Madeworthy Sep/Oct 2023

Fort Worth Gives Here

North Texas Community Foundation helps individuals, families, and businesses create tax-e cient giving plans to support the local causes and nonprofits they care about most.

We o er a variety of charitable funds to support your giving today and for generations to come.

Burch and Lisa Waldron with Toby Owen at Presbyterian Night Shelter’s True Worth Place

Contributors Questions

QWhat is your secret artistic talent?

Issue 37 | Tastemakers September/October 2023

Publisher Victoria Wise

Editor Lee Virden Geurkink

Associate Publisher Jennifer Kieta

Contributing Writers

Sarah Angle

Edward Brown

Julie Rhodes

James Russell

William Wise

Contributing Photographer

Brad Frace

Illustrator

Trish Wise

Lead Design

Conor Dardis

Cover Design Victoria Wise

Madeworthy Magazine is an extension of Tanglewood Moms, LLC., and serves to tell community stories for a family audience. For website and magazine advertising opportunities, please contact: Victoria@MadeworthyMedia.com

Looking for more copies Madeworthy Magazine? You can subscribe at TanglewoodMoms.com for free or pick up copies at Central Market in Fort Worth or Tom Thumb on Hulen Street.

Together, At Last

by William Wise

Have you seen those murals under the Lancaster Street Bridge? You know, the 36 eye-popping paintings on nine pillars, created over a 10-month period by an unbelievably-talented-but-asyet-unsung local art hero as a gift to the city he has come to love? Who is

Sarah Makeup artist.

Julie

I can pencil sketch a pretty good horse, eyeball, and daisy.

William

I have two secret talents:

1. Origami.

2. Making stuff up.

Mine are all known. I am a composer –maybe people don’t know that?

I shamelessly put all my artistic endeavors out to the public and hope someone likes it. Maybe not everyone knows I make prints.

James

I've been digging watercolor! It's so easy to do while traveling and in small spaces. I'm by no means professional, but the quickness of it is very gratifying. [Editor’s Note: The lady doth protest too much, methinks.]

this mystery artist? Why, it’s UNO, of course!

Born and raised in Mexico City, UNO moved to Brooklyn, NY. After

Back in my youth, I acted. I was more enthusiastic than good, so I guess that’s not a talent. I can do several forms of calligraphy and very, very basic needlepoint.

the colors.”

In Fort Worth, UNO began making and then designing furniture. He took up sculpting. After a successful showing at the Main Street Arts Festival, UNO began sculpting fulltime. “I thought, why all of this effort making furniture when I have the talent to make better things?”

As a sculptor, UNO built a solid reputation, but when he changed to painting, he lost his sculpture clients and his following. He said, “In a way, I was starting from zero again, but in painting I found my own language.”

I seriously have no idea.

and lent an occasional hand. Around the same time, UNO was a vendor in a craft show at Will Rogers Coliseum. “I felt like an extra-terrestrial at that show. It was weird, and I didn’t feel like I belonged there.” He only sold two small paintings; barely enough to cover his expenses, but…

One of the people who bought a work at the show was a Californian with deep pockets and a real appreciation for UNO’s work; a few months later, UNO sold 15 more pieces to the collector.

time in Chicago and Los Angeles, he found himself back in Mexico City. In 1991, he ran into some friends who offered him a place to stay in Fort Worth if he was interested. He took them up on their offer and the rest, as they say, is history.

Well, there’s history, of course, but there’s future, too. UNO loved making art as a kid. He had a talent for it, but living in Mexico City and in New York, art was not a priority. Making a living was. There are few places in the world for art like New York City, though, and UNO soaked it all in. From the famous museums to the infamous subway stations, UNO was fascinated.

“The graffti was a big inspiration for me. Riding the train from Brooklyn to the Bronx, the walls were all covered with it. I loved the lines and all

Unfortunately, UNO’s painting career was slow to build, and he was struggling. At a talk at the Kimbell, a panelist said artists need to be as creative marketing their art as they are in creating it. At the time, UNO was working on a small mural on Hemphill Street. Then he was approached by the Fort Worth Graffti Abatement Program (GAP).

GAP works to remove graffti throughout the city and educates citizens to its negative effects. Additionally, GAP works with local artists to create murals to cover graffti. GAP offered UNO the commision to paint the Lancaster Bridge murals. He jumped at the chance to market himself while giving back to his adoptive city. “I am very grateful to Fort Worth. It is my home. My kids were born here. Fort Worth has given me the opportunity to pursue my career as an artist… This is a gift I could give to the city.”

While painting the Lancaster bridge murals, UNO was approached by a man who wanted to work with and learn from UNO as he worked. UNO spent over 400 hours creating the murals. His patron bought materials

In June of 2023, a commission for a mural on South Main Street was announced. While UNO was ultimately not chosen, Megan Henderson, Director of Events and Communications for Near Southside, remembered him from the talk at the Kimbell. Megan had been keeping an eye on UNO and offered him the opportunity he’d been waiting for.

On Fall Gallery Night, UNO's frst solo show, Together, will open at The Pool, a Near Southside Art Space located at 1801 8th Avenue and will run until September 30.

“It’s kind of weird. I am very happy about the show but also nervous,” UNO said. He is also quick to point out that the labor isn’t his alone. “I am only able to paint full-time because of the support of my wife. She also works very hard and works two jobs. I could not do this without her.”

UNO painted murals under a bridge as a gift to Fort Worth. However, the real gift to our city is the artist himself, and we cannot wait to see what he has in store for us in the future.

Victoria

Trish

Lee

Brad Fashion.

Edward

“Untitled” work by UNO

Your Year of Fun

Fort Worth Events

Through – Sep 16

The Other Josh Cohen: Circle Theater circletheatre.com

Through – Oct 1 Grand Horizons: Stage West stagewest.org

Through Nov 26

Jammie Holms: Make the Revolution Irresistible: The Modern themodern.org

Through Feb 14, 2024

Success Starts Here

Sep 15-17

Oct 7-29

Beauty and the Beast Jr: Casa Mañana casamanana.org

Oct 9

The Old Trout Puppet Workshop: Kimbell Art Museum fwsymphony.org

Oct 12-15

Florigamiinthegarden: Fort Worth Botanic Gardens fwbg.org

Sep 1-3

Hotel California: A Salute to the Eagles: Bass Hall fwsymphony.org

Sep 2

Flickerstick: Tulips FTW tulipsftw.com

Sep 7 Sam Smith: Dickies Arena dickiesarena.com

Sep 8-9

Jagged Little Pill: Bass Performance Hall basshall.com

Sep 16

Bobcat Goldthwait: Hyena’s Comedy Club hyenascomedy nightclub.com/fort-worth

Sep 16

Downtown Fort Worth Beneft Car Show: Sundance Square cancercareservices.org

Sep 16

Artic Monkeys: Dickies Arenadickiesarena.com

Sep 16

Chicago: Will Rogers Auditorium ticketmaster.com

Sep 21-30

Vintage Pop! With Carole

J. Bufford: Casa Mañana casamanana.org

Sep 23

Christmas in Cowtown: Will Rogers Memorial Center christmasincowtown.com

Oct 13-15

Paw Patrol Live!: Texas Trust CU Theatre pawpatrollive.com

Oct 15-Jan 21

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map: The Modern themodern.org

