Art News

Dallas' most colorful art exhibit hits the road with cute mobile mini show

A miniature version will take up residence in two cities during the holidays.

Sweet Tooth Motel

Sweet Tooth Hotel, the colorful immersive art venue in Dallas' Victory Park, has spun off a cute new portable venue. Called Sweet Tooth Motel, with an M not an H, it's like a miniature version of the hotel that is not only mobile, but also COVID-friendly.

While photos and details are still scant, the exhibit will be located inside a shipping crate, with a boomerang-shaped pink neon "motel" sign on top, and will make appearances in two cities, Denison and Allen. According to a release, it'll debut on November 28.

Sweet Tooth Hotel was first founded by Cole and Jencey Keaton in 2018 as a way to showcase emerging artists with unique art installations and yearly rotating themes. Their current exhibit is Intangible, A Fiber Fairytale, with colorful fiber pieces by some of the top fiber artists in the U.S.

Sweet Tooth Motel will showcase art installations from the past two years of exhibits, as well as new work.

"Sweet Tooth Motel allows us to experiment and bring our exhibits to life on a smaller scale," says Jencey Keaton in a statement. "We're also providing a private, safe experience for our guests without them having to worry about social distancing."

Sweet Tooth Motel opens only to individual groups, limiting visitors' exposure to other potentially COVID-19-carrying strangers.

Guests can expect:

an exterior mural reminiscent of a roadside vintage motel
an entry filled with fantastical (non-edible) dessert displays
a winter wonderland filled with snow frosted pine trees and a view of mountains with the northern lights shining above

The launch will take place in Denison on November 28 and run through December 4. Tickets for Denison are here.

The installation will move to Watters Creek in Allen beginning December 5 and run through the holiday until January 3. (Although it will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day). Tickets for Allen are here.

Each time slot is $40 to book and allows up to four guests per time slot. More info is posted on their website.

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Art for all

Dallas’ Katy Trail will debut new public art biennial in 2027

The Katy Trail/Facebook

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Dallas' most popular jogging trails will fill with art next year: A new contemporary public art biennial called KTX Biennial will debut in spring 2027 along Dallas’ Katy Trail.

"The KTX Biennial marks Texas’ first biennial of its kind dedicated to public art and provides an open-air platform for engaging with ambitious contemporary artworks, free and accessible to all," says a release.

Organized by Friends of the Katy Trail executive director Amy Bean and Katy Trail art director Amanda Dillard Shufeldt, the inaugural event will invite New York-based curator Jovanna Venegas to organize a display of nearly a dozen existing and newly commissioned works by living artists from across the world. Venegas, the curator at SculptureCenter, has an international reputation for exhibiting and commissioning major works by living artists.

The Dallas presentation will span the 3.5-mile former railroad corridor running through Dallas’ Uptown, Knox, and Highland Park neighborhoods, which attracts 2 million annual visitors, they say. Artworks will be thoughtfully integrated into the trail’s natural environment, organizers say.

"Building on the Katy Trail’s existing public art program - which has featured work from the likes of Iván Argote, Eddie Martinez, Will Boone, Nic Nicosia, Carolyn Salas, and more - the Biennial thoughtfully integrates art into its natural environment, creates new avenues for discovery for local and national audiences, and fortifies Dallas’ standing as an international art destination," the release says.

Beyond the artworks that fill the trails, the event will include educational programs, public activities, panel conversations, and partnerships with local institutions and organizations, organizers say.

“The KTX Biennial grows directly out of our belief that the Katy Trail belongs to everyone," says Bean in the release. "By bringing ambitious contemporary art into an open-air setting, free and accessible to all, we are inviting both longtime visitors and first-time audiences to experience the Trail in an entirely new way. This Biennial strengthens the Trail’s role not only as a place for recreation, but also as a space for creativity, reflection, and shared discovery."

The inaugural KTX Biennial will open in spring 2027 and will be free and open to the public.

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