PATRON's Performing Arts Issue |December–January 2022–2023

The Performing Arts Issue

Fount of Engagement: Klyde Warren Park at

MARK DI SUVERO, AD ASTRA 2005, NANCY A. NASHER AND DAVID J. HAEMISEGGER COLLECTION.

Home Alone, S’mores & Sips

December 12 | Doors @ 5pm, Movie @ 6pm

Monday Movie night surrounded b y downtown views. Enjo y Po pcorn, Home Alone -themed cocktails, and a S’mores Bar amongst twinkling holiday lights.

9th F loor Law n

Donations & R SV P via thompsondallas. c om $15 Charitable Donation

Holiday Pie 101 with Chef Jeramie & Team

December 15 | 6-8pm

Executive Chef Jeramie Robison invites you into his kitchen for an evening of mer ry making, pie-baking, and wine-drinking. Box up your pie and take it home for the holidays.

4th F loo r

T ickets via thompsondallas. c om $50pp

Brunch with Santa + Catbird’s Cowboys

Mozart Christmas Dinner at Catbird

December 13 | 6-8pm

Enjo y a wine-paired dinne r by ou r executive chef team, and a performance from Mozart In T he Bar, featuring members of Dallas S ymphony Orchestra. All amongst Catbird’s beloved holiday déco r.

Catbird

R ese rv a tions open 11/29 via c a tbi r ddallas. c om $170pp

Christmas Cookie Decorating & Live Holiday Jazz

December 16 | T imeslots between 3-5pm

Little ones are invited for a magical afternoon of cookie decorating. Our culina ry team will take care of ever ything while moms & dads enjo y Live Holiday Jazz in the bustling lobb y. Th e wine’s on us.

T hompson Lobby

T ickets via thompsondallas. c om $20/child + Toy Drive

Brunch

W hile Santa hosts our second day of Holiday Brunch + Jazz at Nine, Catbird will host a festive Brunch for Dallas Cowboys vs. Jacksonville Jaguars on the terrace. Join for both events, a breezy elevator ride away

Nine at T he National + Catbird Reservations open 12/4 via nineatthenational.com

Nine at The National – $60pp, $20/child | Catbird – free

Neiman Marcu s Downtown Dallas Pop-Up

December 21 | 3-8pm

Christmas with Lucchese & Samuel Lynne Galleries

December 19 | 5-8pm

Winter Whiskey & Hot Shave at Tondeo

December 14 | 5-7pm

Tondeo Hai r L ounge in our lobb y is opening its doors for a night of hot shaves, whiske y t astings, and luxu ry men’s gift shopping.

Tondeo Hai r L ounge

Donations & R SV P via thompsondallas. c om $25 Charitable Donation

Brunch with Santa + Kessaku’s Boozy Bonsai

December 17 | 10am-2pm, K essaku 1-3pm

Nine at T he National + Kessaku

Reservations via nineatthenational.com & kessakurestaurants.com Nine at The National – $60pp, $20/child | Kessaku – $200

Eggnog 101 & Live Holiday Jazz

December 20 | 5-7pm

Catbird’s lead mixologists guide you through perfecting a holiday party classic — Spiked Cinnamon Eggnog. W ith Eggnog in hand, enjo y a Wi nter Charcuterie grazing table & Holiday Jazz b y Catbird’s own Brad Leali Trio.

Lucchese & Samuel Lynne Galleries Donations & R SV P via thompsondallas. c om $25 Charitable Donation

Holiday Arrangements with The Botanical Mix

December 22 | 5-7pm

T he master of T hompson Dallas’ florals, Shane Friesenhahn invites you for a special evening in his workshop building your own Botanical Mix-inspired holiday table arrangement

T hompson Lobby

Catbird Donations & R SV P via thompsondallas. c om $25 Charitable Donation

Holiday High Tea

December 23 | 4-6pm

Spend the afternoon before Christmas Eve at our 2 nd Annual Holiday High Tea. A classic (and spiked) High Tea will be ser ved amongst sweet & savo ry treats. Enjoy Live Jazz, Christmas décor, and gift shopping in our Market. All ages welcome.

T hompson Lobby

T hompson Lobb y Free to attend

T ickets via thompsondallas. c om $75pp

Christmas Eve’s Gratefulness Giveback

Decembe r 24 | 4-6pm

T ickets via thompsondallas. c om $25 – 65

Downtown neighbors and friends are invited to enjoy hot chocolate stations at both entrances as we honor all there is to be gr a t eful for

Elm Street Christmas Tr ee & Akard Entrance | Free to attend

PLUG IN TO ONE AGENT. LIGHT A NETWORK OF 24. They bring this city to life like no other group. In a spirit of collaboration that has propelled some of Dallas’ most legendary real estate transactions, this premier networking group continues to do what it does best—connect people and properties. What does that mean for you? A more expertly facilitated sale of your prized property. A more perfectly matched home for your next move. Twenty-four of the most admired and knowledgeable real estate professionals in Dallas come together to put their resources and their vast experience to work for you. Insider information, off-market properties, Dallas’ most exquisite estates—all leveraged for your benefit. Thinking of a change? Put the Masters of Residential Real Estate to work for you.

FRONT ROW : JACKIE MCGUIRE , Compass SUSAN BALDWIN , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. MICHELLE WOOD , Compass AMY DETWILER , Compass MADELINE JOBST, Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s FAISAL HALUM , Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s EMILY RAY-PORTER , Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate JOAN ELEAZER , Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s BURTON RHODES , Compass DORIS JACOBS , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. EMILY PRICE CARRIGAN , Emily Price Carrigan Properties FRANK PURCELL , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. SUSAN MARCUS , Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s BACK ROW : CHAD BARRETT, Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. BECKY FREY, Compass JONATHAN ROSEN , Compass RALPH RANDALL , Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s KYLE CREWS , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. ERIN MATHEWS , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. TOM HUGHES , Compass STEWART LEE , Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate PENNY RIVENBARK PATTON , Ebby Halliday Realtors MARK CAIN , Compass RYAN STREIFF, Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

Publisher / Editor in Chief terri@patronmagazine.com Instagram terri_provencal and patronmag

This September, Klyde Warren Park unveiled the Nancy Best Fountain gushing with delight for all—a 5,000-square-foot splash pad offers plenty of room for children, parents, grandparents, and friends of friends. It’s an impressive display that honors the urban park’s triumphant history of diversity and engagement over the past ten years. Our cover, photographed by Tramaine Townsend when the sun had yet to set on a hot autumn evening, shows the preternaturally gifted dancer Sean Smith of Dallas Black Dance Theatre heralding its arrival. At the invitation of Klyde Warren Park president Kit Sawers, Lee Cullum brings readers a behind-the-scenes look in All Together Now

’Tis the season for tradition but also for the curious. A beacon for timeless tales to be told, there is something for everyone, from productions of A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker to Hamid Rahmanian’s Song of the North, an epic Persian love story told through large-scale shadow puppetry, making its Texas debut with TITAS.

