Keep Artful Village Weird

While walking through rows of paintings at an Austin art show with his wife three years ago, Darren Houk was struck with inspiration. Soaking in the color, vibrancy, and creative energy, he knew that he wanted to bring that experience to North Texas. In 2013, he opened Artful Village.

“To me, [Fort Worth] is the art capital of Texas,” Houk said.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every second Saturday of the month, Artful Village hosts around 20 local artists. Parking and admission are free.

“It feels more like a festival,” Houk said. Artful Village, he continued, “has a neat little vibe.”

The storefront for Artful Village is unassuming: whitewashed walls and a single window. A sign above the door outlines the hours of operation.

Texas weather being what it is, snow and ice made the 2013 fall opening a challenge. Inclement weather impacted the first three months of shows.

“It wasn’t the kind of ice storm where the whole city locks down but the kind where most people don’t get out unless they have to,” Houk said.

Artful Village was the first monthly art show in the area, with a schedule designed to benefit regional artists and vendors who tour with festivals between March and December. This helps the artists save money on travel expenses.

“We have vendors and customers who are anywhere from kids and teenagers all the way up to senior citizens,” Houk said.

Running Artful Village provides Houk with an artistic outlet he said he doesn’t get from his regular job. The owner of Roofing Solutions is a third-generation roofing contractor. The building used for Artful Village shares a property with his company and was previously home to a boxing gym.

“When the business failed … we had a bunch of repairs to do over again,” he said.

However, when picturing an Artful Village show, color is a good word to remember. These events are nothing if not colorful. With pieces ranging from paintings to stained glass, there’s a strong bohemian vibe. Recycling is also a common theme. While unintentional, Houk believes that is because artists tend to be environmentally conscious, something he identifies with.

“I’m very much about repurposing,” he said, “and I think we have some artists, that’s 100 percent of what they do.”

In an age in which time and effort are being overtaken by expediency and inexpensive prints, Artful Village was established to allow people to share their appreciation for artistry and unique design. Each show draws about 150 to 200 people. Houk is confident his brainchild has brought the spirit of Austin to Fort Worth.

“Most of the stuff we see is more like what you’d expect to see in Austin, not Cowtown,” he said.

At nearly every festival in Texas, you will likely find an “independent art” section featuring booths by companies like Scentsy. In other words: corporate, representative-base brands. Anyone familiar with the arts festival circuit will be familiar with this issue. (It’s as if Mary Kay and Avon got together and birthed a candle company.)

Since these companies are not entirely independent, you won’t see them at Artful Village. Event coordinator Micki Windle said each booth is local and/or family-owned, which allows them to share their artistic process with customers and receive feedback from the public.

“We’re just trying to make sure it’s all handmade and unique,” she said.

Yep, if there was one word that could be used to describe a pair of Samuel Adams bottle cap earrings, it would be “unique.”

The hippie vibe is uniquely Texan, with photography and paintings highlighting Fort Worth life from the Stockyards to downtown. Though several artists are returning for this month’s show, regular customers will notice mostly new faces among the vendors.

While real art can sometimes be expensive, events like Artful Village allow North Texans to both add sparkle to their living rooms and support local businesses. And, no matter the state of the economy, Houk believes handmade artwork will always have a market

“You can’t keep [artists] down,” he said.