It’s official. The Dallas Design District has become the “it” spot for local art galleries. Many gallery directors are opening up new galleries, and older ones are relocating to this area located just north of downtown.

Dragon Street is one of the mainstays of this area and where some of Dallas’ best art galleries are located.

The Gerald Peters Gallery, a mainstay of gallery life in Dallas for many years, recently relocated from its uptown location to a new, bigger Dragon Street space. Often the exciting thing about galleries is their understated simplicity and their seeming acknowledgment that it is all about the art. Nowhere is this more evident than at Gerald Peters.

The gallery is currently showing works from a collection entitled “Defining the West: 200 Years of American Imagery.” The exhibition is composed of a vast variety of art forms and styles ranging from traditional paintings of landscapes to portraits to very contemporary abstractions. Some photography is also represented, much of it taken in the Southwest; including New Mexico, Arizona and California.

On a Friday afternoon in March the large gallery is nearly empty of visitors, giving the space a private feel, allowing visitors to wander around the walls and through the space, clearly a former storage space for one of the many warehouses in the area. The sparse nature of the space and its resemblance to a garage is all part of its appeal.

The gallery is excellent for lovers of all things southwest such as buffalo, horses, desert-like landscapes and pueblos. It will not disappoint patrons interested to see the gallery in its new space.

Right next door to the Gerald Peters space is another of the larger spaces on and around Dragon Street, Craighead-Green.

Craighead-Green was opened in 1992 and has recently been recognized by DHome Magazine as one of the “best galleries in Dallas.” It shows contemporary art from mainly Texas artists and their current exhibition showcases three artists focusing on very different mediums.

The cornerstone of the gallery is the featured artists, including J.P Long, whose sculptures composed of steel and glass are exhibited in the front room. Kenda North, another exhibiting artist, is local and a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. Her photographs appear to be under water and portray men and women in various positions all surrounded by a lacy net, truly making the viewer think about what she is intending to say. The final featured artist, Kirk Tatom, exhibits work consisting of pastoral landscapes that at times seem almost transparent.

Both of these galleries represent vastly different types of art and are just two reasons why visiting the Dallas Design District is well worth the trip for any lover of fine art.