signifies change, renewal, optimism and hope, to release our bright new art251 website. And, in honor of this historic event (meaning the election) we’re showcasing two sophisticated ladies sipping their martinis at the art251 Martini Bar — both looking gorgeous, one in red, one in blue. The work is by Trish Biddle, one of art251’s signature artists.

The art251 blog celebrates its one year anniversary today. So, I’d like to thank the academy, my fellow directors… No, wait a second, that’s the wrong speech. Let’s start again. I’d like to thank all of our loyal customers and readers and of course family, friends and neighbors, and I’d like to thank the Wordpress community, without both of which my rantings would have no audience and no voice.

I’d also like to thank Google for helping push the art251 blog up the blogosphere arts rankings and my fellow gallerists and arts bloggers. Finally, I’d like thank readers in the following nations: Estonia, Bolivia, Syrian Arab Republic, Slovakia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Aruba and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Collectively you represent 0.08 percent of our growing readership.

Now, our top blog readership spot goes to art251’s home town of Keller, so I’m greatly encouraged (however, I haven’t been able to find an official flag. Your suggestions are welcome).

Your friendly art251 hosts have been working hard over the last month or so to spread the word about art251 – our cool blue space, our exceptional artists and our great art. We’ve had 3 reporters in art251 recently, and even a magazine photographer who insisted on taking shots of us as aged rock stars might pose for the cover of their latest iTunes download. (While Kim is the photogenic type, I think I may have blown it.)

First, we got a good mention in a September 19 article in the Keller Citizen about Young Artists of Texas (YAT). We’re aiming to start featuring selected works from a different YAT artist each month, starting in October.

Second, came a syndicated September 26 article “Thank you for not smoking” about our art-o-mat machine by Jef Tingley for the Gay List Daily. We’re expecting a longer version of this to show up in THE Magazine’s November edition. By the way, THE Magazine is a great new monthly magazine for the arts in the DFW area.

Third, we’re delighted to see that we made the cover of our local paper on October 3. We’re featured in a lengthy article by Sarah Junek entitled, “Vendor sparks art concepts”.  The focus of Sarah’s story was our beautiful blue art-o-mat art vending machine, and it’s patron saint, Clark Whittington. In addition, some our artists got an honorable mention as well — Lori Love, Seppo Aarnos and Trish Biddle.

Over the coming months we’ll be focusing on publicizing our shows and artists. So, we’re hoping to get some more detailed coverage for all or some of our exceptional artists.

This is the first official picture of the art251 store front. Like the cool planters? No cool art251 sign yet above the door, though.

The space faces West, so combined with the fine large windows, we should get lots of good natural light. I would have preferred an East-facing venue, but the developer expressed some reluctance to demolish, re-orient and rebuild the entire complex just for us.

We’ve finally settled on the name for our space, after much deliberation and review.

art251
As in, “art, two-fifty-one”.

It’s simple, clean, and has an urban-ish feel. The name isn’t too upscale, nor it is too down-market, or chain-like. We believe the name “art251″ connotes art, though is mysterious enough to cause people to think; but not too mysterious that they’ll have no clue as to its contents.

For the mathematicians, 251 is the fifty-fourth prime number. More interestingly, 251 is the smallest number that can be written as the sum of 3 cubes in 2 ways (i.e., 2³ + 3³ + 6³ = 1³ + 5³ + 5³). And, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born 251 years ago.

Also, it happens that “251″ is the street address of our new space. I’ll let you choose which of our stories is the most compellingly romantic. I’m not telling.

Yes! We launched our website today. You can find it here.

Initially, we’ve focused the website on giving artists more information about our business. So, over the coming weeks, you’ll get to see our personal and business philosophy, our art submission guidelines and artist consignment agreements.