{"id":121,"date":"2025-06-24T09:43:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T01:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cndesigners.com\/?p=121"},"modified":"2025-06-24T09:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T01:43:13","slug":"a-new-art-fair-arrival-ditches-the-basel-frenzy-for-the-berkshires-calm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cndesigners.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/24\/a-new-art-fair-arrival-ditches-the-basel-frenzy-for-the-berkshires-calm\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Art Fair, Arrival, Ditches the Basel Frenzy for the Berkshires\u2019\u00a0Calm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Three
Arrival cofounders Crystalle Lacouture, Sarah Galender Meyer, Yng-Ru Chen. Photo Mel Taing\/Courtesy Arrival<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s Note:<\/strong> This story is part of Newsmakers, a series where we interview the movers and shakers who are making change in the art world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea for Arrival Art Fair was hatched, like many good ideas, in frustration. After a recent deflating visit to a \u201csterile and lame\u201d fair, Sarah Galender Meyer, Yng-Ru Chen, and Crystalle Lacouture decided that they could do better. Friends with deep backgrounds as an adviser, founder of Massachusetts gallery Praise Shadows, and artist respectively, the trio set their sights on the Berkshires, the lush museum-rich corner of Massachusetts where Mass MoCA and the Clark Art Institute anchor a thriving institutional art ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The result is a biannual, invitation-only fair hosted at Tourists, a beloved hotel in North Adams. Set to open with a VIP preview on Thursday and running through the weekend, the fair features just 36 exhibitors selected through a nomination process driven by curators with deep regional ties. Participating galleries include New York stalwarts Jane Lombard and Sears Peyton Gallery, but also Jessica Silverman from San Francisco, Cleveland\u2019s Abattoir Gallery, and Wolfgang Gallery from Atlanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrival offers an alternative model to the transactional frenzy that has come to define much of the fair circuit. In line with recent efforts to mingle art with leisure, as at, say, Hauser & Wirth\u2019s ever-expanding hospitality venture Artfarm, Galender Meyer, Chen, and Lacouture imagine Arrival as a weekend getaway experience. The fair has bought out the entire hotel for the event and curated several days of programming that includes outdoor sculpture, museum talks, and even an acquisition prize from the Williams College Museum of Art. The funding model is unconventional too, with booth fees supplemented by philanthropic support, keeping the fair free for visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galender Meyer, Chen, and Lacouture spoke with ARTnews<\/em> over video-chat to discuss their vision for Arrival, the art world\u2019s hospitality pivot, and what makes North Adams the right place to rethink the fair model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARTNews<\/em>: Why start a new fair now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Galender Meyer:<\/strong> Why not? Honestly, it came out of a shared experience we had at another fair\u2014one that just felt sterile and uninspired. There wasn\u2019t enough context for the galleries or support for the audience. Not that art fairs have to be precious, but there was something missing. It felt unsatisfying from every angle\u2014as an exhibitor, a collector, and an artist. We thought, we can do better.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know, you have to tell me which fair it was\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yng Ru Chen:<\/strong> No, sir. Nice try but we\u2019re too discrete to name the fair. [Laughs]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacouture:<\/strong> It would be uncivilized, wouldn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galender Meyer:<\/strong> But seriously, we wanted something different. The Berkshires made sense\u2014it\u2019s beautiful in the summer, we all have ties to the region, and it\u2019s a place where art already thrives, but doesn\u2019t get overwhelmed. We saw the chance to create a fair that\u2019s rigorous but also offers real experiences: dialogue, nature, museums. It\u2019s a more well-rounded weekend for everyone\u2014gallerists, collectors, and visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen:<\/strong> And this is a part of the world where art isn\u2019t just an add-on; it\u2019s embedded. You\u2019ve got Mass MoCA, the Clark, Williams College\u2014it\u2019s an area that\u2019s long supported serious art audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was the process of bringing Arrival to life? Was it as idyllic as it sounds?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacouture:<\/strong> [Laughs] It was one foot in front of the other. We each bring different perspectives\u2014adviser, gallerist, artist\u2014and different experiences with fairs. That made the collaboration rich. We didn\u2019t sit down and map out a five-year plan; it was more like: look at spaces, think of a name, incorporate, little by little. And momentum met the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galender Meyer:<\/strong> And a lot of learning as we went. Everything from social media to lining up curatorial ambassadors\u2014it\u2019s all new for us. But we really trusted each other\u2019s instincts. No one tried to dominate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen:<\/strong> We all had enough fair experience\u2014from the dealer side, from the artist side, from the collector side\u2014to know what didn\u2019t work. That helped us focus on what we wanted to create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why the Tourists hotel? Was it always the plan to use a hotel?