DALLAS – Inside this little brick building, you’ll find an art gallery full of just Texas things.
“I think that a lot of Texan artists struggle to find a place to show their work,” said Brie Milam, the owner of Ivy Gallery. For the next few weeks, she’s hosting a pop-up shop.
“We celebrate Texan art, Texan artists, and we celebrate the State Fair of Texas,” Milam said.
The inspiration may have come from her famous neighbor across the street, Big Tex.
“With the state fair coming in September, I thought, what better time to celebrate Texan artists,” Milam said.
She’s not the only one trying to take advantage of three and a half full weeks of the most Texan place on earth.
“Last year, the State Fair of Texas welcomed more than 2.34 million people over 24 days. That’s a lot of people that come down to this area of our great city,” said Karissa Condoianis, spokesperson for the State Fair of Texas.
That’s almost a hundred thousand people walking by shops like ‘Just Texas Things’ daily and spending money.
Milam wants to use that type of foot traffic to give Texas artists a platform to showcase their work.
“I feel as though there are many art galleries in Dallas that celebrate and showcase art from all over the country, all over the world, but I find that we don’t have a huge strong presence of Texan artists being showcased,” Milam said.
So she will take this opportunity to show millions of people everything Texas artists have to offer.
“I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to grow and deepen and broaden this community and make it even more vibrant than it already is,” Milam said.
‘Just Texas Things’ is open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through Oct. 20, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s located just across the street from the state fair on Parry Street.