A new hub for East Dallas arts is on the rise
Andrea Lamarsaude’s art at Blue Dragon Fine Art during Art Walk EAST
The East Dallas Arts District operates out of the Art on Main building on Main Street.
Caddo at Art Walk EAST
After founding Art on Main in 2022, Andrea Lamarsaude wanted to find a way to bring East Dallas artists together. After talking with fellow artists in the area, they came to the conclusion that there was a need for a new kind of support system for artists of all different mediums in our neighborhood.
Lamarsaude, Jason Cohen, Logan Refrow, Terri Thoman and Jacque Forsher. These names make up the founding members of the East Dallas Arts District. The nonprofit is centered around art focused educational events, artist demos, open studios and more programming to help establish East Dallas as a “diverse arts destination.”
“We have a website, and we have an artist directory. And then we have artist resources online. We try to keep up all the artist calls that are going on. So if we’re not doing something in person, then we’re trying to do it virtually, either on our social media platforms or on our website,” Lamarsaude says. “We are wanting to do more craft, not just fine art.”
The desire to expand their artist rolodex comes after a successful Art Walk in November of last year, featuring over 60 artists. The event allowed neighbors to explore East Dallas-based art and artists, tour their studios, purchase pieces and enjoy live music in the process.
“Not only did we have venues, but we also had artists’ actual studios at their homes,” Lamarsaude says. “Everybody was very positive. It was like ‘Well, we’ve never really had anything in this neighborhood, and thank you for organizing it.’”
The team is already planning for the next Art Walk in November. With some time and experience under their artist aprons, they are now focusing on expanding their resources, community events and hopefully integrating other kinds of arts as well.
“What we’re trying to do as well is smaller things throughout the year, like artist talks and perhaps some workshops, educational workshops for the community, and we’re working with the Office of Arts and Culture,” she says. “We’d like to work with local businesses and see if there was a way we could do some public art programs, like murals or sculptural works.”
