A gallery that has anchored the Dallas art scene for 34 years is stepping into a new era under a new name, and it's marking the occasion with a group exhibition that borrows its title, and its unease, from one of the most recognizable paintings in American history. Bardin Gallery, formerly known as Craighead Green Gallery, will hold the free opening reception for “New American Gothic” on October 3 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at its space on Parkhouse Street in the Dallas Design District.
The show marks the first presentation under the gallery's new name and its inaugural exhibition as Bardin Gallery, according to CultureMap Dallas. The rebrand follows owner and director William Bardin's purchase of the business in January 2025, after nearly four years serving as assistant director, a transition detailed by The Dallas Observer. Co-founders Kenneth Craighead and Steve Green had originally launched the gallery in 1992.
A Show Rooted In Grant Wood's Iconic Painting
“New American Gothic” takes as its point of departure Grant Wood's American Gothic, the 1930 oil painting of an Iowa farmer and his daughter that debuted at the Art Institute of Chicago, where it won a $300 prize and became an enduring symbol of Midwestern Regionalism. Wood intended the Depression-era work to evoke reassuring rural values, per the same institution's account of the painting's history. The new exhibition reworks that legacy through a contemporary lens, examining the anxieties and darker undercurrents of the American experience, per CultureMap Dallas's reporting on the show.
The curatorial roster deliberately blends gallery-represented artists with independent guest artists, including Marcos Alvarado, Denise Brown, Ian Grieve, Carolyn McAdams, Justin Penov, and Tom Pribyl, alongside Dallas artist Heather Gorham. Gorham contributed a mixed-media sculpture titled Sinking Ships, measuring 37 by 44 by 52 inches, which anchors the show's darker themes. She has previously displayed large-scale immersive installations at the Parkhouse Street location, the outlet's report notes.
From Dragon Street Warehouse To Parkhouse Street
The gallery's roots stretch back to 1992 in the Dallas Arts District, before it settled into a 6,000-square-foot warehouse on Dragon Street starting in 2005. It relocated to its current address at 167 Parkhouse Street in May 2024, a move that predated the ownership change by several months, according to background provided by the gallery. Dragon Street and Parkhouse Street both anchor the Dallas Design District, a neighborhood that evolved over recent decades from interior design trade showrooms into the city's primary concentration of contemporary fine art galleries and studios, Hoodline reported.
The gallery is also a founding member of Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas, a coalition of local dealers that promotes contemporary visual arts across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and sponsors educational initiatives and synchronized gallery walks. Over its history, the gallery built its reputation for discovering regional talent through its annual New Texas Talent juried competition, which has long served as a launchpad for unrepresented Texas artists and held its 33rd iteration in August 2026.
Expansion Beyond Dallas
Bardin Gallery's new chapter isn't confined to Texas. The gallery co-curated Common Ground, an eight-artist landscape painting showcase opening October 14 in New York City alongside artist Peter Drake, pairing four of its roster artists with four independent guest painters. Admission to the “New American Gothic” opening reception is free, and the exhibition will remain on view at 167 Parkhouse Street through November 14.