Oct 18

A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics: Downtown Cowtown at The Isis downtowncowtown.com

Oct 20-Nov 21

The Visit: Amphibian Stage amphibianstage.com

Oct 21

Fort Worth Mustang Show: Will Rogers Memorial Center thefortworthmustangshow. com

Sep 9-17

Jersey Boys: Casa Mañana casamanana.org

Sep 10

Fall Gallery Night: Fort Worth fwada.com

Sep 12 Trivia Night: Cowtown Brewing cowtownbrewco.com

Sep 15

Gaby Garrett: Billy Bob’s Texas billybobstexas.com

Sep 15

Tim Meadows: Hyena’s Comedy Night Club hyenascomedynightclub. com/fort-worth

Fly Dance Company: Breakin’ Classical: Will Rogers Auditorium fwsymphony.org

Sep 26-Oct 1

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird: Bass Performance Hall basshall.com

Sep 30

Party on the Porch: Amon Carter Museum of American Art cartermuseum.org

Oct 6-8

ArtsGoggle: Near Southside artsgoggle.org

Oct 27

Kiss - End of The Road Tour: Dickies Arena: dickiesarena.com

Oct 27

John R Miller: Tulips FTW tulipsftw.com

Oct 28

Stockyards Ghost Tour: Cowtown Winery stockyardsghosttour.com

Oct 28-30

Boo at the Zoo: Fort Worth Zoo fortworthzoo.org

Oct 29

Dracula: Bass Hall texasballettheater.org

Buddy Bray and Keith Cerny: Kimbell Art Museum fwsymphony.org

Courtesy of ArtsGoggle

Courtesy of FWBG

Courtesy of FWSO

Photo by Steven Visneau

Fresh Family Recipes

After wowing Fort Worth with GRACE and then warming our hearts and bellies with Little Red Wasp, the dynamic duo of Adam Jones and Blaine Saniford turned their attention to Italy. 61 Osteria, which opened earlier this year, features food inspired by all 20 regions of Italy. Chef Saniford generously shared two recipes with us. [Editor’s Note: These have been slightly modifed for use by the home cook.]

Broccolini and Pistachio Pesto

This bright pesto is delicious on pasta, of course, but it’s equally delicious on grilled chicken or seared seafood.

Ingredients

12 ounces broccolini

8 ounces shelled pistachios

3 ounces grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano

3 ounces roasted garlic paste

[See Note 1 below]

2 ounces preserved Meyer lemon

[See Note 2 below]

Good extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. While it’s coming to the boil, fll a bowl with ice and water. Blanche the broccolini (also known as baby broccoli) for about a minute, then remove from the boiling water and plunge into the ice bath to stop the cooking. Allow the broccolini to sit in the ice bath for a couple of minutes, drain, and chop.

While the water is coming to a boil, toast the pistachios in a dry skillet over medium-high heat for 2 to 4 minutes, or until you can just smell them getting toasty. Remove from the heat. Place in the bowl of a food processor and chop.

After the broccolini has been blanched and chopped, add it, along with the cheese, roasted garlic paste, and preserved Meyer lemon, to the bowl of the food processor and turn the motor on. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until it reaches a consistency you like. Season with salt and pepper. This will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days. Makes enough to serve 6.

Note 1: To make roasted garlic puree, cut 2 heads of garlic in half. Drizzle each cut side with a generous slug of olive oil and wrap tightly in foil. Roast in a 375° oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the garlic is soft and golden. Allow the garlic to cool. Squeeze the garlic cloves from the head into a bowl and mash. This will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Note 2: To make preserved Meyer lemons, scrub 4 to 5 Meyer lemons to remove any wax from the skin. Cut the lemons into quarters from the blossom end, making sure to keep them attached at the stem end, and then layer the quarters with lots of kosher salt in a large jar with a tightftting lid that has been scrupulously cleaned. You want to make sure that the lemons are completely covered with the salt. Allow to sit in a cool, dark place for at least two weeks and up to six months. To use, remove a lemon from the salt, rinse, and chop.

61 Italian Salsa Verde

Oh my. This condiment is so ridiculously delicious. It can go on everything, including a simple piece of good bread. Don’t be afraid of the anchovies. They don’t taste fshy; they just add a lovely hit of umami to this utterly yummy salsa.

Ingredients

3 bunches Italian parsley, stems removed

2 shallots

4 to 6 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons capers

2 anchovy flets

1 cup, more or less, good quality

extra-virgin olive oil

(Chef Saniford prefers Texas olive oil)

1 to 2 teaspoons dried Calabrian chile (can substitute red pepper flakes if necessary)

Zest of 1 large lemon

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

In a large mortar and pestle or in the bowl of a food processor, add the shallots, garlic, anchovy flets, and a good pinch of kosher salt. Pulverize until a paste forms.

Add in the capers, chiles, lemon zest, and half the olive oil. Pulverize until well combined.

Add half the parsley leaves and continue to pulverize to a smooth consistency.

Add the remaining parsley leaves and pulse, drizzling in the rest of the olive oil, until the salsa has a pesto-like consistency. This will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Illustrations by Trish Wise

A New Vision for Music

by Sarah Angle

forming collaborations that would beneft both parties and strengthen our community.

For the band’s upcoming record, he’s looking for a local sponsor. It’s a model and mindset that might make working as a musician a more sustainable lifestyle. Because right now, it’s not.

For one million plays of a song on iTunes or Pandora, an artist grosses $4,000. For a band like Cut Throat Finches, that money gets divided up, and the sum total is even smaller.

“Live music and touring are the only way to earn an income,” says Russell. Well, performing plus vinyl.

Russell is hoping a similar model can support local music.

The blue-eyed, bearded singersongwriter has deep roots in Fort Worth. He started at Texas Christian University (TCU) in 1992; he wanted to be a graphic designer or work in advertising. But life had other plans. Russell’s frst child was born when he was just 19. And he knew he needed a stable income and way to support his family immediately, so he left TCU and joined the army. But the biggest challenge of his life wasn’t making music or money. It was becoming a dad and “making the choice to step into the raging rapids of parenthood.”

Becoming a parent at 19 showed him what he's capable of achieving. “It was make or break.”

puts out an indie-rock sound that’s won awards and air time. Everyone in the band has a day job, and they all realize the hard reality of making music.

“Musicians always try to be so cool,” said Russell. “But, you know, there’s nothing cool about what we have to do to get heard. It’s the most uncool part of the entire deal.”

Hence his sponsorship idea. Maybe it’s a local restaurant that names an entrée after a song title or a winery that creates a flight or new menu item to compliment the album. The possibilities are endless with a bit of creativity and the power of Fort Worth’s well-established community of entrepreneurs.

Sean Russell looks like a rock star. Today, he’s wearing a funky cowboy hat, jeans, and boots. His t-shirt was a gift from his wife, Honey. Tattoos peek out from beneath his short sleeves. But the lead singer and frontman of Fort Worth’s Cut Throat Finches isn’t your typical rock star. He’s got a day job in fnance, just became a grandfather, and thinks like a businessman.

Right now, he’s working on a new record and a new vision for the arts in Fort Worth.

Russell wants to connect local musicians with local businesses,

Vinyl is on a roll. Since 2021, it’s outsold CD albums in the U.S. — an unthinkable comeback. Today, those sales make up roughly half of a band’s music sales revenue. What’s even more retro? The U.S. is selling the same number of records as it did in the mid1980s.

