Pond Gallery, a new artist-run exhibition space, has opened in the basement of a former flower shop on the downtown square in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Founded in May 2024 by artist-friends Taylor Loftin, Ty Barnes, and Christian Schultz, the gallery operates on a DIY model, with the founders handling construction, curation, and rent. Its programming, including recent shows by Akeylah Imani Wellington and Natalie Conway, focuses on creating a communal hub for local artists.
The gallery's emergence is a direct response to a scarcity of affordable, non-institutional art spaces in Northwest Arkansas, following the recent disappearance of other DIY venues. By citing influences like Tops Gallery in Memphis and Good Weather, Pond Gallery aims to sustain a vital, punk-inflected artistic ecosystem outside the formal structures of museums and universities, addressing a widespread crisis of space and community access in smaller cities.