Conduit Gallery

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Conduit Gallery has been a trendsetter since it opened in 1984 as one of Deep Ellum's first commercial ventures.

Back then, owner Nancy Whitenack knew something others didn't, and the same applies to her selection of gallery artists. She has a knack for sensing talent for contemporary abstraction among regional artists, and her five-week-long shows almost never fail to provoke discussion.

Conduit's 22 artists produce gorgeous, inspired work, such as C. Meng's cross-cultural paintings, Robert Jessup's dreamy figurative paintings and Lance Letscher's delicate mixed media pieces. The space is in a former warehouse converted into commercial-residential property (look for Pazzomente! restaurant on the ground floor), and it features high walls, a side gallery for smaller works and a monumental pillar in the center.

Ever the supporter of local art, Ms. Whitenack opened what is probably the smallest space in the city in late 1997, the closet-esque Annex gallery next door. Its mission: "to show work of emerging Texas artists that do not have gallery representation." What appears in this gallery serves as intriguing counterpoint to the work displayed in the main space.
- MIKE DANIEL