The Hottest New Art Fair This Summer Is in the Berkshires

Hotels and art fairs may seem like an unlikely pairing, but the two have long rubbed shoulders: The first edition of The Armory Show was held at the Gramercy Park Hotel in 1994, and every February since 2018, Felix Art Fair has occupied the swanky Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel of Los Angeles. Among the most legendary of all New York hotels, Hotel Chelsea, hosted the first edition of the one-day-only Chelsea Art Fair last November, while in London, newcomer Minor Attractions took over the swanky Mandrake last October.

This week, newcomer Arrival Art Fair will take the concept into the mountains with a four-day event at the wood-clad Tourists hotel in the Berkshires. The highland on the border of Massachusetts and Connecticut is famous for its hypnotizing foliage, sought-after universities, and a generous bevy of well-heeled collectors. After a successful preview event last year, the fair will launch with around 36 U.S.–based exhibitors from June 12th–15th.

The fair is the brainchild of art dealer Yng-Ru Chen, advisor Sarah Galender Meyer, and abstract painter and sculptor Crystalle Lacouture, who met a few years ago at the Intersect art fair in Palm Springs, Florida. The trio intends to carve out a niche in a crowded calendar of fairs with what they call a “holistic” approach that takes into account the needs of galleries, artists, and collectors. They aim to do this by combining their strengths as a dealer, art advisor, and artist. “We each have an understanding of what our field of expertise needs from a fair,” said Chen, who runs the Boston gallery and fair participant Praise Shadows. “As a dealer, I am aware that financing is a main concern when signing up for a booth.” Lacouture, who has widely exhibited across Massachusetts, has an immediate understanding of how a fair can serve artists better. Galender Meyer, meanwhile, brings to the table a familiarity with most collectors’ expectations.

When the fair opens its VIP day on June 12, guests at the rustic New England lodging will be able to peruse works from exhibitors that will each occupy a room in the hotel. Jessica Silverman, Jane Lombard Gallery, Morgan Lehman Gallery, Library Street Collective, and Sears-Peyton Gallery are among the galleries participating. Less of a booth affair and more of a relaxed hangout, the breezy atmosphere will be elevated by DJ April Hunt’s beats by the pool and food prepared by Mina Stone, who ran MoMA PS1’s restaurant, Mina’s, for four years. “We all feel like we can provide a better experience for the exhibitors, collectors, artists, and visitors without the sterile convention center experience,” noted Galender Meyer.

The intention to go against the grain was an ambition that the founders had from the start, starting with the way they compiled the exhibitor list. Instead of a typical submission system in which galleries apply to enter, they gathered a group of around 20 “curatorial ambassadors,” industry experts, largely from neighboring institutions, to recommend their picks for participants. “We trusted these professionals who have firsthand experience working with these galleries,” said Lacouture. She also added that their contribution as “spokespeople” gave credibility to a newcomer fair. “We needed our ambassadors to make connections and leverage relationships with some of the participants they nominated,” she added.

The founders also fleshed out the “destination fair” status of their enterprise with ambitious programming that aims to spark conversations and mingling at the hotel’s lodge area. “We are expecting people’s time and attention, so we wanted to be as hospitable as possible,” explained Chen. Exhibitors have the opportunity to spend the night in the rooms they exhibit in, and the fair’s panelist list benefits from the wealth of influential universities and institutions throughout the region. Speakers will include leaders and curators from Tufts University Art Galleries, the Clark Art Institute at Williams College, MIT List Visual Art Center, and Cantor at Stanford University. Independent art fair founder Elizabeth Dee, Artadia’s director Patton Hindle, and Powerhouse Arts’s president Eric Shiner are among the speakers who will bring a New York perspective.

As for the rooms themselves, many exhibitors will respond to the 55-acre land’s rich natural texture with works that blend into the lush summer fauna.

San Francisco staple Jessica Silverman, for instance, will exhibit a selection of works by artists from their roster, with ecology-focused statements by twelve artists including Sadie Barnette, Hayal Pozanti, and Pae White. Geary Contemporary celebrates the gallery’s fifth year in the nearby town of Millerton, New York, with participation by all of its artists, such as Reeve Schley and Alan Praznia, who both create densely colored, highly internal depictions of places. Tribeca’s Jane Lombard Gallery will also present a group that underlines the surrounding habitat: From Margarita Cabrera’s fabric sculpture of a life-size cactus plant to Bradley Wood’s trippy painting of a country house interior, life outdoors is the running thread among six mixed-media artists.

In Praise Shadows’s three-person presentation, a standout is brightly-colored, mystical geometric abstractions by Pittsburgh-based artist Sharmistha Ray, who is also one-half of the artist collective Hilma’s Ghost that recently installed a permanent mosaic mural in the Grand Central subway station. Another highlight comes from Davila-Villa & Stothart, an agency that represents and supports artists through shows and institutional placements, which will present a 1992 participatory sculpture by Mel Chin. The work, a subverted vending machine, dispenses a wide range of consumerist goods, from cream of tartar to American flags.

Though intimate in size, the founders hope that the fair is far from narrow in scope.

“We hope the exhibitors can have more fun with their presentations within an antithesis of the convention center model,” said Galender Meyer. Indeed, the venture’s title came from an awareness of what the trio could offer in this direction. “We were looking for something nice and clean to call our fair,” said Lacouture. “Arrival, we realized, signifies a trek, but once you get there, you notice you’ve arrived at a beautiful place.”