On a recent February morning walk, Janelle Montgomery pointed out the patches of Texas frogfruit and bur oak trees planted around Keith House. The weather was warm and a soft breeze blew through the 2-acre property adjacent to the Heart of the Ranch at Clearfork in Fort Worth.
She let out a cheerful squeal after seeing some frogfruit leaves slowly emerging from the ground following the late-January freeze.
“I’m so proud of the energy we’ve been able to put into the landscaping,” she said.
Walking the property isn’t part of her job as director of Keith House, but it’s a ritual she enjoys as a way to reconnect daily with the venue — billed as a “modern-day meeting space” — that incorporates a permanent art installation into the community gathering spot.
Completed in 2024, Keith House is home to a skyspace from famed American artist James Turrell, who has completed over 100 light installations worldwide. A skyspace is an engineered room with a central opening in the roof and a light sequence that moves in tandem with natural light as the sun’s position shifts.
Montgomery’s daily walks soon will come to an end, as she prepares to retire from her role at the end of June.
The director said she took the job knowing she had “three to four years to give” before retiring. Now, she’s stepping away knowing the space is in a good place.
“I’m really proud of where we’ve gotten in the amount of time that Keith House has opened and I’m super excited to see what the next generation of leadership is going to do with it,” Montgomery said.
The Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation, which funded Keith House and commissioned the art, has begun its search for a new director.
Board chair Adelaide Bratten Leavens said Montgomery played an “essential role” in bringing the space to life.
“Her leadership has helped establish Keith House as a place of beauty, reflection, and community,” she wrote on social media.
Janelle Montgomery looks up to James Turrell’s “Come to Good” skyspace at Keith House in Fort Worth. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)
Keith House was announced in 2022 as “a gift to the entire community” in memory of Bratten, who the foundation is named after.
Montgomery said she was approached to contribute to the venue’s business plan and initially hesitated to jump onboard since she wanted to retire after serving as an art historian and curatorial assistant at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
But once she heard about Turrell’s involvement in the project, she was all in, Montgomery said with a laugh. She already admired the artist’s installations and his interpretation of how the human eye perceives and understands light.
“As the building was completed, and it was time to start implementing our vision, that’s when I made the decision to become fully committed to do another period as a director,” she said.
In its infancy, Keith House built a reputation for its skyspace viewings, intimate musical performances, meditation groups and lectures, Montgomery said. The space expanded to a staff of three supported by more than 50 volunteers.
“We’ve been able to bring in a wide variety of different practices and experiences that have generated their own energy waves that are bringing new faces into the space,” she said.
The founding director described her tenure in three words: terrifying, rewarding and a privilege.
“Why terrifying? It’s a big responsibility to build out the team, build out the program and fill the space with people, light and energy,” Montgomery said. “It felt like power that I wasn’t sure if I was prepared for or deserved. The reception has been everything I’d hoped for.”
Once she retires, Montgomery plans to spend more time with her grandchildren and visit Turrell’s skyspaces across the U.S., Denmark and Japan.
In the meantime, she’ll keep walking the Keith House grounds — patiently waiting for the rest of the frogfruit to grow.
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
Disclosure: The Fort Worth Report’s arts and culture coverage is supported in part by the Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation and the Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust. At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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