The band’s next album will be released on glorious vinyl. With a highly designed and detailed record jacket where Russell hopes to also showcase a local sponsor.

The innovative sponsorship idea is akin to how our local public radio stations, KERA and KXT, generate revenue: local business support local radio.

Life has given Russell a master’s degree in resilience. At 50, he’s learned that you can’t avoid tragedy, but you can teach people the strength to overcome it. That tragedy hit his own life when he got divorced in his late 30s. Soon after, he met his wife, Honey Russell, at a concert. That relationship gave him the foundation to become who he is today — a man who looks like a rockstar (and even played with the band Deep Blue Something) but lives for his family.

The band’s a family act, too, with Russell’s niece, Draya Ruse, playing the drums. Together, with guitarist Taylor Tatsch, keys player Eric Webb, and bass player Rob Paine, Cut Throat Finches

The new album is about relationships, says Russell. “It’s about sleeplessness and insomnia and the stress and anxiety that happens to people.”

It’s much more introspective than the band’s last concept album, In Event of Moon Disaster, which focused on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. But like all the band’s music, its sound is reminiscent of a British blues rock band.

With any luck, this new record will build upon the legacy that Russell is working hard to create between Fort Worth business and local music. The band will be supporting the release with local shows.

Wear your cowboy boots or a business suit. You’re always welcome.

Photos by Rob Chickering

Made in Fort Worth: Hip Pocket eatre

by Lee Virden Geurkink

Photo by Loli Kantor

Founded by three Fort Worthians – Johnny Simons, Diane Simons, and Douglas Balentine – Hip Pocket Theatre has maintained its sense of anarchic playfulness and its repertoire of genre-busting performances despite becoming a beloved Fort Worth institution. From world premiere productions to stagings of the classics, Hip Pocket Theatre has been a pillar of the Fort Worth theatrical world since 1976. Madeworthy recently talked to Lake Simons, one of Johnny and Diana’s daughters who has taken over the management of Hip Pocket Theatre with her sister, Lorca, about becoming an institution, staying ahead of the curve, and performing under the stars in the wide-open Texas sky.

Madeworthy: For our readers who haven't been to see a performance under the stars, can you sum up what defnes a Hip Pocket Theatre production?

Lake Simons: We share theatre work that is off the beaten track. We strive to experiment with the form. Hip Pocket has always been rooted in a homemade style of theatre-making that

weaves experimental theatre with nods to traditional forms. Our theatre artists explore a variety of ways to tell a storythrough words, images, movement, dance, puppetry, mask, pantomime, commedia, music, song, and poetry.

MW: When Hip Pocket started in 1976, it was the brash, genre-busting newcomer to the theater scene in North Texas. Now, you're a Fort Worth institution, but you're still on the cutting edge of theatrical performance. How does an institution keep its relevance?

LS: We continue to honor what the founders created and why they created it while also seeking new ways to push artistic boundaries. Theatre isn’t stagnant. It is an ever-developing artistic expression, and we continue to explore the medium. Fort Worth needs this outlet, and the artists that create on our stage need it.

MW: Founder Johnny Simons retired a couple of years ago. He was the driving

force of the company for the entirety of his tenure, adapting works, writing, and acting. How have you flled his admittedly-unfllable shoes?

LS: His daughters have taken the helm. [I’m] the Managing Artistic Director, and Lorca Simons is the Producing Artistic Director. Together we are dedicated to honoring his vision and simultaneously infusing our own individual artistic visions into the future of Hip Pocket.

MW: Can you tell us a little about the rest of the 2023 season?

LS: We are currently in rehearsals for our mini-plays festival called Testing Ground 3+3 pairing three playwrights with three directors. 84-year-old Molemo! will share his pantomime – Old And In The Way – for three nights only. [Editor’s Note: Molemo! is founder Johnny Simons’ artistic alterego.] We end our 47th season with a stage adaptation of The Fly, directed by Shawn Gann with original music

created by Joe Rogers. An extraspecial bonus is the Puppetry Pageant led by NYC puppetry artists, Erin Orr and Chris Green, to be created and performed by the DFW community as a pre-show experience on the closing weekend of The Fly

MW: The Theatre's whimsy seems to me uniquely Fort Worthian. Do you think the Hip Pocket Theatre could exist anywhere else?

LS: It is hard to imagine Hip Pocket in another city or state. The roots are deep in Fort Worth. So much of what Hip Pocket is today came from three people (Johnny Simons, Diane Simons, and Douglas Balentine), all three Fort Worthians sharing themselves as artists on the Hip Pocket stage. Although Lorca and I do not have Fort Worth addresses, we are drawn to our Texas roots every season to continue the tradition.

MW: One of the Theatre's signatures is performing under the stars. Doing anything outdoors in North Texas during the summer and fall is always a gamble - if it isn't storming, it's sizzling. Why does the Theatre continue under the stars?

LS: It is primitive, and that is the real deal. Nature and creation go hand in hand. Making art under the stars without walls pushes us and makes us vulnerable which keeps both it and us present. And there is nothing like hearing the cicadas sing and feeling a gentle breeze as one steps onto that magical roughhewn stage to share a story. It is worth it.

Bringing Art from the Museum to the People

by Edward Brown

Like the careers of the artists whose works populate the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Adam Werner’s path to artistic fruition was riddled with setbacks. Now the manager of the Amon Carter’s Community Teaching Program, Werner oversees a team of four teachers, two of whom are bilingual, and utilizes the vast resources of the Amon Carter to bring the museum’s mission of celebrating American creativity to young minds across Tarrant County.

“We work with a lot of younger students,” Werner said. “Because I had this roundabout path to my career, I try to show kids a little behind-the-scenes of what jobs are available in the artistic and museum worlds. If you don’t know what’s out there, how are you going to know [what career is right]?”

When the education director was a youth, he thought artists either taught art, made art, or worked in graphic design. The Tennessee native’s father was a pastor whose job kept the family moving to churches in Tennessee, Virginia, and East Texas.

“I grew up just being interested in art and doing a lot of drawing,” Werner recalled. “I was really into stuff that had a visual culture around it, like punk music and skateboarding. I was always keyed into the graphics on skateboards and record covers. I’d recreate those drawings and logos. For me, art, music, and skateboarding all went together.”

Marshall High School, near the Louisiana border, was typical of small-town Texas schools. Life centered around football and marching band. While maintaining a trio of skater friends, Adam met his current wife Robbie, although the two didn’t date until college. Looking back, he appreciates the mixed-socioeconomic student population which forced him to interact with folks from all walks of life.

“My art teachers were inventing new courses for two or three of us who were really serious about art,” he said. “That is when they were just starting to have digital art classes.”

Adam entered a portfolio competition offered by nearby Kilgore College and placed second. The accolade came with a steep cut in tuition, so he began college near his hometown before transferring to the University of North Texas (UNT) to study graphic design. Robbie was studying architecture at the nearby University of Texas, Arlington (UTA) when the two started dating. The couple’s circle of

friends lived in the Mid-Cities, so Adam transferred again, this time to UTA.

