Landon Burke is a Dallas realtor and an idea man. With a long interest in the arts and a parallel-universe-kind-of-dream of owning an art gallery, Burke dreamed up a novel concept that lives at the intersection of real estate and fine art, Urban Scene: Architecture, Art & Culture.
Urban Scene supports and bolsters local artists by displaying their original work in open-house showings, coupled with drinks, food, and foot traffic. It’s a win-win kind of situation that benefits everyone, Burke says.
“In my career, I’ve done open houses and they’ve been unsuccessful, in my opinion,” said Burke, a realtor with Rogers Healy & Associates. “We have hundreds of people at these [Urban Scene] events and when you get that many people in room, everybody is a great mood, sipping on local craft beer and enjoying the evening.”
Burke has been a realtor for nine years and events in late 2014 inspired him to begin this nonprofit endeavor.
“I got my first luxury listing in Dallas November 2014 in Vickery Place, beautiful house at 5206 Miller,” he said. “It reminded me of an art gallery and I’ve always wanted to do that myself.”
More than 200 people turned out to that inaugural pop-up event in the custom home by architect Frank Posada. Artists included Andrea Holmes, Bee Street Studio, Jason Stallings, Lab Art, Maxx Henry-Frazer, Payne Wingate, Peter Lynch, Snipe Art, and Toni Martin. Braindead Brewing provided craft beer and Poof & Pantry provided small bites.
A second Urban Scene event in January brought out over 500 people to an open house at a Bella Vita Custom Homes build at 5424 Willis Ave. where Burke partnered with the DMA Junior Associates.
The two popular events under his belt, Burke is planning the third open house at a $1.5 million listing by Bella Vita Custom Homes at 5707 Charlestown Dr. in Preston Hollow (with so many people attending, Urban Scene had to move out of the M Streets because crowds were causing traffic jams). The Feb. 24 event will go from 6-9 p.m. with art from Martin Lawrence Gallery. Jump to read more!
“The art at the shows so far has been just amazing. At the first show, Andrea Holmes brought her art out and she took over the office area and she sold everything that she brought,” he said. “For the second show, she had enough pieces to do a repeat. Some artists also sold large commission pieces.”
The basic model Urban Scene is following is to partner with a different nonprofit for each monthly event, donating 10 percent of art sales to that organization. Everything is always free for attendees and artists get to display and sell their work to a receptive audience while noshing on local bites and brew.
Urban Scene has created fresh enthusiasm and focus for Burke.
“I think that I’ll always be in real estate because I really do a passion for that, but it’s nice now to say I specialize in the arts and this is my niche.”
Check out events on social media with #UrbanSceneDFW and let us know what you think of this concept in the comments!
