Discoveries of the Dallas Design District

Donna Tennant and Henry Hunt·
Dallas/Ft WorthVisual Art
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For many years, we have traveled to Dallas to visit the city’s art venues, and the number of galleries has grown considerably. Notably, many have moved into the Dallas Design District, a trendy industrial area known for its interior design showrooms, apparel retailers, antique shops, vintage shops, restaurants, and apartment homes. Long-term plans include an outdoor entertainment facility and hotels.

Located along the banks of the Trinity River, the Design District is loosely bounded by Wycliff Avenue on the west, I-35E on the northeast, and Continental Avenue on the south. According to the district’s website, this gallery migration started some time ago, resulting in the area becoming the epicenter of the city’s gallery scene. The genesis of this district took place in the early 1950s when affordable property along the river prompted the building of commercial showrooms and warehouses occupied by design industry suppliers and manufacturers.

Nancy Whitenack was a pioneer gallerist in the area with Conduit Gallery. After many years in Deep Ellum, she moved to Hi-Line Drive in 2002. She celebrated her 40th anniversary last year with Danette Torres Dufilho, the gallery’s director for 25 years. With three changing contemporary art exhibition spaces, Conduit is always an invigorating stop.

We knew Holly Johnson from Houston, so we were anxious to see her gallery in Dallas. She opened Holly Johnson Gallery in the Design District in 2005. Originally on Dragon Street, Johnson moved in 2015 to East Levee Street with her late husband, Jim Martin, who built out the raw space.

Sharing the same building is Chris Worley Fine Art, which opened in 2010. Worley has lived in Dallas for over 20 years. After several years in Seattle, she worked at Pan American Art Projects before opening her own gallery. These two galleries are typically the first visit on our gallery tour.

A few minutes away is 150 Manufacturing Street, a storefront development dominated by galleries. PDNB Gallery opened as Photographs Do Not Bend on Routh Street in Uptown in 1995 before moving to the Design District. They recently announced that they intend to vacate their current location at the end of April and find a new space.

Their neighbor, Erin Cluley Gallery, moved from Trinity Groves across the river, which we had ferreted out on a previous trip. Cluley opened her gallery in 2014 after serving as the director of exhibitions for the Dallas Contemporary from 2009 to 2014. After five years, Cluley moved to the Design District and last year celebrated her ten-year anniversary.

Also in the center is Bart Keijsers Koning’s namesake gallery. Born and raised in the Netherlands, he moved to the U.S. at a young age and had galleries in New York City before moving to Dallas during the pandemic. Recently, Keijsers Koning was elected president of the Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas (CADD), which was established in 2000. An older organization, the Dallas Art Dealers Association (DADA), has been around since the 1970s. Both have publications with maps that list gallery addresses and phone numbers.

Other galleries here include 12.26 and Meliksetian|Briggs. Gallery 12-26 is named for the shared birthday of sisters Hannah and Hilary Fagadau, who have a gallery by the same name in Los Angeles. They recently celebrated their sixth anniversary in Dallas.

Michael Briggs welcomed us on the day we visited despite being between shows. Briggs and his wife and partner, Anna Meliksetian, relocated from Los Angeles, where they ran a successful gallery since 2012. After losing their lease, they moved to Dallas and opened in early 2024. Participating in the Dallas Art Fair annually helped them establish a network of collectors, curators, and artists.

A couple of miles to the west is an enclave of newer work/space buildings amid older industrial warehouses and auto repair shops. We went to Memphis Street to find Liliana Bloch Gallery, formerly located next door to Galleri Urbane on Monitor Street. Originally from El Salvador, Bloch moved to Dallas more than 20 years ago and started dealing art in 2013. She is known for her multicultural and diverse roster of national and international artists with “a commitment to addressing global issues.”

Ree and Jason Willaford, owners of Galleri Urbane, opened their Dallas gallery in 2009 after having galleries in Silver City, New Mexico, and Marfa, Texas. Their back room overlooks the Trinity Strand Trail along Turtle Creek, a welcome respite from the urban environment.

While chatting with Bloch about her move, she told us about the nearby James Harris and Pencil on Paper galleries. Harris relocated his gallery to Dallas from Seattle, where he had been since 1999, after his husband took a job in Dallas during the pandemic. He shows the late sculptor Viola Frey and the painter Squeak Carnwath, among others.

Dr. Valerie Gillespie opened Pencil on Paper Gallery in 2019 to empower a diverse collection of artists selected for their interest in community engagement. The gallery was buzzing with activity the day we were there. One show was coming down, another was about to be installed, and Gillespie’s husband came by to pick up artwork destined for a collector’s home.

We couldn’t leave the design district without a visit to the eclectic Joel Cooner Gallery on Dragon Street. Cooner specializes in Asian, Oceanic, Pre-Columbian, and tribal works of art. Open for more than four decades in the Design District, he says, “I used to be the young buck, and now I’m the old dog.” You never know what you might discover in his large gallery.

Be sure to include three other longtime Dallas galleries on your list of galleries to visit: Barry Whistler, Kirk Hopper Fine Art, and Craighead Green. Barry Whistler opened in the mid-eighties in Deep Ellum and moved to the Design District in 2016. Kenneth Craighead and Steve Green opened their gallery in 1992 but purchased a large warehouse on Dragon Street in 2005; last year, they moved around the corner to Parkhouse Street. Hopper opened in 2011 and shows many established Texas artists, including the late Mac Whitney and James Magee, Benito Huerta, and Lee Baxter Davis. The Dallas Contemporary, a non-profit art space known for its cutting-edge exhibitions, is also in the district.

The Dallas Design District is like an “island” between the river and the freeway populated not only by interior design and related resources but also by many of Dallas’ top galleries located a short drive from one another. A visit to the area reveals the variety and scope of the city’s thriving art scene.

—DONNA AND HENRY HUNT

Donna Tennant and Henry Hunt

Donna has been writing about art and artists for over four decades. Henry is a recovering art historian and graphic designer who has written about and curated that which catches his fancy.