DORF is building a village of artists, advocates, and innovators.
DORF was founded with a mission to build a village of artists, advocates, and innovators. DORF’s values of openness, intention, expression, and community have guided its programming, which includes exhibitions that tackle social justice, amplify marginalized voices, and foster meaningful dialogues.
Location: In October 2024, DORF moves to Zilker Point, joining neighbors Zach Theatre, Dougherty Arts Center, and The Long Center to expand the Downtown Austin arts district. With a $1/year, up to 10-year lease secured through a partnership with the City of Austin, we’ve also guaranteed future arts nonprofits rent-free access to the space in perpetuity. Our new space includes a gallery, rooftop garden, outdoor plaza, and a permanent sculpture by Jessica Bell.
DORF
218 South Lamar Blvd.
Opens October 25th
Gallery Hours
Saturdays 12-6 pm.
What is DORF?
DORF was born out of the South Austin two-car-garage-converted studio of artists Eric Manche and Sara Vanderbeek. The organization was established in 2018 to support and promote Texas-based artists, build arts-based community partnerships and advocate for the Austin art community. Manche and Vanderbeek started building out their garage studio space as a response to the unavoidable closures of art spaces in Austin, attributed to skyrocketing real-estate prices and the shortage of affordable venues for art.
Partners include Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Austin Justice Coalition, Bat City Review, registertovote.org, Refugee Services of Texas, Deeds Not Words, The SAFE Alliance, Center for Youth Wellness, Planned Parenthood of South Texas, Collide Arts, and Big Medium. Their work has been featured in Texas Monthly, Arts and Culture Texas, The Austin Chronicle, Sightlines magazine, fields magazine, Glasstire, Art Daily, Southwest Contemporary and more. DORF was awarded “Best New Experimental Gallery Space” in The Austin Chronicle, 2018.
The name?
DORF Coffee / Restaurant located in kyoto, japan
Sara and Eric met by chance in 2007 in Kyoto, Japan. Eric was a student at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) on a printmaking study abroad program and Sara, (RISD Printmaking alum) was a visiting scholar from Christie's Auction House where she worked at the time. While there, they repeatedly passed a coffee/restaurant named DORF that kept catching their eyes. Sara took a photo of the sign that featured an iconic, serifed logo, an intriguing image of a mother with ducks, and a provoking message beneath.
After the trip, Sara and Eric went their separate ways and a year later chance brought them together once again in Austin, Texas. Eric and Sara soon became creative partners, got married, and opened a studio together. The photograph of DORF was always floating around somewhere in the studio.
In 2018, Sara and Eric opened their garage doors to the community as a non-profit art space that is free and open to all. When considering what to name the space, a familiar photo called out to them. As fate would have it, DORF—the small but distinct coffee/restaurant in Kyoto—would inspire an Austin neighborhood art space.
We have no affiliation or commentary on the celebrated, but problematic, VHS series DORF on Golf.