Green Family Art Foundation Announces Move from Dallas’ Design District to the Arts District

by Jessica Fuentes February 2, 2022

The Green Family Art Foundation (GFAF), a Dallas-based nonprofit foundation, has announced on social media that they have acquired a new permanent space in the city’s downtown Arts District.

Though the GFAF only opened their physical space in 2021, the foundation was established in 2001. Created as an operating foundation, the GFAF initially focused on grants to museums in support of acquisitions and exhibitions. Over the years they have provided funding to The Guggenheim, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Hammer Museum. Texas based museums have acquired works by the following artists with support from the GFAF:

—Dallas Museum of Art: Jenna Gribbon, Lucy Bull and Ebecho Muslimova, and Nina Chanel Abney
—Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth: Jammie Holmes and Danielle Mckinney,
—The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: Rachel Jones
—Nasher Sculpture Center: Nicolas Party and Simone Leigh
—Blanton Museum of Art: Louis Fratino

A painting by Nina Chanel Abney. The work is bright and colorful and made from simple shapes and forms, but the subject matter is heavy. The painting depicts four men (2 white and 2 Black) who are dressed in green shirts with gold badges and green camouflage pants. The men are armed with bright blue guns each of which has been discharged, although none of their hands are on their weapons in the moment. These men face a Black figure holding his hands up. At their feet is another Black figure laying on the ground with the bright blue text, "RIP" over his lower body. In the background are houses with "$" symbols on them and two onlookers who are both Black and have heart symbols on their chests.

Nina Chanel Abney, “Whatever It Takes,” 2018, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 84 1/2 x 120 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches, Dallas Museum of Art, gift by the Green Family Collection.

With the opening of their space, the GFAF broadened their mission to also include a focus on exhibiting works by emerging and established artists, and bringing awareness to the general public about artists who are addressing culturally relevant topics. Currently, the GFAF is located in Dallas’ Design District, a few blocks west of the Dallas Contemporary.   

A detailed rendering of the floor plan of the new Green Family Art Foundation space in downtown Dallas.

Floor plan of the new Green Family Art Foundation space located on Flora street in downtown Dallas.

The foundation’s recently acquired permanent space in Dallas’ Arts District is walking distance from the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center. Eric Green, one of the foundation’s trustees, told Glasstire that the new 4,000-square-foot space is set to open in June. The GFAF is currently in talks with the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts about hosting the institution’s exhibition Joan Semmel: Skin the Game as its inaugural show in the new space. Alongside the Semmel exhibition, the GFAF is planning a concurrent show of Hannah Lupton Reinhard’s work. 

Aside from providing more space for larger exhibitions, Bailey Summers, the GFAF’s Director, told Glasstire that the new venue will also broaden the foundation’s opportunities to host artist talks, panel discussions, and other events.

Beyond the work of the foundation, the Green family has also spent the last fifteen years building their own private collection. The family’s eldest son, Adam, who holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, has spearheaded this process. 

Currently, the collection consists of over four hundred works of art and includes pieces by Texas artists David Bates, Jammie Holmes, Francisco Moreno, and Deborah Roberts. Other notable artists in the collection include Amy Sherald, David Hammons, Mark Bradford, Ed Clark, Dana Schutz, Nicole Eisenman, Nicolas Party, Louis Fratino, Doron Langberg, and Alice Neel. The collection has also gifted works of art to institutions across the United States. 

A painting by Amy Sherald. A Black woman is painted in gray tones, she looks past the viewer into the distance. She has shoulder length, bright red, straight hair with a black flower in it. She wears a striped "A-line" dress and a black leather jacket that has a cross design made from metal studs. The figure holds a doll against herself. The doll has red curly hair and two red bows. The doll wears a plaid green and red skirt, black shirt, and black and red boots. The figure is set against a purple background.

Amy Sherald, “Freeing Herself Was One Thing, Taking Ownership of That Freed Self Was Another,” 2015, oil on canvas, 54 x 43 inches. Image: Green Family Art Foundation

The final exhibition in the GFAF’s current space, Women of Now: Dialogues of Memory, Place & Identity, will be on view from February 12 – May 22, 2022.

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