In 1992, Kenneth Craighead and Steve Green opened a gallery that would become an anchor of Dallas’ contemporary arts scene. Now, 34 years later, the business will operate under a new name: Bardin Gallery.
Craighead Green Gallery was a founding member of the Dallas Contemporary Art Dealers’ Association, established an annual showcase of up-and-coming Texas talent and has a roster of more than 50 artists today.
On Oct. 3, Bardin Gallery, will open its first exhibition under its new name. The change comes more than a year after Craighead and Green’s handpicked successor, William Bardin, took over the business.
“I've wondered what this day would feel like for a long time,” Kenneth Craighead told KERA by phone. “And the way it turned out, with having William work for us ... and then seeing him mature and build a clientele, my confidence in him is 100%. I am thrilled to death that he's willing and able to take it and run with it.”
Maple and Cedar Springs
When Craighead and Green decided to open a gallery together, they drove around Dallas and visited other galleries.
“We just found that it was very odd because you walk in a gallery and no one would say anything to you. You feel like you were invisible,” Green said at an August gallery talk with Bardin.
“We determined that, at least, that was not going to be the way we did business.”
Craighead’s background in interior design and Green’s work as a business lawyer complemented one another.
They opened their space on Maple Avenue and Cedar Springs Road in 1992, as the country was recalibrating after the 1990-1991 recession.
Edith Baker, who had her own namesake gallery nearby, was a great mentor and friend as the fledgling business got off the ground.
“I will never forget when we first opened, she came and sat down and introduced herself and wanted to know who we were, what we were doing, why we're doing it, everything,” Craighead recalled.
She was frank and warned them that they would need a lot of money in the bank to survive. They had planned for about 18 months of runway, but Baker said it’d take three years.
“It was so ironic because on month number 36, I think that's when we took our first check out of the gallery. That woman knew everything about the art business,” said Craighead.
Right place, right time
In 1993, to help bring in traffic in the sweltering summer heat, the gallery started its New Texas Talent show highlighting up-and-coming artists. It’s been an annual exhibition ever since and helped the gallerists discover artists like Marla Ziegler and Rebecca Shewmaker.
“[It] has really become an institution in Texas, I think, to show emerging artists and be somewhat of a starting platform for emerging artists,” Green said. “Many of the artists who've went through this exhibition over the years have gone on to have really amazing careers.”
In 2005, the gallery was running out of space and nearing the end of its lease. In 2006, they purchased a building on Dragon Street that tripled their space.
Today, galleries, restaurants, and other retailers are spread throughout the Design District. But at the time, the neighborhood looked markedly different.
"We got a lot of blowback from some of our clients and friends,” Green said. “It was a ghost town.”
Their bet paid off, and the pair sold the Dragon Street building and moved to Parkhouse Street, just a few minutes away, in May 2024.
“We made the decision to open at the right time. We made the decision to move at the right time ... We made the decision to sell the building on Dragon 2,3 years ago at the right time and to move over here at the right time,” Green reflected.
"Nothing was perfect, but there are no regrets at all.”
Keys to success
Nancy Israel worked at Edith Baker Gallery shortly after Craighead Green opened on Cedar Springs.
She attributed their success—helping new artists gain their first gallery experience and bolstering the local contemporary art scene—to a variety of factors.
“First, they were friendly. They're really nice human beings,” she said. “Both of them have a really good eye.”
They also demonstrated, time and again, their business acumen.
“A lot of people have a good eye, but not everyone has the business sense to know when to shift. They’ve done that,” Israel explained.
She trusts that their decision to pass ownership to the next generation is also coming at the right time.
“They are like family to me,” Israel said. “I'm excited for them and so impressed with what they built and so excited for the future that William is bringing to gallery.”
Heather Gorham, a longtime artist with Craighead Green Gallery, echoed that sentiment.
"It felt like a natural progression,” she said.
“Of course, we're sad to see Steve and Kenneth go, but they left us in good hands. [Bardin] was adopted into the family immediately."
Next generation
Craighead and Green had talked about the future of the gallery but had no concrete succession plans when they first met Bardin.
Bardin lived in Germany and worked at a gallery there, but wanted to move to Dallas. His aunt lives in North Texas and she is friends with the artist Pam Nelson, who is represented by Craighead Green.
Nelson helped facilitate an introduction. The connection seemed promising, and the gallery had an open position. Two weeks later, in 2021, Bardin flew in and started working.
"It was a very quick transition for all of us, I think,” Bardin said at the gallery talk. “That was kind of a crazy.”
There still wasn’t a succession plan in place when Bardin arrived.
“I don't think that [owning the gallery] was ever on his mind because we never proposed that to him,” Craighead. “He's very ambitious and I think he felt there was opportunity and wanted to jump into it and he did.”
Over time, they realized Bardin had the drive and demeanor to succeed them.
“You had your own ways of thinking, but you recognized that you didn’t know everything and you were willing to learn,” Green told Bardin at the gallery talk. “So, a couple years into it. we figured that maybe we should talk about it [the transition], which we did.”
Bardin shared his gratitude for their friendship.
“I always have been really thankful for what you've taught me over the years but also the opportunity which I was given by the two of you. It's really... You know, it transformed my life,” he said.
Craighead, who now lives in North Carolina, wasn’t in Dallas for the gallery talk. But, he told KERA by phone that as he got to know Bardin, he had a gut feeling that he was the right person to take over the gallery.
When Bardin mentioned changing the name, Craighead initially felt uneasy.
“There was a little bit of a gut wrench for a split second, but I told him, I said, you need to do it,” Craighead said. “He's working so hard, and he's starting to venture off and do some art fairs, which I think is amazing. It doesn't need to have Craighead Green on it. It needs to have Bardin on it, so the recognition will carry on for years.”
The gallery’s first show under its new name opens Oct. 3. “New American Gothic” is a group show that uses Grant Wood’s famed painting of a stoic farmer and his daughter as a jumping off point to consider how it relates to the anxieties and challenges of today.
Details: Bardin Gallery, 167 Parkhouse St., Dallas, is open from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Sundays and by appointment.
Got a tip? Email Marcheta Fornoff at mfornoff@kera.org.
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