Sean Smith reappears in Lee Cullum’s story about the artists informing our stages, as does Hamid Rahmanian, each of whom kept ingenuity alive during the dark days of Covid to bring about a robust 2022/2023 performing arts season. Read about the myriad of talent animating every genre in Backstage Access. Other standouts include Erin Hannigan, principal oboist with Dallas Symphony; actress and director Tiana Kaye Johnson of Dallas Theater Center; Jillyn Bryant with Bruce Wood Dance; Elizabeth Askren, a master teacher at The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors who will return to conduct Così fan tutte this spring; and Isaac Gómez, a graduate of UT Austin, who will bring his one-woman play The Way She Spoke from his Chicago home to the Undermain Theatre next summer.

In January, we have much to look forward to, aside from a new year. One of these is Bas Jan Ader, Thoughts Unsaid… the inaugural exhibition opening at Meliksetian | Briggs on January 11. Frequent Dallas Art Fair exhibitors, cofounding husband-and-wife duo Anna Meliksetian and Michael Briggs moved their gallery from Los Angeles to the River Bend complex to join the flourishing Dallas art scene. Brandon Kennedy shares the news in Not One to see the Father for the Trees

In our departments Darryl Ratcliff reviews Theaster Gates’ A fro Mingei, a guest restaurant combining the culinary cultures of Japan and the Black American South served up on ceramics created by the 2018 Nasher Prize Laureate. Reserve your seat at Nasher Sculpture Center. Chris Byrne chats with art critic Barry Schwabsky about Dallas exhibitions and collections; Drawing Interest highlights Michael Williams’ solo show at The Power Station; and Nancy Cohen Israel checks in on Theatre Three’s return to a recently renovated space as well as two outstanding honorees from this year’s Business Council for the Arts Obelisk Awards: Lily Weiss and Harry Robinson. In Furthermore, we catch up with DAMOYEE, a Booker T. alumnus, soon graduating from Berklee College of Music. As a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist with absolute pitch, she has star power written all over her.

Jewels that Sleigh, photographed by Dixie Dixon with creative direction by Elaine Raffel, brings on the dazzle. Speaking of dazzle, in There, find a photo recap of some of the great October and November fêtes, when the visual arts are always at their height.

During this nourishing time of year, share a meal with a longtime friend or someone you’ve recently met, then attend a symphony, see a new play, enjoy modern dance, delight in the spectacle of opera. The performing arts community will be grateful.

– Terri Provencal

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CONTENTS 1

62

FEATURES

54 BACKSTAGE ACCESS

A behind-the-scenes look at how a full-throttle performing arts season is brought to life by standout creatives.

By Lee Cullum

62

ALL TOGETHER NOW

At 10, Klyde Warren Park expands its all-inclusive engagement with a new fountain for splashy good times.

By Lee Cullum

68

NOT ONE TO SEE THE FATHER FOR THE TREES

LA’s Meliksetian | Briggs leads heavy for their Dallas debut with a Bas Jan Ader exhibition.

By Brandon Kennedy

72

JEWELS THAT SLEIGH

Gorgeous and glorious, seasonal gems inspire. Photography by Dixie Dixon; Creative Direction by Elaine Raffel 68

Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s Sean Smith celebrates the Nancy Best Fountain. Photograph by Tramaine Townsend.

CHRISTY YOUNGBLOOD, VITO CAMMISANO, KARA SWEENEY, CARY SMITH, TOM HUGHES, ALISON HARRIS, SAM KINCAID, BAILEY SCHAUFELE, JILL SCHRANK

CONTENTS 2

DEPARTMENTS

12 Editor’s Note 20 Contributors 30 Noted

Top arts and culture chatter. By Anthony Falcon

Fair Trade 42 MANY HAPPY RETURNS

For the 10th consecutive year, Night Gallery will exhibit at Dallas Art Fair.

Interview by Jessica Nowitzki

Contemporaries 44 A POET’S PERSPECTIVE Barry Schwabsky on his recent visits to North Texas. Interview by Chris Byrne

46 AFRO MINGEI, THEASTER GATES’ ART OF FUSION

On ceramics made by the 2018 Nasher Prize Laureate, experience the culinary traditions of Japan and the African American South. By Darryl Ratcliff

48 ALLIES IN ART BCA bridges the arts-and-culture sector with the business community. By Nancy Cohen Israel

Performance 50 CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC Theatre Three returns to a newly renovated space. By Nancy Cohen Israel

Of Note 52 DRAWING INTEREST With scores of drawings, Michael Williams’ solo show is a contemplative feast.

By Terri Provencal

There 81 CAMERAS COVERING CULTURAL EVENTS

Furthermore 88 THE GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN EAR DAMOYEE looks to the future as her music career advances. By Nancy Cohen Israel

DIXIE DIXON is regarded internationally as a fashion, lifestyle, and commercial advertising photographer, and a film director based in Dallas. As a Nikon Ambassador, she travels worldwide, working with brands ranging from Disney to Virgin to People, and she has spent the last decade bringing creative visions to life. In Jewels that Sleigh Dixie’s “soulful realism” pairs with creative director Elaine Raffel to bring extra shine to the jewelry of the season.

CHRIS BYRNE authored the graphic novel The Magician (Marquand Books, 2013), included in the Library of Congress. He curated Peter Saul: 50 Years of Painting , named one of 2010’s top 5 shows by the Village Voice, and organized Susan Te Kahurangi King’s US exhibition, selected by Jerry Saltz for New York magazine’s The 19 Best Art Shows of 2014 Byrne chaired AVAM, the national museum for visionary art. He founded the Elaine de Kooning House and Studio in East Hampton, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

LAUREN CHRISTENSEN has over two decades of experience in advertising and marketing. As a principal with L+S Creative Group, she consults with a wide variety of nonprofit organizations and businesses in many sectors, including retail, real estate, and hospitality. Lauren is a Dallas native and a graduate of SMU with a BA in advertising. Her clean, contemporary design aesthetic and generous spirit make Lauren the perfect choice to art direct Patron

NANCY COHEN ISRAEL is thrilled to enjoy the return to live performances. She is a Dallas-based writer, art historian, and Meadows Museum educator. Along with contributions to Patron, she recently contributed to side by side: James Surls and George Tobolowsky. In this issue, she covered Theatre Three in its newly renovated space, as well the young musical phenom, DAMOYEE. Equally inspiring was writing about honorees of the 2022 Obelisk Awards, presented by the Business Council for the Arts.

