One hundred and five years ago, in April 1909, the Dallas Art Association (the parent organization of what is now the DMA) presented the City of Dallas with their collection and opened in a new permanent gallery space in the Textile and Fine Arts Building in Fair Park as the Dallas Free Public Art Gallery.
Textile and Fine Arts Building, Fair Park, c. 1909
The DAA collection had been shown in the Art Room at the Dallas Public Library from 1903 to 1909 but was in need of larger quarters. Beginning with the opening of the new gallery on April 17, 1909, the collection’s hours were Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., and entry was free.
Dallas Free Public Art Gallery in the Textile and Fine Arts Building, Fair Park, c. 1909-1929
The collection remained on display in the Textile and Fine Arts Building for twenty years and was then relocated to the former Halaby Galleries space in the Majestic Theatre Building, opening April 30, 1929.
Hillary Bober is the digital archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.
That is some nice (and modern) gallery seating – Arts & Crafts settles!
Is this the original DMA Fine Arts building
The museum has been housed in a number of locations since its founding in 1903, including being in two different buildings in Fair Park. Our first location was the Art Room in the Dallas Public Library from 1903-1909. The Textile and Fine Arts Building was the second. The museum returned to Fair Park in 1936 with its first purpose-built art museum building. A list of all of the museum’s locations can be found on the DMA website.