Austin’s Art Scene Continues to Grow with the Launch of New Art Fair
By Elizabeth Gillett
The Loren at Lady Bird Lake.
Image courtesy of the Loren Hotel.
Austin, Texas, regarded for its status as the ‘live musical capital of the world’, vibrant festivals, including SXSW and Austin City Limits, and laid-back atmosphere, is set to welcome a new art fair this May. Friends Fair will debut in the rapidly evolving city, primarily driven by the influx of tech startups, earning it the moniker ‘Silicon Hills.’ The Texas Capital is also home to numerous Fortune 500 companies, including Tesla, Dell Technologies, and Oracle, and, according to the US Census Bureau, was the fastest growing metropolitan area in America from 2010-2022. This rapid population growth and substantial surge in wealth has generated significant potential for Austin’s art community, which the founders of Friends of Galleries (FOG) and Friends Fair are tapping into.
FOG, a collective which hosts exclusive events for Austin-based collectors, promoting a sense of community within the city’s art scene, was founded by five local galleries: grayDUCK, Ivester Contemporary, Martha’s, McLennon Pen Co., and Northern-Southern. The success of the community cultivated by FOG, prompted the group to ‘pursue something bigger’ in the form of ‘a more formal event’, resulting in Friends Fair, according to Jill Schroeder of grayDUCK.
Friends Fair will take place from 15 to 17 May at the recently opened Loren Hotel. Although set to be ‘significantly smaller’ than existing Texas fairs, including the Dallas Invitational, Dallas Art Fair, and Untitled Houston, Ricky Morales and Meredith Williams, cofounders of Martha’s, believe this smaller size will foster ‘an intimate environment’, further facilitated by the Loren’s ‘bright and welcoming’ setting overlooking Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin.
Ivester Contemporary’s current exhibition Lacquer Panique – Paintings by Denise Prince, 1 March-5 April, 2025.
Image courtesy of Ivester Contemporary and the artist.
In addition to the FOG galleries, five additional galleries—12.16 (Dallas and Los Angeles), Dutton (New York), Half Gallery (New York), Inman Gallery (Houston), and Megan Mulrooney Gallery (Los Angeles)— all of whom have been deemed ‘friends’ of FOG, will be presenting. Attendees can expect to see works from Austin-based and Texas-based artists, emerging artists, and established talents.
With ‘Austin’s welcoming, creative spirit…at its core’, Friends Fair will also welcome SAGE Studio & Gallery, a local nonprofit ‘dedicated to supporting artists with to supporting artists with disabilities’ and Austin-based independent curator Taylor Danielle Davis. Kevin Ivester, of Ivester Contemporary, hopes that the inclusion of these groups, both of whose spaces were fully funded by the fair, will ‘offer additional opportunities for Austin-based artists to be represented in the fair.’
Bill McCullough, Counter, 2017.
Image courtesy of Northern-Southern and the artist.
The timing of the fair will coincide with the Affordable Art Fair, which launched in 2024 and focuses on art priced under $10,000. Jill McLennon of McLennon Pen Co. expressed hope that with the launch of Friends Fair, an ‘official Austin art week’ will be established. Speaking further on this, McLennon stated, ‘We would love for this week to be a moment where people from out of town descend on Austin, enjoy all of the best parts of the city, and get a pulse on the rapidly growing art scene we have here.’ The debut of the Affordable Art Fair and upcoming launch of Friends Fair represent a pivotal moment for Austin’s bourgeoning art scene, positioning the city as an emerging art hub, with the potential to rival established markets.
Bibliography
Durón, Maximilíano. “Austin, a Texan City with a Growing Gallery Scene, to Get a New Art Fair in May.” ARTnews, March 5, 2024. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/friends-fair-austin-launch-1234734855/.
Porterfield, Carlie. “Austin Gallerists Boosting Local Art Scene with Joint Collectors’ Circle.” The Art Newspaper, July 1, 2024. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/07/01/austin-gallerists-boosting-local-art-scene-with-joint-collectors-circle.