If Adam’s career had a middle period, it focused on providing for his growing family. Before fnishing his degree from UTA, Adam and Robbie married and moved to Tennessee for a few years. He was burned out on the idea of perching in front of a computer as a graphic designer and worked at a digital printing company and, later, at a health food store. With their frst child, Amaris, on the way, Adam’s love of creating art would have to be put on hold.

Fond memories of visiting Fort Worth brought the family back to Cowtown in 2002, and Robbie found a job at the Kimbell Art Museum’s gift store.

“I realized I needed to go back and do what I loved doing, which was drawing and painting,” he said about his decision to fnish his degree from UTA.

As Adam and Robbie juggled work and child-rearing, the couple placed spending time with their children over career-building. Adam worked nights at UPS, taking classes when Robbie wasn’t working at the Kimbell.

“[Amaris] would go to bed at 7,” Adam recalled. “That’s when I would go to bed before getting up for work at one or two in the morning.”

This life made college studies slow-going.

With Paige, their second daughter, on the way, Adam fnished his fnal courses on

Robbie’s days off so their frst daughter would be with at least one parent.

“I needed stability and health insurance,” Adam said of that time. “I opted to get a teaching certifcation. We chose to live frugally and struggle in a lot of ways but prioritized spending time with our kids.”

Adam’s time teaching elementary art in Castleberry ISD informs his current work at the Amon Carter, where he frequently coordinates with public school teachers and administrators. School hours and time at home planning for the next day took away from his artistic endeavors, but he still found periods of time to produce work.

“Teaching takes an incredible amount of time,” Adam said. “You are spending your evenings prepping for the next day,” Adam said. “Even if you had time available, you are mentally and physically taxed. When there were opportunities for a group show or exhibition, I made work in batches.”

When Adam could squirrel away time for personal projects, his day job was his muse. His drawings and paintings had common themes: paper airplanes, wads of paper, and school-related rituals like ironing on Sundays. The creative output, he said, was selfreferential.

Artistic cohorts organized pop-up shows in Arlington and Fort Worth which gave Adam an outlet for his paper-strew visual artworks. In 2012, Robbie opened the uber-popular baked goods store, Stir Crazy. When she outgrew her original location, Robbie moved her business (which she recently sold to Leaves Tina Howard) to West Magnolia Avenue three years later.

After more than a decade teaching public school, Adam was ready for a break, so he worked with his wife for a year and a half.

“I was happy doing what I had been doing,” he said, “but I was doing the same thing for 11 years. I was ready for something different. It was nice on one level. We were paying both of our paychecks out of the business, though, and it wasn’t making fnancial sense.”

Adam considered teaching high school but had always been intrigued with the museum environment. When the Amon Carter posted a position for a community teaching lead, the former schoolteacher applied. The

Photo by Brad Frace

Amon Carter was expanding its outreach program, and the museum split its education program into two parts, with one organizing school tours to the Cultural District while another team brought the knowledge and resources of the museum to schools and community-based arts groups like Artes de la Rosa Cultural Center for the Arts on the North Side. Artist and writer Jessica Fuentes managed both programs which were overseen by Director of Education and Library Services Amanda Blake.

what they are talking about in the classroom.”

Fort Worth ISD partners with the Amon Carter to ensure that all fourth graders visit the museum at least once during the school year.

While past generations of students enjoyed regular feld trips to museums and cultural centers, today’s middle and high school teachers face stringent benchmark testing that makes school outings less frequent, Adam said.

Over the past few years, Adam and his team have built close relationships with a handful of community partners which include Arts de la Rosa, LGBTQ Saves, Tarrant County Black Historical & Genealogical Society, and Cook Children’s Hospital. Sharon Herrera remembers the chaos during 2020 that disrupted her nonproft’s work with LGBTQ youth.

“We were panicking,” the LGBTQ Saves founder and director recalled. “The Amon Carter was one of the frst groups to reach out to us to help. They provided virtual art meetings. We need more Adams in the world. He is a role model for kindness and inclusion.”

“We aren’t always the experts,” he said. “We love to hear what the community has to say about what we are doing with certain shows. Those relationships are reciprocal.”

This year is the frst that Adam and his team have been able to manage the public school outreach program without COVID-related restrictions. Teachers can apply for a new partnership program with the Amon Carter that allows students to create large artworks like murals or installation pieces.

Fuentes said Adam’s past work as a public school teacher and strong work ethic has allowed to grow the outreach program in a meaningful way.

“When I decided to leave the Carter in the middle of the pandemic, it was a tricky decision for a lot of reasons,” Fuentes said. “Still, it was made easier knowing that Adam would be there to carry on the work we had done together in the community. Besides being a talented artist and a thoughtful educator, Adam is a community-centered person. I have loved watching him and the new team of community teachers grow and evolve the community partnerships and programs offered by the museum.”

Fuentes recently attended an arts education conference in San Antonio and heard Adam speak during a conference session.

“His passion, strong work ethic, and care came across as he recounted the work he and the team are doing,” Fuentes said.

Based on his years in public schools, Adam is confdent that his team is well-versed in the needs of the community.

“We have a mix of people who have spent some time in the classroom,” he said. “Others are fresh out of school and gaining experience. I feel like that collective experience informs how we create the programs we do. We are trying to think about what the community needs while providing programs that are equitable and accessible.”

Under Fuentes’ leadership, the Amon Carter launched the Carter Community Artist Program which connects local artists with area youths. But early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Fuentes left the museum to focus on writing for Glasstire magazine and managing the gallery programs at Kinfolk House on the East Side.

After her departure, Adam envisioned splitting Fuentes’ role into two parts. The outreach program had grown signifcantly under her watch, and the work of the gallery and outreach teams was divergent enough to necessitate separate managers.

“Around that same time, the gallery teaching lead was leaving as well,” Adam recalled. "It didn’t make sense to me to have someone new come and take Jessica’s same role. I had started to take on more responsibilities and pitched the idea of managing the teams separately.”

Blake agreed. The gallery and community teaching teams would each have a manager. Now with a crew of four part-time staffers and interns, the outreach program provides arts-centered programs for K through 12 students through in-school programs and 14 community centers.

“During the summer, we do camps at 10 community centers,” Adam said. “Those are hour-long onsite programs that present digital images from the collection. When we see those same kids come for a feld trip, that is always exciting. We try to recreate the excitement of museum visits at the centers through art making where we discuss the Amon Carter’s artworks and have the students make something in response. That’s the basis of the after-school and summer camps. Carter in the Classrooms is where we coordinate with teachers or administrators, so we connect with their curriculum. We have a huge archive and library and can pull from those resources. Our archivist can pull some amazing materials like photos, magazines, and books. We can use those to make connections to

Using the social media app Discord, Adam and his team provided live programs that introduced Herrera’s youths to the museum’s collections as well as highlights of the work that goes on at the museum. One art-loving student didn’t realize that there were professional art guides known as docents.

“He is making sure that everyone is included,” Herrera added. “He knows our mission is to save lives, and he is showing young people that they can be authentic. The Amon Carter is an affrming space. Just to know that it is open for LGBTQ students is a blessing. The kids know it is a safe space.”

Every fourth Thursday of the month, Herrera’s kiddos spend the evening at the Amon Carter where meals, talks about art, and a loving environment are provided by museum staffers.

”The families are invited” Herrera said. “It is a powerful relationship because of the way the world is. We rely on them heavily because we are volunteer-based. The Amon Carter has been there consistently there for us for three years.”

