Without its $300-a-month Willow Bend gallery, the Plano Art Association turns to businesses for wall space

The Plano Art Association has given up, for now, on finding a gallery to replace the one it lost at The Shops at Willow Bend, and is instead looking for businesses willing to hang its members' work.

The nonprofit, which calls itself the city's oldest and largest visual arts group, paid $300 a month for about 2,000 square feet of gallery space at the mall under an arrangement with owner Centennial, Plano Magazine reported Thursday. With the mall headed for redevelopment, the association moved out and has not been able to find anything close to that price.

"We've been talking to the city, talking to other organizations, talking to some of the landlords around here," association President Rebecca Archuleta told the magazine.

Shows on borrowed walls

At Willow Bend, the group put up a new exhibition with a reception every month, and its members range from first-time exhibitors to working professionals. Since leaving, it has leaned on other arts groups: the Art Centre of Plano has given it meeting space, and Ten20 Gallery has hosted exhibitions and monthly meetings, according to the report.

Archuleta said other galleries expect polished work, which makes it harder to include newer artists. The board has now shifted from searching for a gallery to seeking partners, such as rotating displays in corporate offices, hospitals and other public spaces.

Money questions

Archuleta told the magazine the group used to receive about $3,000 to $4,000 a year from the city's cultural arts grants, which are paid for with hotel occupancy taxes and tied to tourism spending.

She said recent changes to the application process made it harder for groups offering free exhibitions to qualify, and that the paperwork came to outweigh the money, so the association did not apply this year. The magazine's report did not include a response from the city.

The group has turned to businesses instead. H-E-B gave $5,000 toward its 125th anniversary exhibition, the report says. Treasurer Howard Graysdorf is also organizing the Arts Alliance of North Texas, a nonprofit meant to advocate for visual arts groups across the region.

The association, run entirely by volunteers, is looking for help with marketing, technology, accounting and communications as it works to build its online presence with digital exhibitions, artist profiles and videos.

A different path for NTPA

The mall's other longtime arts tenant has a new home lined up. North Texas Performing Arts is moving to the NTPA Center of the Arts at 2819 W. 15th St., which is planned to have four stages, six dance and rehearsal studios, practice rooms and a set shop.

The group has a $2.5 million Save Our Stages campaign under way and has said it plans to finish the theater build-out by Dec. 1 and begin performances in early January.

Sources

planomagazine.com