How a Former Amarillo Mall Became a Bright Home for Artists

Inside a reimagined shopping centre where artists create, gather, teach, sell their work, and keep Amarillo’s creative spirit beautifully alive.

At first, the idea sounds almost unlikely: a former shopping mall transformed into a bright, open, community-minded arts centre. Yet walking through the space, it made perfect sense. What was once designed for retail has been given a second life as a place for creativity, connection, and gathering. Instead of storefronts filled with the familiar pull of commerce, there are studios, galleries, workshops, event spaces, and artists at work.

I was taken aback by how thoughtfully the space had been converted into what it is today. There is still a sense of the building’s former life, but it no longer feels like a mall trying to be something else. It feels like a place that has evolved. That, to me, is what makes it so meaningful.

A Mall With a Memory

Exterior entrance of Arts in the Sunset in Amarillo, Texas, with a tall arched window and colourful stained-glass detail. — The entrance to Arts in the Sunset hints at the transformation inside: a former shopping mall reshaped into a bright creative hub.

Arts in the Sunset occupies the former Sunset Center, which opened in 1960 as Amarillo’s first shopping mall. The centre was originally opened by local developer and businessman M.T. Johnson Jr., and according to Arts in the Sunset’s own history, it drew a crowd of 100,000 excited area residents when it first opened.

That history matters because the building still carries the memory of community. Malls were once social places as much as shopping places. People came to browse, meet friends, walk, eat, people-watch, and feel part of something local. In Amarillo, that spirit has not disappeared entirely. I loved learning that Arts in the Sunset still has regular mall walkers, people who continue to use the space in a way that connects past and present.There is something quietly wonderful about that. A building does not have to erase its former life to become something new. Sometimes the best transformations leave traces behind.

From Shopping Centre to Creative Centre

Bright interior corridor at Arts in the Sunset in Amarillo, Texas, with a skylight, art-lined walls, plants, and colourful light cast onto the floor. — Arts in the Sunset transforms the former mall experience into a bright, open space where art, light, and community meet.

The former mall was later purchased by art entrepreneur Ann Crouch and converted into the community art centre now known as Arts in the Sunset. Today, the space includes working artist studios, galleries, the Amarillo Art Institute, an event centre, an outdoor amphitheatre, and the original sculpture garden.

That blend gives the building a sense of possibility. Artists can rent space to create their work, gather for workshops, display pieces, and sell directly to visitors. For travellers, that creates a more personal way to encounter a city’s art scene. You are not simply walking through a polished gallery; you are entering a living creative ecosystem where the work is being imagined, made, discussed, and shared.

I have always believed creativity is important for the soul. Even if someone does not consider themselves an artist, being around art can soften the mind and open the heart a little. It reminds us that human beings need more than routine. We need colour, texture, expression, beauty, and the freedom to make something with our hands, our imagination, or our lived experience. Arts in the Sunset seems to understand that deeply.

A Place Where Artists Convene

Artist standing in a studio workshop at Arts in the Sunset beside a metal sculpture in progress on a worktable. — Arts in the Sunset gives artists like Chuck Berry a practical studio space to build, experiment, and share their work with the community.

What I appreciated most was that this is not only a place to look at art. It is a place where artists convene. There are workshops, classes, studios, and public-facing creative opportunities. Arts in the Sunset lists workshops ranging from printmaking and mixed media to photography, weaving, and landscape painting, which gives visitors and locals a chance to learn from working artists and explore different forms of expression.

That matters because art centres should not feel intimidating. The best ones invite people in. They create room for the professional artist, the curious beginner, the lifelong maker, the child discovering colour, and the traveller who simply wants to understand a destination through something other than its restaurants and landmarks. For Amarillo, Arts in the Sunset adds an important layer. This is a city many travellers may associate first with Route 66, Cadillac Ranch, The Big Texan, ranching culture, and Palo Duro Canyon. Those are all wonderful and worth experiencing, but this former mall turned arts centre shows another side of the city: creative, adaptive, communal, and quietly visionary.