Adam’s team recently began in-person visits in addition to providing virtual educational programs for patients at Cook Children’s. The Amon Carter, he said, is dedicated to always better serving its community partners.

“Over the years, one of the things that has been part of my role in growing this outreach program is deepening relationships and doing more frequent interactions.”

It isn’t a top-down approach, he added. When presenting shows tied to the Hispanic community — such as the recent ¡Printing the Revolution! exhibit — Adam reached out to Artes de la Rosa directors for input.

Adam’s circuitous path to being a museum director was beset with setbacks and pauses so he and his wife could prioritize parenting. It’s a backstory that enables Adam to connect with students who are unsure of what they want in life.

“I don’t necessarily recommend going the route I did,” he said with a laugh. “But there is value in each of the experiences I’ve had. They’ve all built and led to where I am today.”

Over the years, one of the things that has been part of my role in growing this outreach program is deepening relationships and doing more frequent interactions.

Photos courtesy of Amon Carter Museum of American Art

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of becoming a ballerina. I danced my little feet off until it became clear that I was not destined to join the Joffrey Ballet or the American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet, much less as a prima ballerina.

How many little children have dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer while watching Texas Ballet Theater’s (TBT) annual production of The Nutcracker? Generations, I’m sure.

Fort Worth is fortunate to have a local-yetinternationally-recognized ballet company that provides all levels of ballet instruction as well as professional productions of classics from the ballet repertoire and world premiere performances of new ballets.

In 2022, longtime Artistic Director Ben Stevenson, OBE, transitioned to Artistic Director Emeritus. Stevenson led TBT from 2004, choreographing numerous ballets and premiering many new works. Tim O’Keefe, who has been with TBT since 2002, was named Artistic Director in 2023. O’Keefe joined TBT from the Houston Ballet and has taught classes with Texas Ballet Theater School and choreographed for the company.

Vanessa Logan, TBT’s Executive Director, said, “We are thrilled to have Tim’s artistic vision as he moves into this new role. His leadership reinforces Texas Ballet Theater’s mission of providing the highest caliber productions and education in our communities.”

The 2023-2024 season will start with an annual production of Dracula, which

Romance, Darkness, and Sparkle: Texas Ballet Theater's 2023-2024

Season

by Lee Virden Geurkink

runs at Bass Performance Hall from October 6th through October 8th. Choreographed by Stevenson, the ballet follows the eponymous Count. Stevenson premiered this ballet in 1997 at the Houston Ballet, and O’Keefe danced the role of Dracula

”Having the opportunity to present Dracula is a full-circle moment for Texas Ballet Theater,” said O’Keefe. “Many of our artistic and productions staff worked on the world premiere 25 years ago [sic], myself included. I’m looking forward to working on this ballet with Ben [Stevenson] again and sharing it with our audiences, who have been eager to see it again.”

In March of 2024, TBT will present Brilliants, an evening of four short ballets. “Rubies” is a movement from the longer ballet Jewels Jewels was created by George Balanchine for the New York City Ballet and debuted in 1967. Balanchine is lauded as the father of American ballet, who moved ballet from the highly

stylized, overly-romantic productions of the late 19th and early 20th century to a sleeker, bolder style. “Rubies” has been described as “crisp and witty” and features dancers in bold, red costumes.

“Grand Pas Classique” and “Le Corsaire Pas de Deux” are both classical pas de deux movements featuring two dancers. Each of these highlights the technical and artistic brilliance of the dancers. “Grand Pas Classique” was choreographed by Victor Gsovsky and debuted in 1949. Rudolf Nureyev choreographed the pas de deux from Le Corsaire to perform with Margot Fonteyne in 1962.

Originally created for TBT in 2016, “Without Borders” was choreographed by Val Caniparoli. This ballet features music by Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. The ballet smashes the barrier between neoclassical and contemporary ballet and examines the individual and the power of perspective.

Brilliants will run from February 23rd through 25th at Bass Performance Hall.

The 2023-2024 season ends with Beauty and the Beast. Choreographed for the San Francisco Ballet by Lew Christensen, this production premiered in 1959 and tells the beloved story of a young woman who learns not to judge a book by its cover, and a beast who learns the transformative power of love. Christensen said of his ballet, “The old moral reads that beauty is only skin deep. So, in this ballet, is beastliness. To love is to be human, and it is no less, to humanize.” Beauty and the Beast will be performed at Bass Performance Hall from May 17th through 19th.

Of course, no season of any ballet company could be considered complete without a production of The Nutcracker. First performed in St. Petersburg in 1892 and not considered a success (!), this beloved ballet is based on E.T.A. Hoffman’s short story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” TBT’s version was choreographed by Stevenson. While TBT will not present “The Nutty Nutcracker” as in years past, they do have a few tricks up their sleeve to delight patrons. The Nutcracker runs from December 8th through 24th at Bass Performance Hall.

When asked about the upcoming season, Carl Coomer, principal dancer with TBT said, “This season has a bit of everything in it. You go from the dark and sinister Dracula to the romance of Beauty and the Beast with the sparkle of The Nutcracker in between.”

Photos courtesy of Texas Ballet Theater

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Finding His Place

by James Russell

Photo courtesy of J. Peeler Howellr

Peeler Howell is straightforward, soft-spoken, and reflective, which makes sense for a guy who studied philosophy, worked with demanding constituents for a state representative, taught high school government, and is the father of two children with his wife, Trish.

Then you get the Fort Worth native to talk about art.

He hops around his four-wall gallery on Locke Avenue across from Railhead Smokehouse BBQ, showing off works in the current show, Unveiled: 2.0

First, there’s the Canadian artist Laurie Skantzos, whose minimalist oval wall structures, or Portals, deceive the viewer into thinking they’re lit up.

“Her work is arresting,” Howell said. Then he jumps to nearby paintings by Philadelphia-based Tom Judd, which offer a surreal and nostalgic look at the American West. Behind his desk is a massive canvas by Adam Fung, an art professor at Texas Christian University (TCU), reflecting the violence wrought by climate change.

J. Peeler Howell Fine Art, which opened this year, represents nearly a dozen artists who range from established artists like Tony Saladino to early career artists like Fort Worthbased Engeline Logtenberg.

Logtenberg, who paints large-scale still lifes of everyday objects, joined Howell from William Campbell. She praised Howell and his advocacy for

his artists. “Peeler cares about the artists he represents. To him, their development and story behind the artwork are of equal importance as the quality of the fnished product. I admire his courage, enthusiasm, and integrity and am delighted to join him in this new endeavor. I am very curious and excited about what this collaboration will bring in the future,” she said.

Howell must meet the artist in their studio regardless of the distance. It’s out of respect for the artist as much as it is to see if the artist is a right ft for his clientele.

“The artists are in their own space. They are more relaxed, comfortable in their own space, and talk about their work more candidly,” he said.

Howell’s academic background isn’t in art. In fact, he dodged it. While at TCU, he took numerous studio art classes. But in his sophomore year, his advisor told him he only had 48 hours to declare a major. He just wasn’t ready to pursue a degree in studio art.

“So, I chose philosophy,” Howell said. His path as an art dealer was preceded by numerous detours.

