The moment you arrive in North Adams, something shifts. The air is still, the trees impossibly green, and the silence feels intentional. It’s a far cry from California—my home for nearly a decade—where sprawl, sun, and noise shape the pace. Arrival Fair chose its setting well: a quiet backdrop that makes you pay attention. And this year, that attention is deservedly turning west.
For decades, the art world’s gravitational pull has tilted toward New York, Basel, London, and Paris. But the presence of San Francisco and Los Angeles galleries here signals a recalibration. These spaces aren’t just showing up—they’re asserting themselves. The work on view feels assured, expansive, rooted in place but unafraid of crossing borders. California is no longer on the outside looking in. It’s setting the tone, reshaping the conversation, and proving that relevance doesn’t need permission.
What Does it Mean to Be Present? Abigail Ogilvy’s Answer
There’s something quietly radical about a gallery from Boston planting a flag in Los Angeles—not to claim, but to connect. Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, founded nearly a decade ago in New England, has spent the last three years cultivating a West Coast presence. But this isn’t just about geography. It’s about transmission: of values, vision, and voices that echo across coastlines.
At their booth at Arrival Fair, they didn’t just show work—they staged a kind of emotional thesis. Five artists, most of them East Coast-based, held the space with pieces that wrestled gently but fiercely with the pulse of now. From the spiritual to the ancestral, from the biological to the political, it was a booth with backbone.
“We didn’t want to stay silent about what’s happening in the world,” said Ana Makharadze, Gallery Associate. “Our goal was to highlight themes that feel especially urgent and personal to us: environmental and ethical concerns, familial dynamics and love, assimilation and culture, spirituality and hope.”
Each work functioned like a transmission from another plane—earthbound but vibrating. Alison Croney Moses, and Alanis Forde offered tactile, intimate reckonings with lineage and identity. Wilhelm Neusser conjured atmospheric tension, while Elizabeth King Stanton and Elspeth Schulze layered narrative and materiality into quiet explosions.
Despite the critical weight of the themes, the gallery’s tone was not apocalyptic, it felt rather tender. There was something undeniably human in their approach. Something that made the work feel less like a scream and more like a hand reaching out.
“Arrival felt like an intimate and enlightening weekend—where gallerists, collectors, and art lovers came together to share ideas, beliefs, and moments of serenity,” Makharadze reflected.
“We’re so grateful to have been a part of it.”
In a weekend full of noise and booths commanding the spotlight, Abigail Ogilvy’s offered a space to pause.
ABIGAIL OGILVY GALLERY BOOTH AT ARRIVAL
Jonathan Carver Moore Brings Intimacy and Urgency from San Francisco
At Arrival Fair, Jonathan Carver Moore, a San Francisco gallerist spotlighting queer, BIPOC, and women artists, offers more than just art. He brings dialogue.
Set in a hotel room instead of a sterile booth, Moore says the intimacy invites deeper conversations. “People ask questions they might not in a typical fair,” he shares. Viewers unfamiliar with Mary Graham’s portraits on colorism learn about the brown paper bag test. Others confront gender identity through Collyn Bacchus’ work, asking why a man holds a passport with a woman’s name.
For Moore, this kind of exchange feels more vital than ever. With museums canceling queer-focused shows, he sees independent galleries stepping in. “We’re not bound by funding—we can show what matters,” he says.
At Arrival, that freedom resonates. Behind each door is not just artwork, but a conversation waiting to happen.
JONATHAN CARVER MOORE BOOTH AT ARRIVAL
West Coast Meets East Coast: A Moment of Connection
For Jessica Silverman Gallery, Arrival Fair offered more than a platform—it created rare, face-to-face moments with East Coast curators and collectors. “It’s been refreshing to finally meet people we’ve only known through email,” shared Laetitia Coustar, a sales associate at the gallery.
“There’s something special about seeing which West Coast artists resonate here.”
The San Francisco-based gallery brought a nature-conscious presentation tailored to the Berkshires, while staying rooted in their feminist, diverse, and conceptually rich program. “We wanted pieces that felt at home here—visually beautiful, but also deeply relevant.”
By the final day, the gallery had sold 22 works, fueling rumors that Silverman’s booth was the standout of the fair. Quietly confident and visually commanding, it was a West Coast statement that landed exactly as intended.
JESSICA SILVERMAN BOOTH AT ARRIVAL
IZZY LEE OF NORTH LOOP WEST RETURNS TO HER ROOTS
For Izzy Lee, founder of North Loop West in Los Angeles, Arrival Fair marked a meaningful return. Though now based in Chinatown—where she opened her permanent space this past April—Lee’s gallery began as a seasonal project in nearby Williamstown during the pandemic. “I know the landscape well,” she said. “So I chose artists whose practices would resonate with this place.”
Her booth featured vibrant, abstract works by Benedict Schoyer, Beverly Acha, and Andrew Holmquist—artists who each bring a unique relationship to color, form, and emotion. “I wanted the work to feel visually alive but also in dialogue with the landscape,” she shared.
This was only Lee’s second fair, and the natural setting of the Berkshires offered a distinct contrast to more traditional art world environments. “You don’t get many fairs where you’re working with views of trees and the sound of a river nearby,” she said. “That kind of atmosphere invites a different kind of clarity.”
FOR LEE, ARRIVAL WAS MORE THAN A SHOWCASE – IT WAS A RETURN TO WHERE HER GALLERY FIRST TOOK ROOT, AND A CHANCE TO KEEP BUILDING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PLACE, PRACTICE, AND PRESENCE.
NORTH LOOP WEST BOOTH AT ARRIVAL
All photos courtesy of Maria Navia unless otherwise noted
TOURISTS, NORTH ADAMS
Maria Navia is a social strategist and community manager at TBWA\Chiat\Day. As an independent writer and creative, she focuses on the intersections of art, fashion, and culture, with a particular interest in storytelling that highlights emerging voices and contemporary trends.
Add a comment