ART ROOM

Make a Little Room for the Art Room

How an art gallery-turned-nonprofit is enriching the Fort Worth arts community.

Photos and story by Myriam Gonzalez

What began as a brick-and-mortar gallery used to showcase new and emerging artists quickly evolved into Art Room, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that educates and inspires both youth and adults. Now, a local group is “making room for art” through its support of arts education and enrichment programs in the Fort Worth community.

Co-founder and chief adviser, Kate Murray and Nathan Madrid, noticed a lack of nontraditional galleries that could give talented new artists the opportunity to showcase their work. During the early phases of its initiative, M2G Ventures granted a free space near the Foundry District that would allow its vision to bloom. “We were looking to grant these artists exposure and provide accessible art to the Fort Worth community simultaneously,” Kate says.

With the success of its new pop-up gallery and a desire to make a greater impact, Art Room officially transitioned into a nonprofit fall 2018. “We slowly chipped away at our massive iceberg until we figured out what was most important and focused on that — community outreach, classes and workshops, and exhibitions,” Kate says.

While they were successful with their community outreach programs and partnership with Fort Worth ISD schools during this time, last year’s COVID-19 pandemic forced them to shift their gears and refocus on how they can continue serving the community. With lack of funding coming in from their workshops and classes, executive director Deedra Baker says they had to “think outside the box” to continue their mission.

Art Room now hosts no-cost “virtual classes,” along with curated exhibitions during its collective residency stay at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, which Deedra says is most rewarding. “It makes my heart so full to interact with the artists and see their work come to life in a show like this.” Throughout its residency, Art Room plans on curating another three to four exhibitions in hopes of garnering support for artists such as Ross Graphix, who says they have “given local artists a place in the art community by allowing them to be a part of an exhibit.”

While the goal is to once again be “hands on” in the community and be around the “energy of like-minded people in a room, studying and analyzing art,” as Kate says, there are plans to sustain the program until then. This fall, Art Room will provide a “Make Room for Art” grant to a local educator as well as create “Make and Take” art kits at no cost to the community, continuing its mission to highlight the importance of arts education. “The arts are a fundamentally important part of culture, and an education without them is an impoverished education, leading to an impoverished society,” she says.