His second degree at least has “art” in it: Master of Liberal Arts, also from TCU. Between 2005 and 2007, he was a substitute teacher of government at his alma mater, Trinity Valley School (TVS). In 2008, he was district director for former Representative Mark Shelton. After Shelton lost a bid for the state senate in 2008 to former State Senator Wendy Davis, Howell transitioned to social media consulting for Legintel, a software compiling legislative information for clients.

But Howell dabbled in art. He’d previously helped fellow TVS alums J.W. Wilson and Lauren Childs set up a one-day pop-up show at the former Shipping and Receiving Bar on the Near Southside. “We were building frames and hanging art until we opened,” he said. The show ultimately led to Fort Works Art, now a bastion of the Fort Worth art scene.

“It was a huge amount of fun to scramble,” he said.

In August 2017, Howell fnally got a professional art gig as a gallery assistant at the venerable William Campbell Art Gallery, where he worked until December 2020.

Now Howell not only sells work but paints too. His painting style is right out of Grimm’s fairy tales and other children’s stories. He calls his works “dreamscapes.” To him, “the soft bright colors are really interesting for a four-year-old child.” There’s a star in almost every one of his paintings.

The genesis of his work was his love of books, especially children’s books. “I was completely taken away by the works of James Harriott, Where The Wild Things Are, and Grimm’s fairy tales.

“They scared the crap out of me,” he said.

His appreciation of art also derived from his parents’ collection of Santa Fe artists, such as Kent Wallis, and from the trips he and his family took when he was growing up. He likes to say while his friends went to summer camp, his family “would fly somewhere and take a road trip from there.” Their wanderings took them from Jackson Hole to New England, from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Coast.

After years of wandering, Peeler Howell has found his place.

DR. THORBURN

DR. LUK

Influencing with Purpose: Art Tooth

In 2019, we started a new feature called “Influencing with Purpose” to shine a spotlight on local social media influencers who use their platforms for more than just advertising themselves. It’s appropriate, then, that for our arts issue we chose Art Tooth, Fort Worth’s nonproft dedicated to exhibiting emerging and mid-career artists, while building new relationships between artists and art patrons. We reached out to Art Tooth’s director, Shasta Haubrich.

- by Lee Virden Geurkink

Art Tooth is a major player in the Fort Worth art scene. When was Art Tooth established, and what need did Art Tooth fill?

Art Tooth was established in 2016. We wanted to create more opportunities for emerging artists in DFW using creative partnerships to get art on walls and in unique places that move beyond typical gallery shows.

Can you give us a quick timeline of Art Tooth?

… in the frst couple of years we did all kinds of events: education events, parties, the bus, exhibits. We became the frst Collective in Residence at Arts Fort Worth in 2018. We started focusing on mainly exhibits… and partnered with Art South to curate the Art Box on South Main in 2019. Thanks to grants from Facebook and NTCF we were able to tread water during 2020 and the height of the pandemic… in that time, we partnered with Hotel Dryce for a grant to give fve BIPOC artists funds to create work for the space… we are about to announce our second round of the Artists in Business Grant to give more artists funds to make work. Since we started, we have worked with more than 300 artists and organized more than 100 events.

What are the biggest issues that local artists face?

There is a plethora of issues faced by artists… but I feel like Fort Worth

known for their thriving art scene, residencies and studio spaces help artists have a place to make work and connect with [other artists]. Fort Worth

ties. For that reason, I think any parent should be proud to push their children toward their dreams. I never thought I could make it as a full-time artist. It made me miserable, and I don’t think any parent wants that for their child. This issue will hit the stands just before Fall Gallery Night 2023. Tell me about Art Tooth's history with Gallery Night and what you're doing for this installment.

The frst bus took off for Spring Gallery Night in 2017. When I frst moved to Fort Worth in 2009, I was interested in Gallery Night, but it made me nervous to go to galleries on my own. I thought if we gathered a busload of people to go to the galleries, people might

To paraphrase your website, Art Tooth was established to foster connections between artists, patrons, and collectors. How does Art Tooth nurture these relationships?

Art Tooth creates events that highlight local art and bring people together to support those artists. We specifcally try to help artists create or display work that helps broaden their audience or helps them expand [what] they can include on their CV, like solo shows and public installations. For patrons, we help many people begin their art collections by introducing them to emerging artists.

Fort Worth has become an incubator for both emerging and established artists. What is it about Fort Worth that is possibly missing in other cities that allowed this to happen?

I think Fort Worth artists are uniquely supportive of each other and noncompetitive.

is severely lacking in direct fnancial support to artists from the city and in affordable studio spaces.

Gallery space in Fort Worth is at a premium. Can you tell us what Art Tooth is doing to help mitigate that?

Art Tooth works to partner with businesses to create unique opportunities for artists at many levels. Current and previous examples include the Art Tooth wall at Tulips, where we

has seen closures of several studio spaces, and with the rising cost of living in Fort Worth, affordable studio spaces and residencies are imperative to keep artists in the city. I think the creatives working in this city are what make it a great place to live, so we need to ensure there is space for them at every level.

Parents everywhere insist that their children get a "realistic degree to have something to fall back on." For

not feel intimidated. This year, we are excited to host two buses. One from noon to three and one from fve to nine, which will double the number of galleries we visit.

What is the itinerary for the Party Buses on September 9?

I don’t know for sure [at the time of press], but we will for sure visit some of our favorite galleries like Kinfolk House, Arts Fort Worth, and SiNaCa Studios.

show a new artist every month; the Art South Box, where we show installation art every six weeks, including partnerships with local high schools; and partnerships with beloved entities like Bass Hall, Mayfest, and Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.

The new space at Tulips – what does residency space mean to the artists, and what kind of programs can we expect out of the workspace/gallery?

So just to clarify, it is just a workspace, not a gallery… In most other cities

our readers whose children want to become artists, can you offer a bit of reassurance that their child can make a living?

I think a world without art would be a pretty miserable place. Artists create work to express their thoughts, feelings, and compulsions in a way that moves beyond just words. In this way, humans fnd connections with art that validate their feelings. In a time when life in general can be very isolating, we need those unspoken

The bi-annual Gallery Nights are highlights of the art year in Fort Worth. What other opportunities are there for artists and patrons to connect throughout the year?

ArtsGoggle in Southside is a great one. Wandering Roots Market has events throughout the year and at Trinity Pride. Almost every gallery on Gallery Night is also open throughout the year, so if you fnd one you like, be sure to follow their social media or sign up for their newsletters... The same goes for any artist you fnd that you love. We are all hustling year ‘round…

What does the future hold for Art Tooth?

We’re about to open our frst studio space. We’re hoping to fnd a way to create residencies for artists so they can have free studio space. Of course, we will continue to partner with businesses to create opportunities for artists and hope to continue to expand our work throughout the city.

Photo by Walt Burns

Photo by Tommy Escobar

Photo by Walt Burns

Photos courtesy of Art Tooth

FORT WORTHIES

by Lee Virden Geurkink

One of my favorite things about Fort Worth has always been the juxtaposition of our Western heritage with our world-class museums and vibrant art scene. "Where the West Begins" has become "Where Artists Begin." In this installment of Fort Worthies, we celebrate those who make art and make art possible in Cowtown. Cowboys and Culture, indeed!

Kids Who Care Performing Arts (KWC) has announced their 2023-2024 Touring Company.

