Leslie Moody Castro on Funding for Art in Dallas

You may know Mexico City-based Leslie Moody Castro from her recent series of articles in the Dallas Observer. Moody Castro came here for a residency at CentralTrak, but unable to get enough funding for her project, thought she could make a bigger splash and impact by leaving the gallery empty and engaging the community in a dialogue about art and art funding.

I didn’t read the Observer pieces, and just met her randomly last weekend at 500x Gallery. She interested me with her critique of the Dallas Art Fair, saying it wasn’t really about artists. In fact they weren’t even invited. She mentioned a lecture at CentralTrak, so today I went to what was the last in a series of talks see what was going on.

There were a dozen or so in attendance, including CentralTrak director Heyd Fontenot. The walls at CentralTrak appear bare, but when your eyes adjust to the light, you can see notes scribbled in pencil from the series of meetings. Moody Castro hopes to find a way to continue the dialogue and work for change in the city, perhaps returning every six months or so. Some of the ideas include creation of a co-op, an airlines miles bank for artists and an artist exchange program.

The group seemed to decide on a monthly pot-luck event to keep the conversation going.

I took my trusty recorder so everyone can listen in. There is also apparently going to be video from the events on YouTube.