BEAT RICE STUDIOS + OPEN SPACE DALLAS

​​

In 2014, I made a temporary move to Texas in support of my partner’s professional aspirations. I needed a studio to work and nothing was presenting itself.  In Dallas, around the time of my move, space for artists was limited. On a whim, after an espresso break in an industrial part of the city, I took a left turn into a neighborhood of older buildings and came across a dilapidated warehouse with a "for sale" sign in its front weeds. I immediately had a vision of a big creative space for artists to work and collaborate much like community art hubs that I had been a part of in Northern California.  After negotiating a price and securing a loan, I designed a complete transformation of the building and within six months, artists filled the spaces. The studios were playfully named after the building’s cross street, Beatrice Street.  Studio artists  included  Jennifer Ayyad, Kristen Cochran, Hilary Couch(me), Laura Dray, Erika Jaeggli, Jill Nonnemacher, Ricardo Salas, Keer Tanchak, and Deborah Welch.  Some stayed for a couple of months while others spent years creating in the studios.

​​​​

Open Space Dallas was created a year later with an opening celebration, featuring a juried selection of emerging artists from the Dallas area along side the current artists working out of the adjacent studios. Madelyn Sneed won the best in show prize. Her paintings are special and she is now represented by Erin Cluley Gallery.  The experience was thrilling and complicated. The studios and space  carried on until the sale of the building in 2021 and my subsequent move back to California.

​

​