Founded in 1989, KWC has become a fxture in the artistic landscape of Fort Worth. Kids learn the world of theatre — on stage and behind the scenes — along with entrepreneurial and leadership skills, helping kids think on their feet and creatively solve problems. The Touring Company consists of 33 kids who train under experienced teachers and artists and take KWC's original works on the road. From September through May, the Touring Company will perform for schools, hospitals, city councils, and community organizations across Texas.

The Lone Star Film Festival (LSFF) and the Fort Worth Film Commission (FWFC) are pleased to announce Texan singer/songwriter Charley Crockett will be the recipient of the 2023 Stephen Bruton Award at the LSFF Gala on November 10, 2023. Born in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Crockett was raised in Dallas. His music reflects his time busking in New Orleans’ French Quarter and playing in Dallas’s Deep Ellum.

Carolyn West founded the Thank You Darlin’ Foundation to not only to give children access to the arts but to strengthen Fort Worth-area children in reading, writing, and public speaking. To this end, the Foundation hosts the annual Voice2Youth™ Poetry Slam for area third through 12th graders. “We look to make more of an impact,” said West. “We see a kid say they hated poetry but now they like it, or they read a book and realize they didn't like reading before. We’ve heard from children saying they don’t express themselves like an exploding volcano anymore, they know how to choose their words.”

Native Fort Worthian Jacob Lovett always loved art. He took classes in high school and at the University of Mississippi, but it wasn’t until he had graduated that he realized that art wasn’t just a hobby. He also realized that while Fort Worth has become a center for up-and-coming artists, said artists need a place to make their art. So he created muse. Based on the co-working model, muse. offers private studios, event space, and, of course, coffee to Fort Worth artists.

“Charley’s music reflects the unique and passionate sounds of Texas artists,” said Tom Martens, director of the Fort Worth Music Offce. “His artistry in music and storytelling is compelling for everyone in creative industries, and we’re excited to honor his contributions to music and flm in Fort Worth.”

2023’s installment of Fall Gallery Night will be held on September 9. Twice a year, the Fort Worth Art Dealers Association (FWADA) organizes shows at galleries, museums, restaurants, bars, and event spaces across the city. It is a uniquely Fort Worth way to introduce both new and experienced art patrons to new artists and art. Most venues are open from 1 pm throughout the evening, so this is a wonderful chance to expose your family to new and exciting art.

Just when we thought The Welman Project couldn’t get any cooler! It turns out that the local nonproft doesn’t just keep old offce supplies out of landflls by giving them to teachers for use in classrooms. They keep trash out of landflls by urging schoolchildren to turn trash into art. Through the Fort Worth After School Recycled Art Contest, The Welman Project teaches students the importance of creative recycling while sparking their imaginations. "The goal [of the contest] is to really get them looking at materials in different ways,” said Taylor Willis, one of The Welman Project’s founders, “And seeing how in their own daily lives they can be reusing materials, fnding beauty in things that other people might discard and fnd their artistic voice.” This year’s theme was Curious Creatures and Make Believe Monster; Kirkpatrick Elementary won frst place this year, while West Handley Elementary won the People’s Choice Award for a monster named Queen Iris.

This year, local art festival ArtsGoggle will celebrate its 20th anniversary. The Near Southside festival started as an indoor gallery night. It was a uniquely Fort Worth way to showcase the area’s revitalization. Now the festival features local art, food, and music and stretches out for over a mile along West Magnolia Avenue. Over the past 20 years (with a break for the pandemic), ArtsGoggle has become one of Fort Worth’s most beloved family-friendly events.

Gallery of Dreams was founded by Lauren Saba alongside Fort Works Art as a way to support local artists as they work to establish themselves. For the past eight years, Gallery of Dreams has also curated the Mayoral High School Art Competition. This juried competition is open to high school students living in a 20-mile radius from Fort Worth and offers cash prizes for frst, second, and third place. In addition, the frst-place winner’s art work will hang in Mayor Mattie Parker’s offce for a year. Saba said of the contest, “Every year, local students are selected to exhibit their work in a white wall gallery with a reception in their honor and cash prizes… The validation that the students get… leaves me with tears in my eyes. It is powerful.”

If you think you can’t make a living as an artist, think again. Native Fort Worthian Jack Rusell, aka Jackdaw of Jackdaw Folk Art, is proof you can. Jackdaw makes linoleum-cut art prints that have quickly become popular among art patrons. His subjects are either local history or pop culture, and the stark lines and simple colors of his prints are eyecatching. Don’t be surprised if you see his works on album covers, too. And if further proof of his talent is needed (it really isn't), Jackdaw is the featured artist of this year's ArtsGoggle. Congratulations, Jackdaw!

William Campbell Gallery is pleased to announce new gallery artist Marshall Harris. Harris is perhaps best known for his larger-than-life, hyperrealist renderings of fgures and objects, which include repurposed objects or ephemera, as well as using wood and other natural objects as his medium and subject matter. Harris received his BFA in Graphic Design from Texas Christian University in 1979, where he created TCU’s famous Flying T logo, used frequently in university athletics. "I've always admired the art legacy that Bill and Pam Campbell built in Fort Worth with their gallery. To join the brilliant artists here... really is an honor.

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Celebrating Fort Worth's Forgotten Heritage

by Lee Virden Geurkink

Photo courtesy of Armando Castellan Cowtown is quickly becoming the City of Murals.

From the sublime to the silly, from the intellectually challenging to just a big ol’ “Howdy,” Fort Worth has embraced public art in a big way. There are numerous blog posts devoted to our city’s murals, and they grace countless Instagram posts.

But some murals have a deeper meaning. Westbend’s “Y’all Means All” mural encourages us to love our neighbors. Vanessa Guillén is remembered in a mural at 3604 Hemphill. Atatiana Jefferson’s beautiful eyes gaze out from her mural at 1701 Evans. And earlier this year, a mural celebrating historic Black businesses

was unveiled at 2800 Yeager.

Commissioned by CommUnity Frontline, the mural celebrates Fort Worth Black businesses and business owners. Amanda Davis, mother of Stop Six, is featured, as is Fort Worth ISD administrator and educator Dennis Dunkins. Black-owned businesses Hotel Dryce, Black Coffee, and The Dock Bookshop are represented.

CommUnity Frontline commissioned Texas artist Armando Castelan to create this mural, and it was completed just in time for Black History Month 2023. I reached out to the artist to talk about his background and his mural.

Born in Puebla, Mexico, Armando grew up in Houston. When he was in high school, he knew that he wanted to be an artist, but he didn’t pursue a formal art education. “I had no additional schooling once I graduated,” Armando said, “So I began practicing with various mediums and taking commissions. After doing this for a while, I was presented with

the opportunity to work for a mural company. I did well and enjoyed it… and later worked with another muralist before I decided to go on my own.”

After establishing himself as a muralist, a digital artist, and a painter in Houston, Armando recently settled in Fort Worth. And then he heard about a mural that CommUnity Frontline was hoping to commission.

“I happened to see that CommUnity Frontline was raising money for a mural,” said Armando. “I had already met Frank Moss, one of the founders of CommUnity Frontline. I approached him and asked if they needed assistance with the mural project, and he introduced me to the rest of the CommUnity Frontline team… After seeing my portfolio and having some discussions, they agreed

CommUnity Frontline’s founders, about Armando and the mural. When I asked why CommUnity Frontline wanted to commission a piece of public art, he said, “Community Development and Beautifcation is a core Pillar of CommUnity Frontline’s efforts. We believe it’s important to show pride in our historically neglected neighborhoods and to showcase their rich heritage as well as to take care of our neighbor’s surroundings.