LEE CULLUM is a journalist in Dallas who has worked in a variety of media as a reporter, editor, producer, moderator, and commentator. Most recently she hosted CEO, an interview program with business leaders on KERA-TV, the PBS affiliate in North Texas. Prior to that she did commentary for the PBS NewsHour. She has a passion for the arts and in this issue writes about performing artists on Dallas stages, and the newest star of Klyde Warren Park, the Nancy Best Fountain, a performing art in itself.

BRANDON KENNEDY is an occasional artist, book scout/collector, and freelance curator and writer currently based in Dallas, Texas. Brandon also serves as the Texas Regional Representative for Bonhams auction house. In this issue, he investigates the work of Dutch conceptual and performance artist Bas Jan Ader, the subject of a forthcoming solo exhibition in January at Los Angeles transplant Meliksetian | Briggs, opening in River Bend. Read about the late artist’s performances and film in Not One to See the Father for the Trees.

ELAINE RAFFEL is a Dallas-based creative director and stylist. Elaine’s fashion prowess and years as a creative working for Stanley Korshak, Neiman Marcus, and Mary Kay bring an elevated edge to Patron Wondering what to put on your holiday wish list? Look no further, she says, than the swoon-worthy jewels in this issue’s Jewels that Sleigh. Despite a torrential rainstorm the day of the shoot, the mega-talented creative team, Dixie Dixon and LB Rosser, made everything shine.

DARRYL RATCLIFF is a Dallas-based artist and poet with a writing and curatorial practice whose work engages communities and mobilizes social issues. Darryl builds complex, collaborative, durational cultural projects that help tell true community narratives, promote civic engagement, and increase community health. He is a Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 10 Fellow working on prototypes addressing climate change and racial equity. As founder of Gossypion Investments, he seeks to evolve the role of culture in society.

TRAMAINE TOWNSEND is a mixed-media visual artist who works in photography, design, film, and animation. Recently, his works take on the role of narration, creating bodies of work that go along a story, usually within itself, or for a larger construct he’s ever building. Tramaine’s works explore a minimal approach with calculated production and intensive design. Utilizing these subjects in various mediums he brings the experiential through simple and direct imagery.

PUBLISHER | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Terri Provencal terri@patronmagazine.com

ART DIRECTION Lauren Christensen

DIGITAL MANAGER/PUBLISHING COORDINATOR Anthony Falcon

COPY EDITOR Sophia Dembling

PRODUCTION Michele Rodriguez

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Chris Byrne Nancy Cohen Israel Lee Cullum Brandon Kennedy Jessica Nowitzki Darryl Ratcliff

MODERN MASTERS:

A Tribute to Anne Windfohr Marion Through January 8

Modern Masters: A Tribute to Anne Windfohr Marion highlights the contributions of one of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth’s greatest patrons, tracing her support over nearly a half century. The exhibition features 80 works by 47 artists from post-World War II art movements, including Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, and post-1970 international photography as well as other major works by key artists.

Each of the works presented in this exhibition was made possible by Anne Marion, Anne and John Marion, or The Burnett Foundation, in addition to gifts donated anonymously or in partnership with the Sid W. Richardson Foundation.

Modern Masters: A Tribute to Anne Windfohr Marion is made possible with the support of Vantage Bank.

52 ⅛ × 64 ¼

Arshile Gorky, The Plow and the Song, 1947. Oil on burlap.

inches. Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Gift of Anne Windfohr Marion. © The Arshile Gorky Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Evie Marie Bishop

A FRESH START TO 2023.

Savor clean, Napa-inspired dishes at Ellie’s, curated by Executive Chef, Anthony Hsia. Located within HALL Arts Hotel, this showstopping dining experience will turn your Dallas Arts District outing into a masterpiece.

1717 LEONARD STREET, DALLAS, TEXAS 75201 | 272.629.0924 | ELLIESDALLAS.COM

Photography by Studio Love List

On view Through February 19, 2023

Hailed as one of the most talented painters of his generation, Matthew Wong achieved critical acclaim for his spectacular landscape paintings during his short career, spanning just over six years. Featuring approximately 50 works, this exhibition offers the first comprehensive account of how Wong adeptly synthesized many modern inspirations—from the Fauvists to Qing period ink painters—to create a visual language uniquely his own.

Learn more

MAJOR SUPPORT

EXHIBITION SUPPORT

Once Upon

in the West, 2018. Matthew Wong. Gouache on paper. Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg. © 2022 Matthew Wong Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

E. RHODES AND LEONA B. CARPENTER FOUNDATION

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT ROBOT FAMILY FOUNDATION

LOCAL SUPPORT

Matthew Wong: The Realm of Appearances is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

01 AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM

Fire! The Resurrection of Mr. Imagination, featuring approximately 80 works by the late artist known as Mr. Imagination (born Gregory Warmack, 1948-2012), sheds light on his extraordinary career and his triumph over destruction and tragedy. Several fires that resulted in the loss of his studio, pets, some of his artwork, memorabilia, and art collection allowed him to expand his own imaginary world view. The exhibition is a tribute to his creative spirit as well as an investigation of his artistic journey; through Jan. 7. aamdallas.org

02 AMON CARTER MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART

Stephanie Syjuco: Double Vision continues through Dec. Amon Carter Ginsberg: Shaking the Shadow reveals the “waterfall” glass sculpture he created onsite through Dec. 18, 2022. Darryl Lauster: Testament continues through May. Drawn exclusively from the Joslyn Art Museum’s collection, Faces from the Interior features over 60 conserved watercolors, including portraits of individuals from the Omaha, Ponca, Yankton, Lakota, Mandan, Hidatsa, Assiniboine, and Blackfoot nations. Speaking with Light: Contemporary Indigenous Photography, organized by the Carter, highlights the ways that Indigenous artists reclaim representation and affirm their existence, perspectives, and trauma. Both exhibitions remain on view through Jan. 22. Charles Truett Williams: The Art of the Scene examines mid-century Fort Worth through more than 30 works by the artist and the artistic community drawn to his studio salon; through May 7, 2023. Morning Light: The Photographs of David H. Gibson takes viewers to two of his favorite sites: Cypress Creek in Wimberley, Texas, and Eagle Nest Lake, nestled in the mountains east of Taos, New Mexico. The 20 works in the exhibition draw attention to the artist’s repeated return to each site, and his fascination with dawn’s break into day; Jan. 14–May 21, 2023. Image: Zig Jackson (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara) (b. 1957), Indian Man on the Bus, Mission District, San Francisco, California, 1994, inkjet print, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas. © Zig Jackson, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, North Dakota. cartermuseum.org

03 CROW MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

Cast: Molding a New Museum for UT Dallas provides an exclusive first look at the Crow Museum’s second location, designed by global architecture and design firm Morphosis. This second location is currently being constructed on the institution’s campus during Phase 1 of the planned Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum. Cast: Molding a New Museum for UT Dallas features 3D models of the