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacouture:<\/strong> I have a personal connection to Tourists. My husband was one of the original founders, and I curated there when it first opened. It\u2019s not just a hotel\u2014it\u2019s a property that\u2019s really plugged into the community. And it\u2019s designed in a way that makes sense for what we wanted: The rooms are separate, more like a motel, so it feels natural for galleries to take over individual spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen:<\/strong> We actually looked at a few other spaces first. Some were cool, but not climate-controlled, and that was a dealbreaker. Once Tourists was on the table, it felt obvious. We bought out the entire hotel for the fair\u2014every room, every public space. It completely changes the energy. You\u2019re not just walking rows of booths. You\u2019re moving through a landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It sounds like you\u2019re building more than just a fair\u2014more like a destination weekend.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galender Meyer:<\/strong> Exactly. It\u2019s a full weekend\u2014the natural beauty, the museums, the food. We have a chef-in-residence, Cultured<\/em>\u2018s food editor-at-large Mina Stone, a DJ in residence, April Hunt. We\u2019re creating something that feels holistic. Not just a place to transact, but a place to experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacouture:<\/strong> Hospitality is a huge part of it. We want people to have conversations, meet new people, relax. Not the high-pressure, fast-paced fair where everyone\u2019s racing through with a checklist. We want them to think about what they\u2019ve seen, not just what they\u2019ve bought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen:<\/strong> And honestly, collectors are ready for that. There\u2019s less of the rat race now\u2014less of the sprint to buy in the first two hours. People want to take their time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galender Meyer:<\/strong> Plus, we\u2019re integrating the local arts community into it, not just parachuting in for a weekend. That\u2019s important to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell me about the selection process for exhibitors.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen:<\/strong> We assembled a group of curatorial ambassadors, people who know the region deeply. Directors and curators from places like Mass MoCA, the Clark Art Institute [at Williams College], Storm King [Art Center in Upstate New York], the Aldrich [Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut]. They each nominated three to five galleries, and from that pool, we extended invitations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacouture:<\/strong> Some said no, either because they were already committed to Basel or because they didn\u2019t want to take a chance on a new fair. But many said yes. And the mix is exciting: galleries from Detroit, Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles. It\u2019s not just the usual suspects from New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galender Meyer:<\/strong> And it\u2019s a new access point for them. There\u2019s a real community of collectors and curators in the Berkshires, but also the Hudson Valley, Boston, Connecticut. They\u2019re going to meet new people, have different conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve also attracted exhibitors and artists who typically don\u2019t participate in fairs. How did that come together?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen:<\/strong> That\u2019s something we\u2019re really excited about. We have artists and galleries who don\u2019t usually engage with the fair circuit. For example, Fabiola Jean-Louis, who just had a solo exhibition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum [in Boston], will have work at Arrival through Wolfgang Gallery in Atlanta. They\u2019re bringing pieces directly from her museum show to the fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacouture:<\/strong> Another example is Mel Chin. His work will be shown by Davila-Villa & Stothart, who primarily manage estates and typically don\u2019t do fairs. They\u2019re installing one of his iconic 1992 vending machine pieces\u2014vending machine stocked with objects designed to look like American flags and junk food, a sharp commentary on consumer culture. It\u2019s the kind of thoughtful installation you don\u2019t often encounter at a typical fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen:<\/strong> These are the kinds of projects that don\u2019t always fit into the traditional fair model. But because Arrival is structured differently\u2014slower pace, museum audiences, curators on-site\u2014it creates a space where artists and exhibitors feel comfortable presenting more ambitious or unusual work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fair is biannual\u2014not the typical model. Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galender Meyer:<\/strong> It fits our ethos. Slow down. Don\u2019t rush. Do it right. We\u2019ll be back in 2027, and we\u2019ll have a fresh set of curatorial ambassadors and exhibitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen:<\/strong> Plus, North Adams has a history of big biennial events\u2014Solid Sound at Mass MoCA, for instance. The community gets it. They know how to host something that draws people in and leaves a mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And admission is free\u2014how are you making that work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen:<\/strong> The funding model is different. We started with our own sweat equity. No backers, no big investors. Booth fees, yes, but also philanthropic support from collectors who believe in what we\u2019re doing. That\u2019s what allows us to keep it free and accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacouture:<\/strong> It\u2019s not just about selling tickets. It\u2019s about building something that feels sustainable, and not beholden to private equity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anything else people should know?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen:<\/strong> Arrival is independent by design. Exhibitors will feel that. Visitors will feel that. It\u2019s a different way of thinking about what an art fair can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read More About:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Arrival art fair<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Newsmakers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

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