Art Con 8

Experience the conspiracy! Happening every year about this time, ArtCon is what we like to call street level philanthropy. 150 artist, who are chosen through a random lottery, have 24 hours to create a piece of art in our warehouse turned art studio. Those pieces are then auctioned off in a whirled wind, prices starting at $ 20. Add a healthy mix of local Dallas bands, this year is was Blackstone Rangers, Daniel Hart, and The Burning Hotels. Toss in craft beer & wine and food trucks and the party is humming on all six cylinders. If you don’t have a good time, it’s probably because you have the grinch’s heart.

I am blown away by ArtCon. It was a great experience, and is now going to be a yearly event for me. I don’t even care that this is for charity.
It’s neat to see artists come together, be given the same size piece of wood, and then make such a wide variety of finished products. And then to see that many people come out to look at the art and then to buy it in high energy auctions.
In between the art is live music, you never know you just might hear something you love.
The cherry on top– it is for charity. A local organization is going to benefit from you coming out and having an awesome night.

Dallas is a happening city. Dallas is a city with a lot of happenings. Sometimes it’s hard to weed through the onslaught of shindigs, but there is one annual event that is a certain guarantee for not only a remarkable time, but leaves you feeling proud to live in this city. A collective enthusiasm for local art and artists is reflected in the lively art auctions occurring simultaneously.
Hosted in the formerly and now abandoned Good Year factory in the Design District — the bare, open warehouse couldn’t have been more fitting of an event of this size — but more importantly — an event with this meaning. Literally, the space is a blank canvas allowing for anything to come to life; much like the blank canvases that each participating artist had the chance to bring to life. Bringing us to my next admiration of the local bash: each artists is given a square canvas of equal size to be auctioned off to the lively and eager guests. Everyone starts from the same point. And the best part… all the auction proceeds go to non-​profit groups focused on art education.
The strong attendance was also a wonderful testament to the growing support for Art Con throughout the past 8 years and hopefully an even bigger indication for what’s in store for the local live music and art auction event, as well.