THE

LATEST CULTURAL NEWS COVERING ALL ASPECTS THE ARTS IN NORTH TEXAS: NEW EXHIBITS, NEW PERFORMANCES, GALLERY OPENINGS, AND MORE.

museum structure; renderings that show the design process; introductions of the designers, architects, planners, and leadership behind the building; and selections of works of art from the Crow Museum. Phoenix Rising: Xu Bing and the Art of Resilience highlights a celebrated work— Bronze Phoenix 2016 (Feng and Huang)— created by Xu Bing (b. 1955 Chongqing, China), an acclaimed artist, academic, and innovator whose works have been showcased in the world’s top museums and art biennales. Rare Earth: The Art and Science of Chinese Stones continues through Feb. 26, 2023. Image: Axis Rendering of Crow Museum of Asian Art (Lobby View), 2022, digital print on paper of rendered view generated from Bentley MicroStation 3D model, Adobe Photoshop, Rhino3D, Grasshopper. Courtesy of Morphosis. crowmuseum.org

04 DALLAS CONTEMPORARY

Shepard Fairey: Backward Forward and Gabrielle Goliath: We are Chorus remain on view through Mar. 19, 2023. Backward Forward sees the artist’s first-ever solo museum exhibition in Texas. His medium of choice for public art changed in 2010 from modular wheatpasted paper murals to more durable painted murals—several of which were commissioned by Dallas Contemporary and on view at the museum and around the city in 2012. Returning with new work, some of his most iconic visuals and repeated motifs on display comment on the state of contemporary life in the US. In Gabrielle Goliath’s Chorus, members of the University of Cape Town Choir sound a lament for the slain Uyinene Mrwetyana—not as song, but the internally generated resonance of a hum, collectively sustained as a mutual offering of breath. Chorus is presented with the blessing of the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation dallascontemporary.org

05 DALLAS HOLOCAUST AND HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM

The Girl in the Diary explores the story of a young girl’s fight for survival in the Łódz Ghetto and reconstructs what might have happened to Rywka after her deportation to Auschwitz and beyond. There are no known photographs of Rywka; she exists for us only through the words in her diary. The special exhibition will be on view through Dec. 31. Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement, created to mark the 50th anniversary of a June 1969 police raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village, explores the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the US. The protests that followed the raid were a pivotal moment in the modern gay liberation movement and the ongoing fight for LGBTQ civil rights. Rise Up will open on Jan. 25. dhhrm.org

Velázquez | Dalí | Vermeer

Two

MEADOWS MUSEUM • SMU

fall.

Three extraordinary paintings.

captivating exhibitions. One unforgettable experience at the Meadows Museum this

These exhibitions have been organized by the Meadows Museum and are funded by a generous gift from The Meadows Foundation. Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660), King Philip IV of Spain (detail), 1644. © The Frick Collection, New York. © The Frick Collection; Photo: Michael Bodycomb; Salvador Dalí (Spanish, 1904–1989), The Image Disappears (detail), 1938. Work loaned by the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí. © 2022 Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Artists Rights Society; Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675), Woman in Blue Reading a Letter (detail), c. 1663. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. On loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. van der Hoop Bequest), SK-C-251

King Philip IV of Spain

Masterpiece in Residence from The Frick Collection meadowsmuseumdallas.org

06 DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART

Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form, the first museum retrospective for the noted sculptor, continues through Jan. 15, 2023. Movement: The Legacy of Kineticism showcases the work of artists from three historical eras who use optical effects or mechanical or manipulable parts to engage the viewer physically or perceptually; through Jul. 16. Matthew Wong achieved resounding critical acclaim during his short career, which spanned just six years between 2013 and his death in 2019. Wong’s landscapes reflect his own transnationality, having spent most of his life between Canada and Hong Kong. Matthew Wong: The Realm of Appearances, offers the first formal account of how he adeptly synthesized many inspirations— from the Fauvists to 17th-century Qing-period ink painters to contemporaries he admired—to create a visual language uniquely his own. Focus on: Rashid Johnson continues through Sep. 10. Image: Rashid Johnson, The New Black Yoga Installation, 2011, at the Dallas Museum of Art. Courtesy of Rashid Johnson and Hauser & Wirth. dma.org

07 GEORGE W. BUSH PRESIDENTAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum gives visitors a look at American history, the American presidency, and critical issues of public policy, with an added focus on eight years of the American presidency during Bush’s administration. The permanent and special exhibits, 9/11: The Steel of American Resolve and Dining and Diplomacy, are open to the public. georgewbushlibrary.gov

08 KIMBELL ART MUSEUM

Murillo: From Heaven to Earth celebrates the genre paintings of one of the most esteemed painters of the Spanish Golden age: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682). While Murillo is primarily known for his religious subject matter, some of his most iconic works depict secular themes. For the first time in modern history, ordinary people—beggars, street urchins, and flower girls—convey the cultural narratives and written tales of Murillo’s time; through Jan. 29, 2023. The Kimbell at 50, through Oct. 4, 2023, encourages visitors to learn more about the history of the Kimbell Art Museum and includes dedicated events throughout the year. kimbellart.org

09 LATINO CULTURAL CENTER

The Latino Cultural Center will spend an evening playing Lotería! on Dec. 21. On Jan. 18, join LCC for Cine de Oro, which will screen For Greater Glory , a chronicle of the Cristero War (1926–1929), a war by the people of Mexico against the atheistic Mexican government. lcc.dallasculture.org

10 THE MAC

The MAC stands as an advocate for creative freedom, presenting visual art in all its forms. It supports emerging to established local, regional , and international artists by offering the opportunity for exhibition and experimentation and by supplying a forum for critical dialogue. the-mac.org

11 MEADOWS MUSEUM

Masterpiece in Residence is focused on The Frick Collection’s portrait King Philip IV of Spain (1644), by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez. The exceptional loan is on display with three paintings by Velázquez from the museum’s collection in an exciting, focused exhibition of portraiture. Picturing Holy Women is an exploration of the role of holy women in Spain and its empire, told through etchings, prints, rare books, and more. The exhibition showcases the women as they worked within—and against—the limitations imposed by the Catholic Church and society between 1620 to 1800; through Jan. 15. Dalí/Vermeer: A Dialogue, unites Johannes Vermeer’s Woman Reading a Letter (c. 1663) and Salvador Dalí’s interpretation thereof, The Image Disappears (1938), for the very first time in an exhibition; through Jan. 15. Image: Clemens Puche (Spanish, active 1699–1728), Rosa de Lima in Vida de Sta. Rosa de Santa Maria, Natvral de Lima, y Patrona del Peru, published by Juan Garcia Infançon, Madrid, 1711. Engraving in printed book, open book 11.75 x 8.25 in. Photo Courtesy of Bridwell Library Special Collections, SMU, Dallas, Texas. meadowsmuseumdallas.org

