Connecting Art to Hearts: Dallas’ contemporary Conduit Gallery celebrates 40 years

Lindsey Wilson·
Dallas/Ft WorthVisual Art
·

They say to do what you love, and Nancy Whitenack loves art. “But I’m really lousy at it,” she laughs. “I intend in my golden years to take clay classes, but what I’ve always liked to do more than anything in the world is go to galleries and museums.”

So she started her own art gallery, literally on the ground level of her warehouse home in downtown Dallas, with Whitenack and her then-husband living upstairs. She says the experience forced her to “fly by the seat of my pants and figure it all out,” since she had never even worked in a gallery. But she was hooked, and in 1984 Whitenack opened the first official location of Conduit Gallery on Elm Street in Deep Ellum. After a stint on the second floor of the Undermain Theatre building on Main Street (this time with her apartment next-door), Whitenack moved to the Dallas Design District in 2002.

The space was twice as big and much more expensive than any she had rented before, but Whitenack knew that if the prospect seemed frightening, then that meant she had to go for it. Now at 1626 Hi Line Dr. for the past 22 years, Conduit Gallery is celebrating its landmark 40th anniversary.

“We are pretty cutting-edge in the work that we show—we are not afraid of much,” Whitenack says. “We always want to show work that has meaning and that speaks to the time we’re living in, work that crosses a lot of boundaries.”

Over the decades, this has meant everything from large-scale LED light installations by Austrian-born artist Erwin Redl to works by Robert Barsamiun that examine and reflect on worldwide political conflicts, especially Armenian genocide. The late Dallas artist Patrick Faulhaber even turned the gallery “into a big dance party, with tiny, exquisite paintings hanging on the walls surrounding the dance floor,” recalls Whitenack.

“Artists are more than creators; they are storytellers whose work reflects the many varied experiences of our concurrent existence” she continues. “The artists I have had the pleasure of representing over the past 40 years have collectively shown me the power of art.”

Conduit Gallery has always found memorable ways to celebrate anniversaries; for its 25th, Whitenack covered each wall with 10-foot-high paper and invited a variety of artists to come in for two weeks and create whatever they wished, however they wished, and whenever they wished.

“Each artist had very specific habits,” Whitenack recalls. “Some set up in the early morning, others came in the late afternoon and worked through the evening. They painted, collaged, drew, some even sculpted something onto their allotted 10 feet of space, or combined 20 if they collaborated. The public was invited to come watch the artists work and get a sense of their processes, which became a sort of installation in itself.”

To commemorate 40 years, Whitenack is spreading the love even further. Conduit at 40: Forte! fills all three exhibition spaces and features the work of 27 guest artists, each invited by one of Conduit’s “core” artists. The range of work is broad, from Jade Walker’s colorful “Crutch” and “Ladder” made from wood, thread, yarn, ripped fabric, string, hair, cord, wire, and plastic (chosen by Margaret Meehan) to Kenneth Hochberg’s hyper-realistic oil paintings of everyday kitchen items like a mango, gallon jug of water, and bag of Starbucks coffee (chosen by C. Meng).

“It’s been really fun to see who invited which artist and how that work relates—or not—to the work they show,” says Whitenack. “As creators, our artists have a distinctly keen awareness and appreciation of what makes good art. Turning over curatorial control to our artists felt like an appropriate way to celebrate this important milestone.”

Though Whitenack makes light of her on-the-job training and the gallery’s unorthodox origin story, she is quick to recognize the invaluable contributions of Danette Dufilho, who has been Conduit’s gallery director for the last 25 years. “Danette is the most upbeat, positive, incredible person who always works her heart out, and all the collectors and artists just love her,” Whitenack says. “She’s the real reason we’re successful.”

Conduit at 40: Forte! runs through Aug. 24, 2024, and is followed by exhibitions from Annette Lawrence, Margaret Meehan, Marcelyn McNeil, and Jay Sullivan. “When I first got started and tried to figure out what all this was, I learned a great deal about business and artists and especially about the public I wanted to attract,” Whitenack says. “Forty years has gone by more quickly than one might think, but it’s certainly been a wonderful journey.”

— LINDSEY WILSON

Lindsey Wilson

Lindsey Wilson is a Dallas-based arts writer and critic with a journalism master's from Syracuse University and an undying love for chips and salsa. When not at the theater (which is rare), she enjoys reading, playing with her dogs, and traveling. Photo by Jeffrey Hummel.