Editor’s Note: This story is part of the journalist, who we interviewed porters and shakers who changed in the art world.
Like many good ideas, the idea of arriving at the art fair was hatched in frustration. After a recent shrinkage of the Sterile and LaFoot Expo, Sarah Galender Meyer, YNG-RU Chen and Crystalle LaCouture decided they could do better. With a consultant, a Massachusetts Gallery complimenting the founder of Shadows and the founder of the artist, the three of them are in the corner of the lush Massachusetts Museum, which is hosted by Mass Moca and Clark Art Institute, a thriving institutional art ecosystem.
The result is an annual, invitation-only fair for visitors at a beloved hotel in North Adams. The fair will open a VIP preview on Thursday and continue throughout the weekend, which is 36 exhibitors selected by 36 exhibitors through the nomination process that brings deep regional connections by curators. Gallery participating include New York’s staunch Jane Lombard and Sears Peyton gallery, as well as Jessica Silverman’s Abortion Gallery, Cleveland’s Cleveland’s and Wolfgang Gallery from Atlanta.
Arrival provides an alternative model for the trading frenzy that has defined most of the fair loop. Based on recent efforts to blend art with leisure, such as Hauser & Wirth’s ever-expanding hotel venture capital Artfarm, Galender Meyer, Chen and Lacouture imagine it as a weekend getaway experience. The fair has purchased the entire hotel for the event and has curated several days of programming, including outdoor sculptures, museum talks and even an acquisition award from the Williams College Museum of Art. The funding model is also unconventional and supplements with charitable support stall fees to make tourists free of charge.
Galender Meyer, Chen and Lacouture with Artnews Discuss their vision of coming on video chat, the hospitality hub for the art world, and making North Adams the right place to rethink the fair model.
Artnews:Why start a new fair now?
Sarah Galender Meyer: why not? Honestly, this is the shared experience we gained at another fair – that’s someone who feels sterile and uninspired. The gallery does not have enough background or support the audience. It’s not that the art fair must be precious, but something is missing. From all perspectives, this is a dissatisfaction – as exhibitors, collectors and artists. We thought We can do better.
You know, you have to tell me what it is fair…
yng ru chen: No, sir. Nice try, but we were too discrete to name the fair. [Laughs]
lacouture: It would be uncivilized, no.
Galender Meyer: But seriously, we want something different. Berkshire makes sense – it’s beautiful in the summer and we all have connections to the area, which is where art has flourished but it’s not flooded. We see the opportunity to create an exposition that is rigorous but also provides real experience: dialogue, nature, museums. It’s a more comprehensive weekend for everyone – gallerists, collectors and visitors.
List: This is part of the world where art is more than just an additional cost. It is embedded. You have Moca, Clark Moca of Williams College, a field that has long supported serious art audiences.
What is the process that will come to life? Does it sound like idyllic?
lacouture: [Laughs] That’s one foot on the other. Each of us brought different perspectives – consultants, galleries, artists – different experiences from the fair. This enriches collaboration. We didn’t sit down and make a five-year plan; it was more like: look at the space, think of a name, and gradually merge. Power is in line with the work.
Galender Meyer: We went to learn a lot. Everything from social media to line up curating ambassadors – it’s new to us. But we really trust each other’s intuition. No one tries to rule.
List: We all have enough fair experience to know what doesn’t work from the dealer side, the artist side, and the collector side. This helps us focus on what we want to create.
Why tourists hotel? Does it always use the hotel’s plan?
lacouture: I have personal contact with tourists. My husband was one of the original founders and I planned it there when I first opened. It’s not only a hotel, but a hotel that really plugs into the community. It is designed in a way that makes sense for what we want: the rooms are separate, more like a motel, so it feels natural to have a gallery take over the spaces.
List: Actually, we first looked at some other spaces. Some are cool, but without climate control, and it’s a spoiler. Once the visitors are on the table, it feels obvious. We bought the entire hotel for the expo – every room, every public place. It completely changes the energy. You’re not just walking in a row of stalls. You are traveling through the scenery.
It sounds like you are more than just a fair building – more like a destination weekend.
Galender Meyer: Exactly. It was a whole weekend – natural beauty, museums, food. We have a living chef, nourishApril Hunt’s DJ’s General Food Editor Mina Stone. We are creating something that feels like a whole. Not only is it a place for trading, but it is also a place for experience.
lacouture: Hospitality is an important part of it. We want people to have conversations, meet new people, and relax. Not a high-pressure, fast-paced fair, everyone competes on the list. We want them to think about what they see, not just what they buy.
List: Honestly, collectors are ready for this. Rat races are getting fewer and fewer now-purchased sprints in the first two hours. People want to take some time.
Galender Meyer: Plus, we are integrating the local art community into it, not just a weekend of skydiving. This is important to us.
Tell me about the exhibitor selection process.
List: We formed a group of curatorial ambassadors who gain insight into the region. Directors and Curators from Mass Moca, Clark, Clark [Williams College Museum of Art]Storm King [Art Center in upstate New York]Aldridge [Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut]. Each of them nominated three to five galleries and we made an invitation from that pool.
lacouture: Some say no, either because they are already committed to Basel, or because they don’t want to take the opportunity at the new fair. But many people say yes. The mix is exciting: galleries from Detroit, Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles. This is not only the usual suspect in New York.
Galender Meyer: This is a new access point for them. Berkshire has a real community of collectors and curators, as well as the Hudson Valley in Boston, Connecticut. They will meet new people and have different conversations.
You also attract exhibitors and artists who don’t usually attend the fair. How did that come together?
List: This is something we are really excited about. We have artists and galleries that don’t usually participate in the fair track. For example, a solo exhibition was just held at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum [in Boston]will be reached through the Wolfgang Gallery in Atlanta. They brought her museum performance directly to the expo.
lacouture: Another example is Mel Xiaguo. Davila-Villa Stothart will showcase his work, who mainly manages the estate, usually not fair. They are installing one of his iconic 1992 vending machines – the vending machines have objects in stock designed to look like American flags and junk food, which is a keen commentary on consumer culture. This is the kind of thoughtful installation you don’t often encounter at typical expos.
List: These projects are not always suitable for the traditional fairness model. However, due to the different structures of arrival (lower pace, museum audiences, live curators), it creates a space where artists and exhibitors will feel comfortable showing more ambitious or unusual work.
The fair is biennial, not a typical model. Why?
Galender Meyer: It suits our spirit. slow down. Don’t worry. Do it right. We will return to 2027 in 2027 and we will have a fresh set of curatorial ambassadors and exhibitors.
List: Plus, North Adams has a history of large, biennial events – for example, the steady sound of Mass Moca. The community got it. They know how to host something that attracts people and leaves a mark.
Tickets are free – how do you make this work?
List: The funding model is different. We start with our sweat level etc. There are no supporters, no big investors. The stall fee, yes, but it is also a charitable support from collectors who believe in what we are doing. This is what allows us to remain free and accessible.
lacouture: It’s not just about selling tickets. It’s about building something that feels sustainable, not private equity.
Should people still know?
List: Arrival is a separate design. The exhibitors felt. Visitors will feel it. This is a different way of thinking about the art fair.