12 MODERN ART MUSEUM OF FORT WORTH

Modern Masters: A Tribute to Anne Windfohr Marion highlights the contributions of one of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth’s greatest patrons, tracing her support over nearly a half century. The exhibition of 80 works by 47 artists includes five renowned works from her collection, given to the Modern on her passing in 2021: Arshile Gorky’s The Plough and the Song , 1947; Willem de Kooning’s Two Women, 1954–55; Mark Rothko’s White Band No. 27, 1954; David Smith’s Dida Becca Merry X, 1964; and Ellsworth Kelly’s Spectrum III, 1967. On view through Jan. 8. Image: David Smith, Dida Becca Merry X, 1964, steel, 74.25 x 30.50 x 18 in. Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Gift of Anne Windfohr Marion. themodern.org

13 MUSEUM

OF BIBLICAL ART

Line Upon Line: Jorge Cocco’s Sacrocubist Images of Christ remains of view along with Vladimir Gorsky’s world famous Tapestry of the Centuries The museum’s newest exhibition, Side by Side: George Tobolowsky and James Surls, looks at the artists together, through the summer. biblicalarts.org

14 NASHER SCULPTURE CENTER

Nairy Baghramian returns to Dallas with an exhibition of new works, her first created since she became the 2022 Nasher Prize Laureate. Over the past three decades, Baghramian has delved into elements of sculptural practice and installation to create works that challenge their settings and upend expected modes of presentation as well as the architectural, sociological, political, and historical contexts that inform them. Nairy Baghramian: Modèle vivant remains on view through Jan. 8. Matthew Ronay: The Crack, the Swell, an Earth, an Ode is the Brooklyn-based artist’s largest and most ambitious sculpture to date; through Jan. 15. Image: Matthew Ronay, The Crack, the Swell, an Earth, an Ode, 2022 (detail), basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel, cotton, epoxy, HMA, 37.75 x 284 x 13 in. © Matthew Ronay. Courtesy of the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York. nashersculpturecenter.org

15 PEROT MUSEUM

See The Science Behind Pixar and explore the artistry, science, and technology behind some of the most beloved animated films and their characters; through Sep. 4. perotmuseum.org

16 SIXTH FLOOR MUSEUM

John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation examines the life, legacy, and assassination of JFK within the events of November 22, 1963, and their aftermath. The multimedia experience advocates for cross-generational dialogue to foster interest and understanding in a historical context. Solidarity Now! 1968 Poor People’s Campaign is a special exhibition that examines one of the most important grassroots movements of the civil rights era , which culminated in a six-week, livein demonstration on the National Mall in Washington, DC, that attracted thousands of activists from across the nation. Protestors inhabited “a city of hope”—Resurrection City— on 15 acres between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial to call attention to the crippling effects of poverty for millions of Americans. On view through Feb. 26, 2023. jfk.org

17 TYLER MUSEUM OF ART

Framing the Narrative: Photographs from the Permanent Collection, on view through Jan. 8, features photographs drawn from the TMA’s permanent collection. While the artists and subject matters represented are diverse, the exhibition celebrates the medium of photography. tylermuseum.org

Promotional support provided by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Two Women at a Window,

1655–60, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Widener Collection,

This exhibition is organized by the Kimbell Art Museum. The Kimbell Art Museum is supported in part by Arts Fort Worth, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

01 AMPHIBIAN

Jack Absolute Flies Again by Richard Bean and Oliver Chris mounts Dec. 7 and 10. Emily Burns directs an entertaining new version of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals, with Caroline Quentin, Laurie Davidson, Natalie Simpson, and Kelvin Fletcher. Next, Amphibian will showcase Much Ado About Nothing on Jan. 11, 2023 and 14, 2023. Katherine Parkinson and John Heffernan lead the cast in Shakespeare’s romcom of sun, sea, and mistaken identity. amphibianstage.com

02 AT&T PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Reliant Lights Your Holidays, a free family event, kicks off the holidays at Sammons Park on Dec. 3. Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening will rock The Factory on Dec. 4. Then Legally Blonde— The Musical sees Elle Woods take the stage on Jan. 19–21, 2023, as she tackles stereotypes, sexism, snobbery, and scandal in pursuit of her dreams, and proves that you can be legally blonde and still be the smartest person in the room. attpac.org

03 BASS PERFORMANCE HALL

My Fair Lady ends her run Dec. 4. Disney’s The Lion King brings together one of the most imaginative creative teams on Broadway. Tony Award–winning director Julie Taymor brings to life a story filled with hope and adventure set against an amazing backdrop of stunning visuals. Jan. 18–29, 2023. Image: Brandon A. McCall (Simba) and Pearl Khwezi-Nali in The Lion King on Broadway , Photograph by Matthew Murphy. ©Disney. basshall.com

04 BROADWAY DALLAS

Spanish singer Isabel Pantoja arrives in Dallas on Dec. 1 at Fair Park. Grammy winners Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith will be joined by special guest Michael Tait of the Newsboys in Christmas with Amy Grant & Michael W. Smith on Dec. 2. From Tudor queens to pop icons, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the microphone to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a euphoric celebration of 21st-century girl power, Dec. 6–25. Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet! will be live at the Music Hall for the 30th anniversary tour on Dec. 26. Pretty Woman: The Musical springs to life Jan. 24–Feb. 5. Image: The North American SIX Aragon Tour. Photograph by Joan Marcus. broadwaydallas.org

05 CASA MAÑANA

Through Dec. 17, cozy up in the Reid Cabaret Theatre for an “unforgettable” evening with holiday favorites from Nat King and Natalie Cole. Through Dec. 23, Christmas Carol: A New Musical Comedy features a contemporary pop score and current pop culture references. casamanana.org

06

DALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATRE

Black on Black returns to the stage on Dec. 2–3 in an all-inclusive affair that includes a complimentary happy hour and creatively crafted performances produced by DBDT and DBDT: Encore! Dancers. Dallas Black Dance Academy’s Espresso Nutcracker is the only Nutcracker of color experience in North Texas and features a youth cast. Dec. 10. Image: Espresso Nutcracker. Courtesy of Dallas Black Dance Theatre. dbdt.com

07

DALLAS CHILDREN’S THEATER

Eubie is an elf of endless energy looking to get a coveted spot on Santa’s sleigh team. When his unstoppably sunny spirit encounters the miserable town of Bluesville, where every single child is on the naughty list, he is in for the shock of a lifetime. See The Happy Elf through Dec. 23. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical! tells the tale of a bird with an identity crisis, Jan. 28–Feb. 19. dct.org

