Champions of the Art World

Barry Whistler Gallery was awarded the prestigious "Best Art Gallery" award by the Dallas Observer in their Best of Dallas issue. Awesome!! Apparently, shockingly, the gallery has never won this before. It has been clear to me for years, I wonder what took everyone else so long? As an extra bonus, my gallery blog got a shout-out. Whooo!!

It's like this every day...

Day one of my Barryless gallerina experience was actually pretty rad. I organized shipping and official loan agreements for a show of Michael Miller's at the University of Dallas, so that project is all tucked away now. I have also begun ironing out the details for shipping, layout, installation, and potential book signing during our next exhibition with Johnnie Winona Ross which opens in October. But lastly, I put together a package on some artists for First Lady Laura Bush who stopped by the gallery Tuesday morning! I wasn't going to mention it until I saw a blurb about it on the Dallas Morning News blog (how did they know?). Whether or not you agree with her husband's politics, you have to admit that secret service is cool.

Knee swap

Barry Whistler had knee replacement surgery yesterday. Yowza! It's major surgery with a 6 week recovery. He will stand on it for the first time today which starts off his long and painful rehab. Although he might currently doubt why he did this, it was quite necessary. Standing for 2 hours during an opening was agonizing, as was simply walking across a parking lot. So for the next 3-6 weeks, I'll be running the show at the gallery. It's a big responsibility, but it's one I'm excited about. I have someone, C.J. Davis, coming in a few days out of the week to help me with odds and ends. I'm putting my director's cap on.

CADD ArtLab

Dallas boasts a new art venue as of this weekend. For two years now, the gallery has been involved in getting CADD (Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas) off the ground. We have had two very successful art fairs and now have a full-time gallery space downtown. I stopped by for the sneak preview on Thursday and rubbed shoulders with most everyone in the art world. The grand opening was Saturday night, and it was a smash hit. It's really important to go to art events as often as possible. Seeing what other galleries are up to helps me stay relevant, plus it's nice to support our fellow compadres. Since there's almost always something going on, it's hard to keep up.

Arty-smarty

*McKinney High School group

*Allison V. Smith lecturing a class from UTA

*McKinney High School group

*Allison V. Smith lecturing another class from UTA

This week has been education week at the gallery. We have had no less than three classes come tour the show in two days! The high school class from McKinney was my favorite. I'd say 75 kids came strolling through. I'm not sure if any of them actually looked at the photographs, but I was sure checking out their style. Most looked like extras on an MTV video shoot. The super cool ones wouldn't even come inside. I think it's a really interesting combination with Allison's current show of Texas schools. Thinking about what happens in the rooms and halls of high school conjures so many memories for me. It wasn't the education so much as the hunt for popularity, insecurity and isolation, ridiculously close and hyperactive friendships, and big-time boy crushes. High-school is a strange time, and Allison's photographs have captured all of its nuances.

Hooray Success

The opening on Saturday night was a massive success despite terrifying reports of Hurricane Ike destruction. We had a packed house and sold muchos photographs. Allison had a rockin after-party where I met some neat new people. I'm expecting that we'll have a swarm of better-play-it-safe-with-the-weather-reports visitors this weekend. I'm really hoping we get some good press on this show. We've had two DMA curators in and a few major critics. For now, I'm trying to keep up with invoices. A good problem to have!

Final Countdown

We are pushing on with our opening tonight in the face of Hurricane Ike. I've updated the gallery website (see totally nutty screenshot of html code above), so let me know if I messed anything up. All that's left to do are my Cinderella clean-up duties and then I'll start pouring drinks and selling photographs. Not too shabby for a week's work.

Finito

We have the show hung and the chalkboards finished. The show looks absolutely fantastic, and we have already pre-sold quite a few. Now I just have to add numbers on the walls, hand write the exterior sign in chalk, and finalize the checklist. I can't wait for Saturday!

Transformers

Another nifty thing about The Barry Whistler Gallery is how unafraid Barry is of doing something different. We are currently in the process of painting 2 walls into chalkboards to support the schoolroom theme of our upcoming exhibition (which, by the way, is in this week's Observer). We will start seasoning the boards with loads of chalk tonight. I borrowed a big eraser from campus to help speed up the process. I swear I'll return it.

Closed for Installation

We are currently laying out work for our new exhibition, Allison V. Smith: Hall Pass, that opens this Saturday, September 13th. This is far and away the best part of my job. Barry and I and shuffle work around, then sit with the arrangement for awhile and absorb. There is much discussion about the dialogue between works, the overall feel of the room, balance, color, composition, competition, the list goes on and on. Barry has an incredible eye and a real intuition for what works best. It is a real treat to watch him work and to contribute.

Home Again, Home Again

Gallery artist Robert Wilhite returned to Dallas a few days ago to give a lecture at the Modern last Tuesday night (class kept me from attending. waa) and drove his powerful sculpture, The Bomb, back home to Los Angeles. He intends to exhibit it with a sister piece in an L.A. space similar to The Contemporary here in Dallas. A review of The Bomb, shown at the gallery in June, will be published in Art in America soon. Exciting!

Mailers

Doing the mailers is a somewhat laborious process. Our mailing list currently hovers around 700. Each envelope must be opened, stuffed, labeled, sealed, and stamped. So I end up shuffling these things around 3500 times before it's all said and done. However, it is always a good time to, say, compose a grocery list or a thank you letter in my head.

Success

The summer inventory sale was a great success. Now we have to clear the unsold things out of the way so we can begin laying out the upcoming show. Today and tomorrow will also be dedicated to the laborious project of stuffing, labeling, sealing, and stamping envelopes.