“We decided to commission a mural on the Eastside to showcase the often forgotten history of the impact that Black-owned businesses have had and continue to have on greater Fort Worth… [Armando] began to truly understand the purpose and essence of what we wanted to capture. He had a wonderful vision of the direction it should go and how to encompass all that we wanted to convey. His talent took over, and the rest is actual history. He saw our care for the community, he shares that care, and it comes through brilliantly in his art.”

to have me be the muralist for the project.”

While CommUnity Frontline had decided that the mural would depict Black entrepreneurs both past and present, they didn’t have a design. “They provided me with photos that they had collected, and I did my own research while working toward the design,” Armando said. “After some renditions and revisions, they settled on a design.”

I talked with Quinton “Q” Phillips, Fort Worth ISD trustee and one of

Mia Moss, whose Black Coffee is featured in the mural, said, “It is an honor for my business to be mentioned, let alone forever painted in a mural next to legends and trailblazers like Amanda Davis and Dr. Marie Holliday… Watching Armando bring all these generations of black businesses together was emotional and beautiful. I am forever grateful for the gift he gave by creating this mural…”

Apart from the mural at 2800 Yeager, you can see more of Armando’s art around town. “I have one mural at 2nd and Grove Street and a concrete pillar of a bridge over Trinity Trail Park as part of a mural project organized by local artists… I hope to do more outdoors and to continue to represent Fort Worth as an artist.”

“”

We believe it’s important to show pride in our historically neglected neighborhoods and to showcase their rich heritage...

CHRONIC GRACE: A Book’s Unlikely Birth

by Julie Rhodes

It was a yellow, sunshiny Easter morning, April 12, 2020. The kids were charging through the dewy backyard to hunt down eggs. Maddie popped up with a pink one from behind the grill. Drew snatched the blue one from between a V in the tree branches—dimples, competition, counting. We wouldn’t be going to church on Easter Sunday for the frst time in actual ever due to the COVID shutdown. Gordon took a video of the kids on his iPhone. Eloise watched obsessively with her swimming, planetary eyes for an egg to roll free.

For Easter lunch, I was serving up the plates — ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus — and that’s when a weakness started just above my shoulders, in my neck. As I scooped, it began to settle down, down, down, heavy over my arms and through my spine. It was gentle, gradual, and silent. I needed to sit. I got up to take a family picture. I had ordered a ring light and tripod for my auditions and wanted to try it out. I positioned it opposite the freplace and mantel, then rounded up the family from their various corners. Yes, we were dressing up. Yes, Eloise would be included. Everybody ‘say cheese’ on three.

I needed to sit down again.

Later in the day, when the kitchen had been cleaned and the leftovers consumed on paper plates, I rallied for my usual solitary Sunday walk in Park Hill, the neighborhood adjacent to ours. The grand 1930s Tudor homes had shut their eyes under the eternal, continuous canopy of live oaks. I passed some friends walking their dog on the other side of the street. Waved. Began to notice the way my right arm was starting to bend at the elbow and press itself into my side as if trying to buttress my torso. I needed some propping.

Propping?

This was trouble.

After what felt like ten hours of walking, I fell through the back door and onto the couch. Thud. Me, the boulder, had rolled to a stop, and it was hard to get up much after that.

My thorn arrived on a beautiful day, on the brightest and best of holidays. I was surrounded by goodness, by gifts, by God himself, and then — I couldn’t get out of bed. No one would know what to do after that for months and months and months.

Thus begins Chapter Two of Chronic Grace: Prayers, Saints, and Thorns That Stay.

My frst book.

Well, my frst “pre-book.” This was never meant to be a book, and certainly not my frst one.

Oh, I had such grand plans for my frst-ever capital-B book. It was going to be a hilarious, bitingly-incisive memoir, probably about motherhood and how lunacy-inducing that is, or about being an actor and how even more batty that makes you. I had all kinds of cute ideas that didn’t drag my actual body into the material.

Chronic Grace was a book I never thought I would write because I had been hijacked by a bug I never wanted to catch (probably long-haul COVID-19), which was quickly complicated by another “C-word” (probably cancer), which led to a surgery that was most defnitely not on my bucket list. Thorns in your life never are.

And I survived.

I survived and wrote a devotional about the whole experience. I heard those sold well, and I wanted to write something that would see the light of day. For all my grand dreams of producing the next Anne Lamott-esque, Ultimate Gold-Star Memoir, I knew memoirs didn’t usually push up out of the dirt of obscurity (especially if you weren’t already a famous persona), so the idea of tackling the genre seemed delusional.

Turns out, it’s also delusional to try to sell a devotional.

After a long, unfruitful pursuit of a literary agent and a growing stack of ignored book proposals, I was grateful to learn my father’s publisher, Leadership Books, was giving me consideration, probably out of nepotistic pity. They liked my whole “chronic grace” direction, but the

instruction was clear: this needs to be a story, not a devotional. Suddenly, I had carte blanche to realize my memoir dreams. But then a doubt entered stage right.

The publisher thought the story was strong, but I was starting to question the validity of my experience. I had heard much more dramatic, harrowing stories of chronic suffering from about fve other people in the Target checkout line that week alone. Those people had certainly endured more compelling sagas. Who was I to hold my story next to theirs, or presume to provide any wisdom?

So I decided to drag some friends along for backup. Maybe you’ve heard of them, maybe you haven’t. They’re old church mystics and saints of the sackcloth variety: Ignatius, Augustine, Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, and Francis of Assisi. You know, real charmers. But boy, did they ever have a vision for grace amid suffering. For all their oddities and foibles, each had such rich, specifc ideas of what prayer could be, not in spite of ongoing, unfxable thorns, but because of them. I roped in their stories and insights to bolster mine.

What I discovered, much to my surprise, was that I didn’t need them. Not that I kicked them out of my book. (I didn’t, and I’m glad.) But I realized that my story was, in fact, worth telling in and of itself. Not because it’s gorier or darker than yours, but precisely because it isn’t. Over time and after talking with friends and family about the whole concept of chronic illness or pain or problems, it soon became very clear that thorns aren’t typically melodramatic, hot-pink tattoos we wear around in public on an everyday basis.

They’re mostly subtle.

What thorns do is go quiet after a while. They don’t want to be talked about anymore: the diffcult marriage, the ongoing struggle with anxiety, the grief that seems to never let up, the

relentless-yet-boring guilt from the past. We just try to get over ourselves and focus on other things. And yet the constant, voiceless ache remains. These private, pedestrian griefs are silently poking most of us most of the time. Looks like I’m willing to bet my frst book on it.

Yes, the saints had more intense trials (Julian survived two waves of the Black Death), but their opportunity was the same as ours: to tell the truth about our suffering to God, however big or small it seems to be. See if He can handle it. See what happens next.

Chronic Grace: Prayers, Saints, and Thorns that Stay will release October 1, 2023, on Amazon and LeadershipBooks.com.

On September 16, Julie will celebrate the launch of Chronic Grace at Amphibian Stage Productions with bar and food generously sponsored by Ciera Bank. To reserve a spot, join Julie’s launch team and get the details! Scan the QR code:

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