08

THE DALLAS OPERA

TDO will hold the free concert, The Dallas Opera Holiday Concert at Cathedral Guadalupe on Dec. 18. If you love the sound of an exquisitely beautiful voice and the emotion that can only be expressed by a true artist, then you must hear Ying Fang on Jan. 15. On Jan. 28, the Hart Institute for Women Conductors Showcase Concert sees four of opera’s most brilliant young conductors front and center for an evening of opera favorites sung by some of the country’s top young singers and featuring The Dallas Opera Orchestra. dallasopera.org

09 DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Christmas Pops returns with the Dallas Symphony Chorus performing anthems, classical holiday favorites, and sing-along carols from Dec. 2–11. Home Alone in Concert screens the holiday classic in tandem with a live score Dec. 16-18. On Dec. 20, Naturally 7 is the jaw-dropping acapella group that performs music of every genre from pop to jazz. On Dec. 31, the DSO’s tribute to the Viennese tradition returns to the Meyerson with waltzes from the Strauss dynasty. Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 includes three works by composers seeking redemption, Jan. 5–8. In Sibelius Symphony No. 2, a lost work by composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, recently discovered by the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester, England, opens the concert, Jan. 12–13. See renowned virtuoso Pinchas Zukerman live Jan. 19–22. Jan. 27–29, Karina Canellakis returns to the Meyerson stage with Dvořák’s orchestral poem told over four musical scenes, The Wood Dove, a dark poem focused on a woman who poisoned her husband to marry another man. mydso.com

10

DALLAS THEATER CENTER

The Christmas tradition continues as three spirits come to visit

the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge to take him on a fantastic journey through Christmases past, present, and future. Brimming with joyful songs, magical spirits, and holiday cheer, the Tony Award–winning Dallas Theater Center’s A Christmas Carol boldly reimagines Dickens’ classic tale of joy, redemption, and the spirit of Christmas. Through Dec. 24. dallastheatercenter.org

11 DALLAS WIND SYMPHONY

Christmas at the Meyerson continues the Dallas Wind Symphony’s tradition of holiday family fun on Dec. 21. Shiree X. Williams conducts and Carl Johnson narrates all the Yuletide favorites. dallaswinds.org

12 EISEMANN CENTER

In Immortal Impromptus, Jeffrey Siegel explores the heart of Romanticism with freestyling impromptus by Chopin, Schubert, and Fauré on Dec. 12. C.S. Lewis believed the story of Christ’s birth was nothing more than a feel-good myth until an encounter with fellow author, J.R.R. Tolkien. It was the start of Lewis’ journey from atheism to Christianity. Discover Christmas with C.S. Lewis on Dec. 14–17. Eisemann Center Presents The Music of Sam Cooke Starring Bradd Marquis—A Change is Gonna Come on Jan. 20. eisemanncenter.com

13 FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Star Wars: A New Hope, Dec. 16–18, sees the feature film with the score performed live by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. In composer Stacy Garrop’s Spectacle of Light, “a single firework illuminates the sky, followed by a massive eruption of light, color, and sound,” according to the composer herself. This concert kicks off with another burst of color: Prokofiev’s “Classical” symphony, followed by Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, and it wraps up with Mozart’s cherished Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, Jan. 6–7. fwsymphony.org

14 MAJESTIC THEATRE

The Wait Wait . . . Stand-Up tour stops at the Majestic on Dec. 2. Bela Fleck: My Bluegrass Heart and Punch Brothers take the stage Dec. 8. Mariachi Sol de México de Jóse Hernàndez presents an evening of Mexican and American holiday favorites at A Merry-achi Christmas on Dec. 11. Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show takes the stage on Dec. 12. A Charlie Brown Christmas LIVE returns on Dec. 12. The Polyphonic Spree 19th Annual Holiday Extravaganza returns Dec. 17. Join Home Free and their family Christmas tour for two shows on Dec. 30–31. The Majestic welcomes Noel Miller on Jan. 12. Corey Holcomb The MLK Comedy Kick-Off brings the laughs on Jan. 13. Dita Von Teese brings her sultry brand of entertainment Jan. 20. Sam Morril: The Class Act Tour comes to the stage Jan. 21. majestic.dallasculture.org

15 TACA

TACA’s mission is to support excellence and impact in the arts through grant-making, capacity building, and thought leadership. They envision an innovative, inclusive, sustainable cultural sector, recognized for its essential contribution to a vibrant, prosperous community. taca-arts.org

16 TEXAS BALLET THEATER

The Nutcracker celebrates the season with enchantment, snowflakes, and sweets through Dec. 25. Be sure to see The Nutty Nutcracker, the zaniest, most uproarious take on this holiday favorite on Dec. 16. Image: Samantha Pile and Kyle Torres-Hiyoshi. Photograph by Amitava Sarkar. texasballettheater.org

17 THEATRE THREE

John Merrick, an intelligent and friendly man shunned by Victorianera society and called a “freak” due to his skin and bone disorders, is found abandoned. Under the care of physician Frederick Treves, Merrick begins to slowly evolve from an object of pity to an urbane and witty favorite of the aristocracy and literati, only to be denied his ultimate dream—to become a man like any other. The Elephant Man runs Jan. 19–Feb. 19. theatre3dallas.com

18 TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND

A magical evening of large-scale shadow puppetry transports the audience into ancient worlds full of color, history, and stunning imagery. An inspirational epic from ancient Persia comes to life in this stunning multi-disciplinary performance created through shadow puppetry, projected animation, music, movement, and theater. Four hundred eighty-three handmade puppets are used to tell the story of Manijeh, a courageous heroine who uses her strengths and determination to rescue her beloved and help prevent a war. Hamid Rahmanian’s Song of the North takes the stage Jan. 13–14. Image: Hamid Rahmanian’s Song of the North. Courtesy of Hamid Rahmanian. titas.org

19

TURTLE CREEK CHORALE

TCC’s Annual Holiday Concert: Love is All You Need features favorite TCC holiday moments, delightful new works, and selections audiences may not expect in a holiday program, Dec. 17–19. turtlecreekchorale.com

20

WATERTOWER THEATRE

Jesus Christ Superstar, continues through Dec. 11. Featuring awardwinning music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar is set against the final weeks of Jesus Christ’s life as seen through Judas’ eyes. Next, WT sees The Play That Goes Wrong , Feb. 1–12. watertowertheatre.org

01 12.26

Through Dec. 18, Aglaé Bassens: A Light Touch will be shown at the gallery’s Los Angeles location, 12.26 West. Johanna Jackson and Chris Johanson show in Dallas Dec. 10–Jan. 28. gallery1226.com

02

500X GALLERY

Artist run, 500X provides one of the best exhibition spaces to emerging artists of the region. 500x.org

03 ALAN BARNES FINE ART

The gallery specializes in 19th- and 20th century American and European Paintings. From Old Masters to Impressionist paintings, drawings, and watercolors. alanbarnesfineart.com

