Every day on Art&Seek, we’re talking to people who have tips on art in the time of social distancing.  Share yours with us on Facebook, Instagram, or @artandseek on Twitter. Click above to hear Julie Webb with Webb Gallery share her tip with KERA’s Nilufer Arsala. 

Julie and Bruce Webb, owner of Webb Gallery, and Daisy.

South of Dallas, off of I35 there is a world of wonder in Waxahachie. Owners Julie and Bruce Webb have managed their Webb Gallery for 33 years. The art dealing couple has packed their downtown gallery with a remarkable collection of objets d’art – with pieces that focus on design, contemporary, folk, and outsider art.

Currently, on their website, you can see the online exhibition Sight-Sounds. It is a small rotating exhibition featuring unusual works like you would typically find in their gallery. An unexpected feature of the show is it is accompanied by a curated playlist via Spotify. So you can watch the images while enjoying listening to music the Webbs think parallels the spirit of the exhibition.

Inez Nathaniel Walker (1911 – 1990) created fancy people to fill her time and bring herself joy while she was incarcerated. Exhibited in Sight-Sounds.

“We’ve always implemented music with the experience of visiting the gallery. We love music and that’s what we’ve been about. And so it made sense to do a small online exhibit with music because that’s how we presented here,” says Julie Webb.

Bird with Green Background, by Ike E. Morgan. Showcased in Joy Under $100.

Sight-Sounds isn’t the only online project the Webbs have going on right now. Julie says, during quarantine, people realized how visual arts provide us and our homes with comfort. People placed a higher value on the artwork they had in their homes. Patrons were reaching out to the Webbs and wanted to support the gallery and the artists within the gallery. So they launched Joy Under $100. It’s a small section that lives on their website where people can find hidden treasures, bargains, and incredible pieces. It’s a fun and easy way to bring new art into people’s homes and support the gallery and its artists at the same time.

Coming Up Next

Untitled by Henry Ray Clark ink on envelope 15×12″ ca 1980.

Webb Gallery just opened “Thoughtful Collection:  The Collection of Murray Smither.” For years, Murray Smither ran his own art gallery on Oak Lawn. He introduced Texans not only to the cutting edge of contemporary art but at the same time introduced the work of Texas self-taught artists.

“He was very important in Texas folk art for many years, and so we’re starting to find new homes for his collection as a rotating exhibition,” says Julie.

“Thoughtful Collection: Murray Smith Collection” can be viewed both online and in the gallery by appointment on weekends in June and July. Webb Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday, from 1 to 5 p.m.  The series of works  will rotate through the end of 2020.

Got a tip? Email Gila Espinoza at gespinoza@kera.org. You can follow her on Twitter @espinoza_kera.

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