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Fort Works Arts Celebrates 10 Years with Takeover of Spring Gallery Night
Somehow against logic, economics, weather, construction, closed streets, a global pandemic, and the slow erosion that takes out most independent galleries, Fort Works Art is ten years old.
On Friday, March 28, Fort Works Art marks its 10-year anniversary with the most ambitious day in the gallery’s history. Coinciding with Fort Worth’s citywide Gallery Night, the anniversary will transform 2100 Montgomery Street into a multi-floor, multi-sensory cultural indoor/outdoor hub from noon to 9 PM.
What began a decade ago as a small, risk-taking gallery, opened before Dickies Arena reshaped the district, has grown into one of Fort Worth’s most vital creative incubators. For its anniversary, Fort Works Art presents three simultaneous exhibitions, including an immersive interactive installation, making it the only venue in the city offering this level of depth, scale, and experience in a single stop.
THREE GALLERIES. TWENTY-ONE ARTISTS. ONE DAY.
The main floor exhibition brings together 10 artists who define the gallery’s past and future: five artists new to Fort Works Art, shown alongside five who have supported and shaped the gallery since its inception. It’s a deliberate conversation across time about growth, continuity, and creative trust.
The mezzanine level becomes something else entirely. Returning installation artist Crystal Wagner, whose 2022 project at Fort Works Art drew widespread attention and acclaim, creates new work which is a fully immersive environment combining sculpture, light, sound, movement, and audience interaction. The floor will be darkened entirely, allowing illuminated sculptural forms to respond in real time to a custom keyboard interface, creating changing color, sounds, and rhythms as viewers engage. The installation is experiential, playful, and deeply physical, inviting visitors to enter the work rather than simply observe it. Funding for this project is supported through Gallery of Dreams, Fort Works Art’s nonprofit arm.
A third space presents work by 10 additional artists currently exhibiting with the gallery, offering yet another distinct curatorial voice and expanding the anniversary presentation into a true survey of Fort Works Art’s present moment.
Lillian Warren, The Mockingbird Sang All Night
Image courtesy of Fort Works Art
A DECADE IN THE MAKING
Over the past ten years, Fort Works Art and Gallery of Dreams have presented more than 150 exhibitions, displayed over 1000 artists, and directed almost $500,000 for artists, initiatives, community projects, and nonprofit programming. This hybrid destination has evolved alongside the city itself hosting major civic projects, and landmark exhibitions including the Mayor’s Show, the inaugural Juneteenth Museum exhibit, and other Gallery of Dreams programming.
“I honestly can’t believe we’ve made it this far,” says founder and director Lauren Saba. “Who would have thought it? We’ve watched artists launch careers here. We’ve taken risks. We’ve built community. This anniversary isn’t just about looking back. It’s about showing what’s possible when you follow your passion and refuse to shrink and behave. Fort Works Art and Gallery of Dreams have truly turned into forces beyond what I ever could have imagined. For me, this is not a victory lap. It’s a turning point.”
March 28 is the beginning of that turning point.
Come and see what Fort Works Art has always done best: pushing beyond what a gallery is supposed to be.
You don’t want to miss this one.
Johan Barrios, Folded
Image courtesy of Fort Works Art
About Fort Works Art:
Fort Works Art is committed to bringing life, vitality, and energy to the art scene in Fort Worth, TX. They are a resource for both seasoned collectors and the everyday individual. Existing somewhere between a gallery, a cultural center, and a museum, Fort Works Art strives to continually evolve into its own entity, free from the traditional labels of the art world. They exist to support the arts, to give back to the community, and to inspire youth.
About Gallery of Dreams:
Gallery of Dreams exists to champion contemporary artists and spark creative experiences for positive community impact. We envision a community where contemporary artists and an engaged public enhance their creative capacity through relevant, diverse, and accessible experiences and conversations. It exists as a space in the Fort Worth community to bring together a diverse range of people to address cultural, political, and other relevant experiences that affect our daily and future individual existence.
Exhibition Details: TEN Exhibition Dates: March 28 – May 2 Opening Reception: March 28, from 6-9 PM
