Dallas Art Fair’s VIP Preview Benefit Features Air Kisses, Caviar Bumps, and Fabulous Outfits

To kick off the 17th edition of the Dallas Art Fair, the Dallas Art Fair Foundation hosted a VIP Preview Benefit at Fashion Institute Gallery (a.k.a. FIG) in celebration of the fair’s opening. Annual Dallas Art Fair attendees know that attending the VIP Preview is a must. In addition to receiving first access to the available works, the party doubles as one of the best nights for fashion in Dallas. It’s a crowd where you’d almost seem eccentric if you wore J.Crew instead of, say, a hoop skirt woven from the plastic that goes around a six-pack of Diet Cokes. It’s fabulous.

Proceeds from the Dallas Art Fair event benefited three of the city’s most esteemed arts institutions: Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, and Dallas Contemporary. As a regular attendee of Dallas Contemporary events, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I love attending arts events because I always meet Interesting People who do Interesting Things. Usually, they dress in Interesting Outfits, too.

Just beyond the entrance to FIG, guests crowded at the bar where they air kissed and toasted each others with beverages from Dry Farm Wines, LALO Tequila, and beer from Manhattan Project Beer Co. Throughout the expansive space, servers from The Caviar Co., who had holsters of caviar mounted around their waists as if they were 1960s cigarette girls, offered cowboy caviar “bumps.” With a petite mother-of-pearl caviar spoon, the server placed a generous dollop of inky black caviar pearls between my thumb and pointer finger. Bottoms up!

Truly, there was plenty to celebrate. Despite a rocky economic climate, Dallas’ art enthusiasts came out in droves, bolstering optimism for the 93 international Dallas Art Fair exhibitors who participated.

“This year’s fair surpassed all expectations. Given the unsettled but evolving economic moment we find ourselves in, the engagement and enthusiasm from collectors, exhibitors, and visitors alike were nothing short of inspiring. It’s a powerful reflection of Dallas’ thriving cultural community, which continues to grow in both strength, vibrancy, and reciprocity. We’re closing this edition with a deep sense of momentum and genuine optimism for what lies ahead,” says Kelly Cornell, Director of the Dallas Art Fair.

PC Spotted: Veronica Myers, Ade Omotosho, Katherine Brodbeck, Vivian Li, Kelly Cornell, Sarah Hustava, Amanda Shufeldt, Porschla Kidd, Josh Lilly, Jessica Nowitzki, Ekaterina Kouznetsova, Nic Nicosia, Jennifer Klos, Anna Curnes, Capera Ryan, Kristen Force, Erin Ellis, Kat Widing, John and Marlene Sughrue, Erin Cluley, Christine Howitt, Suzanne and David Droese, Courtney Terrell, Kyle Steed, Gisel Roman, Evita Tezino, Jessica Volrath, Cate Pasquarelli, Ashish Monga, Baqer Keshwani, Preeta Monga, Raj Udeshi, Stephen Abernathy, Lucilo Pena, Lee Cobb, Jeremy Stick, Sarah Hignite, Will Heron, Dan Lam, Paola Rozo, Alex Revier, Kaleta Blaffer Johnson, Tanner Ewing, Ivan Argotte, Peter Augustus Owen, Nina Barbier-Mueller Tollett, Jessica Beasley, Ron Kirk and Matrice Ellis Kirk, Deedie Rose, Nancy Nasher, and Lucia Simek.