04 AND NOW

AND NOW hosts Leslie Martinez’s monumental-sized works through Dec. 31. The gallery encourages patrons to check the website and social media for 2023 exhibitions. andnow.biz

05 ARTSPACE111

Edge of the Road sees work by painter Daniel Blagg and photographer Jill Johnson through Jan. 7 and documents their individual journeys by keeping eyes on the trademarks of commerce and struggle. Concurrently, The Butterfly Case displays work by artist Bernardo Vallarino through mixed media sculptures, installations, and other interdisciplinary artworks merging religious elements with components of entomological displays. artspace111.com

06 BARRY WHISTLER GALLERY

Andrea Rosenberg New Works is on view Dec. 3–Jan. 14, 2023. Rosenberg’s seventh exhibition at the gallery will highlight mixed media works and drawings that stem from spontaneous creation. barrywhistlergallery.com

07 BEATRICE M. HAGGERTY GALLERY

The gallery enhances the cultural environment of students, faculty, and staff at the University of Dallas by engaging the public with visual art that stimulates and challenges. udallas.edu/gallery

08 CADD

Ángel Faz, Queer Nature , presented by The Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas, displays at Dallas Art Fair Projects through Dec. 23. caddallas.org

09 CHRISTOPHER MARTIN GALLERY

Celebrating 27 years, the gallery presents the reverse-glass paintings of American artist Christopher Martin; the Rodeo series of Dallas based photographer Steve Wrubel; the color-field paintings of

New York–based painter Jeff Muhs; the work of Dutch image maker Isabelle van Zeijl; the acrylic constructions of Dallas artist Jean Paul Khabbaz; the abstract paintings of Angela and Gabriel Collazo; the California-based painter Elise Morris; and Atlanta artist Liz Barber’s organic paintings; as well as rotating artists. christophermartingallery.com

10 CONDUIT GALLERY

Conduit hosts two solo exhibitions from Dec. 3–31: Miracle Grow features an exhibition of new works by the alchemical painter Catherine Howe; and Clay Bodies: Expressions in Ceramics, including ceramists Yana Payusova, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, April D. Felipe, and Nick Lenker. From Jan. 7–Feb. 4, Conduit hosts Marco Querin in New Textiles and Susan Barnett in The Wave and the Water in the main gallery as well as Gabe Langholtz in the Project Room. Image: Susan Barnett, Mandala V, 2022, acrylic on wood, diameter 23.5 in. conduitgallery.com

11

CRAIGHEAD GREEN GALLERY

Carolyn McAdams, Pamela Nelson, and Jorge Baró remain on view through Dec. 31. Next, works by Jackson Hammack, Jerry Cabrera, and Win Wallace will be on view Jan. 7–Feb. 11. craigheadgreen.com

12 CRIS WORLEY FINE ARTS

Josephine Durkin, Funeral Flowers, and Ruben Nieto, Homage: Lessons from the Masters will be on view through Dec. 30. A show for Abi Salami and Dan Jian will open Jan. 7–Feb. 11. Image: Ruben Nieto, Trials of Humanity, (After Joseph Mallord William Turner), 2022, archival print on cotton, 50 x 80 in., 1 of 1. (& 1 AP). crisworley.com

13 CVAD, UNT COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN GALLERIES

CVAD Galleries calls for entries in the 61st Annual Voertman Art Competition through Dec. 3, with chief curator Christopher Blay selecting entries. All CVAD students may apply through UNT. SlideRoom.com The exhibition with the finalists will be shown Feb. 1–19. cvad.unt.edu

14 DADA

Dallas Art Dealers Association serves as a standard bearer for ethical practices in the art business, an educational resource for the community at large, and as the facilitator of the Edith Baker Art Scholarship and Artist Career Development Fund that provides funding for visual art students. dallasartdealers.org

15 DAISHA BOARD GALLERY

Daisha Board Gallery presents William Tolliver after dark Dec 10Jan 14. The gallery represents BIPOC, LGBTQ+ artists, and artists with disabilities locally and abroad. daishaboardgallery.com

46

16 DAVID DIKE FINE ART

DDFA , recently relocated to Alpha Plaza, specializes in late 19th and 20th century American and European paintings with an emphasis on the Texas regionalists, Texas landscape, and midcentury modern painters. daviddike.com

17 ERIN CLULEY GALLERY

Viendo Doble features works by Gary Goldberg, Robert Horvath, Catherine MacMahon, John Miranda, Nic Nicosia, and Stephen Ormandy through Dec. 23. Next, René Treviño, Flare mounts Jan. 7–Feb. 11 alongside a group show with Xxavier Edward Carter, Nic Nicosia, and Lovie Olivia. At Cluley Projects, Chuck & George and performance artist Colton James White’s Three Dollar Bill explores the aesthetics of camp, its subversive nature, and expands upon the historical ties to queerness, through Dec. 23. Huy Nguyen: Cross-Eyed In The Crosshairs runs Jan. 7–Feb. 4. erincluley.com

18 FERRARI FINE ART GALLERY

Ferrari Fine Art Gallery presents the Zion Collection by Debra Ferrari, a series of original large scale paintings inspired by the artist’s hike through Zion National Park in Utah. ferrarigallery.net

19 FORT WORKS ART

Dario S. Bucheli: Not Close Enough closes on Dec. 3 The View From The Inside showcases a collection of vintage color Cibachromes from the personal archives of Kate Simon, through Dec. 17. fortworksart.com

20 FWADA

FWADA organizes, funds, and hosts exhibitions of noteworthy art, and sponsors the annual Fall Gallery Night and Spring Gallery Night for members and friends. fwada.com

21 GALLERI URBANE

József Csató: Lush Ferns in Empty Wells and Sam Mack: Buff continue through Dec. 31. In Jan , the gallery will host exhibitions for Samantha McCurdy and Aron Barath. Image: József Csató, Same Guests, 2022, acrylic, oil, canvas, 54 x 62 in. galleriurbane.com

22 GREEN FAMILY ART FOUNDATION

Black Abstractionists: From Then ‘til Now, curated by Dexter Wimberly, and Bernadette Despujols’ Oh Man! will be shown at the foundation’s new space on Flora Street through Jan. 29. greenfamilyartfoundation.org

23 HOLLY JOHNSON GALLERY

Through Dec. 22, Open Source marks Tommy Fitzpatrick’s sixth

Through January 22, 2023

Speaking with Light: Contemporary Indigenous Photography is organized by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) (b. 1977), Water Memory (detail), 2015, inkjet print, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, P2021.54, © Cara Romero. All rights reserved.

