Bill Arning Exhibitions (BAE) was founded in 2019 by curator Bill Arning following a career that spanned four decades in the nonprofit art worlds of Cambridge, New York, and Houston. First conceived as a radical nomadic curatorial project that would mount exhibitions in a variety of international gallery, museum, and alternative art spaces—the current incarnation of BAE resulted from the pandemic travel restrictions of early 2020.
BAE opened its first gallery space in a highly-visible storefront in October 2020 in the Montrose neighborhood—the spiritual heart of Houston’s alternative and gay community. The BAE space hosts traditional art exhibitions as well as events like poetry readings and dance, burlesque, and stand-up comedy shows, ushering in a distinctly new chapter in Arning’s curatorial practice and one that he cherishes for the sense of community it fosters.
In the summer of 2022, BAE opened a second space in New York’s Hudson Valley. The old storefront in Kinderhook has a distinctly different feeling as its primary audience includes former NYC art-scene folks who adopted a post-pandemic rural lifestyle and weekend visitors from the city—resulting in a unique interaction between culture and the natural environment. Built in 1812, the modest building and its gallery space is conducive to a quiet and contemplative experience—especially as compared to the spectacular gestures allowed by BAE’s Houston space.
Curatorially, BAE’s Houston and Hudson Valley gallery spaces work together, offering the established and emerging artists that Arning has championed throughout his career ample opportunity to present their work and reach their ideal audiences.
