Kettle Art opened its doors 20 years ago with one goal: to make art accessible.
This week, the Deep Ellum gallery is setting up a new exhibit, something it has done countless times, but this one is different. It’s the 20th anniversary exhibit and celebration party.
“Yeah, it’s been an interesting ride, but then so is everything,” said gallery owner Frank Campagna. “This is a very humbling experience. I’m very fortunate to have stuck around to reap what I have sown, to a degree.”
Campagna, also an artist known for murals across Deep Ellum, said he started Kettle Art with a simple philosophy.
“The original line I came up with was to knock the stuffing out of stuffy art galleries, and we’ve been highly successful at that,” Campagna said. “When I opened, I just had a concept of, like, my memories going to other galleries and almost feeling inferior, uncomfortable… I wanted to make it more of a people’s gallery, and that’s why our focus is mainly on local artists.”
For two decades, local artists have remained at the heart of Kettle Art’s mission.
“It’s not unlike me to see another gallery doing something with an artist that I know and love, and I don’t have a problem with sharing,” he said. “The fact that they’re doing something, because it’s good, it’s positive; energy is a hot commodity. It should be if it’s not.”
While Deep Ellum has evolved, Kettle Art has remained a fixture.
“It did not occur to me at the time that by staying here and creating something here, the world would come to me,” Campagna said.
In September, global pop star Dua Lipa selected Kettle Art as the site for her Radical Optimism pop-up. Campagna said artwork from the gallery has now traveled across the globe.
“No telling where it’s gonna end up, and that’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “I don’t know… It’s just been great.”
Kettle Art Gallery’s 20th Anniversary Exhibit and celebration is Saturday, Nov. 22, from 4 to 9 p.m. The event includes performances by Big Techs and singer-songwriter Madison King and coincides with the Deep Ellum Block Party.
