Art Tooth

Address: 3101 W. 6th Street, PO Box 470961, Fort Worth, TX 76107
(with exhibitions held at various locations)
Contact: Shasta Haubrich or Aimee Cardoso
Email: info@arttooth.com
Website: www.arttooth.com
Phone:  682-233-BITE

How is the project operated?
Art Tooth is a non-profit art project dedicated to exhibiting regional contemporary art by emerging and mid-career artists while building new relationships between artists and art patrons. By partnering with established local art dealers, organizations and businesses, Art Tooth will continue its founders’ “pop up” concept, making invigorating art accessible and solidifying Fort Worth’s reputation as an art destination.

How long has it been in existence?
Art Tooth was founded by Fort Worth art collectives Bobby on Drums and Exhibitionists in 2016.

What was your motivation?
Creating an equitable arts economy in a booming region in the southwest is imperative. Fort Worth is home to various talented artists and Art Tooth hopes to bring attention to those artists.

Number of organizers/responsible persons of the project.
Our operational staff shifts seasonally, but it usually maintains around 3-5 regular members. We have a board of three administrators and are courting an advisory board at this time.

How are programs funded?
Ticketing and admission are our biggest funding sources and our yearly gala.

Who is responsible for the programming?
Art Tooth members.

Number and average duration of exhibitions/events per year.
In our first year Art Tooth took on over thirty projects in the Dallas Fort Worth area varying from pop-up shows to month long installations.

What kind of events are usually organized?
We’ve taken on various projects including workshops, classes, group exhibits, solo exhibits, a micro-grant to regional artist judged by a panel of creative workers between Dallas and Fort Worth, and a gala fundraiser. We collaborated with businesses and galleries in Dallas and Fort Worth including The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 500X , and Fort Worth Community Arts Center. We ended our year with a collaborative show which included 7 other collectives in Fort Worth.

How is your programming determined?
Art Tooth members bring opportunities and ideas to the attention of the main collective members and collaborate on projects they feel are relevant to the mission.

Do you accept proposals/submissions?
In our inaugural year, we held an open call for the year but also reached out to other artists in the area to participate in shows. In the upcoming year, we are planning on a submission per show basis. We also hold workshops and lesson plans that are open to the public, or to interested parties that wish to engage with our practice.

What is your artistic/curatorial approach?
We operate from the understanding that Dallas and Fort Worth can be self factional, and try to introduce our artists with equal impetus to other artists and their practices as well as developers and patrons.

What’s working? What’s not working?
While we have successfully managed to bring attention to several artists throughout Fort Worth, in the future we plan to streamline our attention to what shows successfully helped the community. We are also hoping to spend more time developing the patron and artist connection which is lacking in the younger generation of Fort Worth citizens.

What kind of role do you hope to play in your local art scene or community?
We hope to be an inspirational force to art lovers, a mentor to emerging artists, and a guide for collectors in our community.

What idea are you most excited about for the future?
We’ve been quite successful  so far but  we are looking forward to building on that stamina in a carefully curated series of shows, workshops, and collaborations in 2018.

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Images courtesy of Art Tooth.