The Beauty of a Repurposed Space

Long skylit corridor inside Arts in the Sunset with gallery walls, studio entrances, plants, and people seated at a small table. — The old mall corridor has been reimagined as a welcoming passageway lined with studios, art, and creative energy.

There is also an environmental and cultural value in seeing a large building repurposed rather than abandoned. Across North America, many former malls have struggled to find new purpose as shopping habits changed. Arts in the Sunset offers a more hopeful answer: take a familiar structure and let it serve the community differently. The space itself is bright and open, which helps. It does not feel cramped or precious. It feels usable, welcoming, and alive. There is room to wander, room to gather, room to host events, and room for artists to build their practices. That openness gives the centre a generous quality, as though creativity has been allowed to stretch out.

I was especially struck by how versatile it is. This is not only an arts centre in the narrow sense; it is also a gathering place. The outdoor space has hosted major events, including, I was told, a wedding for 1,000 people. Yes, 1,000. That detail stopped me in my tracks because it speaks to the scale and spirit of the place. A former mall became a space where art, celebration, and community can all live under one roof, and sometimes under the open sky.

First Friday and the Public Welcome

Artist-designed T-shirts, prints, and graphic works displayed inside a studio at Arts in the Sunset in Amarillo, Texas. — Arts in the Sunset gives local artists space not only to create, but also to share and sell their work directly with visitors.

For travellers, timing a visit around a public event would be especially rewarding. Visit Amarillo notes that Arts in the Sunset hosts a monthly First Friday Art Walk from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., featuring live music, food, and creative people gathered under one roof. That kind of event is often where a place reveals itself best. You can see the art, meet the makers, listen to music, perhaps enjoy a bite, and feel the local community moving through the building. It is one thing to visit a destination’s creative district as an outsider. It is another to step into an event where local people are already gathering, talking, buying, learning, and celebrating.

This is where responsible travel comes in, too. Supporting local artists is a meaningful way to put travel dollars into the hands of people who shape a destination’s cultural life. Buying a piece of art, signing up for a workshop, attending an event, or simply sharing the work of local creators helps sustain the ecosystem that makes places feel distinct.

A Creative Counterpoint to Amarillo’s Icons

Gallery and library area inside Arts in the Sunset with bookshelves, paintings, a large chess set, and natural light from above. — The former mall now offers quiet corners for reflection, reading, art viewing, and creative discovery.

Arts in the Sunset offered a gentle counterpoint to the bigger, bolder images of Amarillo. Cadillac Ranch is outdoor art with spray paint, wind, and spectacle. Route 66 is nostalgia, diners, signs, and the romance of the road. Palo Duro Canyon is nature as masterpiece. Arts in the Sunset is quieter, but no less meaningful. It is the place where creativity is given a home.

That is why it belongs in the Amarillo story. It shows that the city is not one note. Amarillo can be cowboy country and art country. It can be roadside nostalgia and contemporary creativity. It can honour its history while making room for new expression. I love spaces like this because they remind us that creativity is not extra. It is essential. It helps people process life, preserve memory, build community, and imagine what comes next. In a former mall in Amarillo, that idea felt beautifully tangible.

The Takeaway

Narrow artist corridor inside Arts in the Sunset with murals, mixed-media pieces, tools, and studio materials along the walls. — Behind the polished gallery spaces, Arts in the Sunset reveals the working side of creativity: layered, expressive, and alive with process.

Arts in the Sunset is a reminder that places, like people, can have meaningful second acts. What began as Amarillo’s first shopping mall has become a bright, open, community arts centre where artists create, teach, gather, exhibit, and sell their work. The building still carries traces of its former life, including the mall walkers who continue to use the space, but its purpose has expanded into something more soulful.

For travellers visiting Amarillo, Arts in the Sunset is worth adding to the itinerary. It offers a different kind vibe from the Texas Panhandle: not neon, canyon, cattle, or highway, but creativity in motion. It is a place where art is not only displayed, but lived.

This trip was hosted by Travel Texas and Visit Amarillo. All opinions and editorial perspectives are my own.

All photographs by Helen Hatzis unless otherwise indicated.