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CentralTrak: The UT Dallas Artist Residency

The CentralTrak residency program for artists in the city of Dallas was founded in 2002, by former McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art and current UT Dallas faculty member Dr. Richard Brettell. Located initially at Southside-on-Lamar, the program brought more than 30 artists from six countries to Dallas for residencies varying from one month to one year. Artists work on individual projects rooted in their residency, but also create exhibitions, taught classes, ran workshops, mentored students, organized readings, and created performances and site-specific installations.

The Southside-on-Lamar program eventually came under the management of the University of Texas at Dallas, and the UT Dallas-Southside Artist Residency was Dallas' first advanced urban laboratory for the arts. It united young artists from the graduate programs at UT Dallas, SMU, and UNT and brought them into contact with mid-career artists in North Texas. It also introduced artists from Mexico, Ethiopia, France, England, Argentina, Australia, China, and Korea to Dallas.

In 2005, UT Dallas created a permanent residency in the inner city to help create a premiere artist residency and art destination. CentralTrak, the second incarnation of The UT Dallas Artists Residency, opened to the public in April 2008. CentralTrak is located the historic Fair Park Station Post Office Building in Deep Ellum. The name CentralTrak comes from the "central tracks" of a tramline that once connected the south side of the city to Main Street and the Central Business District. Deep Ellum was an area settled as a "freedmens' town" by former slaves after the Civil War and that it was an entertainment, retail, and industrial hub.