Two 1970s office buildings tucked off US-75 in North Dallas turned into a sprawling open house this weekend, as the Goldmark Cultural Center welcomed the public into its studios for the free, two-day Midsummer Art Fair. Running from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, the event let visitors wander both of the center’s buildings, browse original paintings, ceramics, fiber art, sculpture, photography, digital art and mixed media, and buy work directly from the artists who made it.
The fair, which offered free admission and free parking, included studio tours, new exhibitions, and hands-on art activities alongside the chance to explore working artist studios, according to The Dallas Morning News. The center is located at 13999 Goldmark Drive, one of two twin buildings that make up the complex, and the fair used both structures to showcase the community’s range of work. Alongside the studio tours, Goldmark also opened up commission-free vendor tables in its front parking lot for the weekend, charging $100 per table with a discounted $50 rate for enrolled art students with valid ID, according to the Goldmark Cultural Center. Organizers had designated indoor backup space in the building’s auditorium in case of rain.
From 10 Artists to a 170-Artist Community
Goldmark’s story goes back to 2018, when it began with just 10 artists working out of a converted office complex, per the Dallas Morning News report. That modest start has grown into one of the larger self-governed visual artist communities in Texas, now home to more than 170 visual artists across 165 total private studio spaces spread over two two-story, 64,000-square-foot buildings, per the center’s own account of its studio spaces. The center’s roots trace to December 2017, when property trustees Chin-Chin Yeh and Joseph Yeh cleaned up the former 1970s office park and launched its first 19 studio exhibitions that November in partnership with Dallas artist and professor Du Chau, the center says on its site.
The property might have gone a very different direction. Former Dallas City Councilmember Jaynie Schultz helped secure artist studio zoning in District 11 to keep the property owner from converting the empty office park into a commercial storage center, according to reporting from The Lab Report Dallas. That municipal intervention, paired with cleanup efforts that reportedly involved coordination with Dallas police and city planners, effectively preserved the Esperanza-area site for working artists rather than boxes in storage units.
Affordable Rents Anchor the Artist Community
Part of what makes Goldmark distinctive is its pricing. Private artist studio rentals start at a subsidized rate of $175 per month for 30 square feet, which includes utilities and 24/7 key access to studios and common facilities, the center notes on its studio-space page. Studios feature hallway-facing display windows and concrete or laminate floors, and sculptors and ceramicists also have access to a secure 24/7 outdoor workspace furnished with work tables, an outdoor sink, electrical outlets and a small ceramic kiln…