NOTED: GALLERIES

K ittrell/Riffkind Art Glass Gallery

Peter Zelle “Flow”

47

solo exhibition at the gallery and demonstrates how our perception of the built environment can evolve over time. These new paintings embrace a greater ambiguity and make them visible in a new and exciting way. hollyjohnsongallery.com

24 KEIJSERS KONING

Keijsers Koning will present Breathing amongst Werewolves, a group show featuring Liz Cohen, M. Florine Démosthèn, Beya Gille Gacha, Barbara Hammer, Io, and Tamara Johnson, Dec. 3–Jan. 28. Image: Beya Gille Gacha, Feet, 2022, beads, wax, resin, and fabric, 13 x 48 x 72 in. keijserskoning.com

25 KIRK HOPPER FINE ART

A solo exhibition for Alice Leora Briggs titled The Scent of Reason will be on view Dec. 3–Jan. 14. kirkhopperfineart.com

26 KITTRELL/RIFFKIND ART GLASS

The annual Holiday Treasures exhibition will be on view through Dec. 31. It features an outstanding selection of ornaments, jewelry, and other treasures perfect for the holidays. kittrellriffkind.com

27 LAURA RATHE FINE ART

CHROMA , featuring works by artists Matt Devine, Gian Garofalo, and Katherine Houston, continues through Jan. 7. In their individual observations, Devine, Garofalo, and Houston push the bounds of color using geometry and form. Image: Matt Devine, 56 Chevy, 2022, aluminum with powder coat, 36 x 36 x 8 in. laurarathe.com

28 LILIANA BLOCH GALLERY

Simón Vega’s The Return of Prospero: Tales of The Crypto-Colonized comprises ephemeral sculpture, painting, animation, and objects. Through Dec. 31. lilianablochgallery.com

29

MARKOWICZ FINE ART

Located in the Dallas Design District, Markowicz Fine Art showcases the work of international artists, including Italian artist Annalù, Colombian artist Santiago Montoya, French artist J. Leo, alongside American artists. markowiczfineart.com

30 MELIKSETIAN | BRIGGS

Relocating from Los Angeles to Dallas, Meliksetian | Briggs’ inaugural show will feature Bas Jan Ader: Thoughts unsaid… meliksetianbriggs.com

31 PENCIL ON PAPER

Through Jan. 20, Emmanuel Gillespie’s Migration displays figurative works depicting people on the move in a series of drawings and paintings. pencilonpapergallery.com

Jesus Navarro

Phil Beck

Olga Suvorova

George Kovach

32 PETER AUGUSTUS

A two-part exhibition, Hiroaki Onuma: ACT I , will be shown through Dec. 17. Stay tuned for Act II. peteraugustusgallery.com

33 PHOTOGRAPHS DO NOT BEND

Keith Carter: Ghostlight continues through Feb. 11. Concurrently, an exhibition showcasing the work of Earlie Hudnall, Jr., is on view. Carter’s show is in conjunction with the release of his new book, Ghostlight. Hudnall’s show celebrates his recent Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Art League, Houston. pdnbgallery.com

34

POLLOCK GALLERY

Aquatic channels: waterways, water resources, fluvial imaginations examines the work of Larary Polk (Dallas), Amara Abdal Figueroa (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Gabriel Bicho (Porto Velho, Brazil), and Ubiratan Gamalodtaba Suruí (Suruí people, Brazil) to reflect about rivers as complex systems shaping human and non-human existences, as sources of fundamental resources for sustaining life, sites of conflict , and memories shaping future imaginaries. Through Feb. 19. smu.edu/Meadows/About/Facilities/PollockGallery

35 THE POWER STATION

Through Mar. 21, Michael Williams: Drawings fills the gallery exclusively with drawings on paper. The 250 works in the exhibition foreground Williams’ drawing practice as an integral aspect of his approach to painting and to his negotiated relationship with cultural, critical, and personal observation. powerstationdallas.com

36 PRP

Hepatitis Kitchen with Michael Wynne, George Horner, and Don John Evans continues through Dec. 3. prp.agency

37 RO2 ART

Hanna Kratsman-Robles’ Nada marks the artist first solo exhibition at the gallery. The work consists of complacent derealization accomplished via the artist’s deceptively nondescript crops and treatment of the subject matter. Nada will be on view through Jan. 7. Image: Hanna Kratsman-Robles, How the week ends, 2022, oil on panel with recycled cloth, 12 in x 17 in. ro2art.com

38 SAMUEL LYNNE GALLERIES

David Yarrow’s Storytelling remains on view through Dec. 23. The exhibition showcases the newest releases as well as a variety of other artworks exhibiting the storytelling journey that Yarrow has embarked on. A companion catalog is available for purchase. samuellynne.com

39 SMINK

A showcase of fine design and furniture, SMINK is a purveyor of quality products for living. The showroom also hosts exhibitions featuring Robert Szot, Gary Faye, Richard Hogan, Dara Mark, and Paula Roland. sminkinc.com

40 SOUTHWEST GALLERY

For over 50 years, Southwest Gallery has provided North Texas with the largest collection of fine 19th–21st century paintings and sculptures. The gallery exhibits hundreds of artists who work in a broad range of styles, all displayed in their 16,000 square foot showroom. swgallery.com

41 SWEET PASS SCULPTURE PARK

Daniele Frazier It Takes Two features two 18-foot inflatable sculptures made to resemble a hammer and nail. Recalling the flailing tubular figures that typically flank the entrances to discount stores and used car lots, these forms are set to “dance” next to each other in the empty lot of Sweet Pass. sweetpasssculpturepark.com

42 TALLEY DUNN GALLERY

Gabriel Dawe: Ode to Futility continues through Dec. 10 and marks the artist’s first monumental site-specific installation at the gallery alongside new sculptural works by the Mexican-born, Dallasbased artist. Spanning 100 feet in length, Dawe’s most recent Plexus installation transforms the main gallery through a complex system of multicolored sewing thread that creates spellbinding chromatic environments that challenge perceptions of space and color. talleydunn.com

43

VALLEY HOUSE GALLERY

David A. Dreyer: Cold Mountain Jam marks the artist’s ninth solo exhibition with Valley House Gallery. Observations of the vast landscapes and skies in Texas and New Mexico inform his personal language of pictorial elements built over time. Phrases written on the edge of the canvas at critical stages of the paintings’ development become titles in poetic verse; through Jan. 7. valleyhouse.com

44

VARIOUS SMALL FIRES

Through Jan. 7, VSF will exhibit works by Sean Landers in Animal Portraits. Landers is a painter and multimedia artist living and working in New York. From confessions poured out in weblike formations on legal pads to revisions of Hogarth paintings and lonely clowns at sea, Landers’ artworks span an enormous breadth of subjects and touch on existential themes. vsf.la

45

WAAS GALLERY

W.A.A.S. empowers artists to connect to their communities and facilitate societal change while offering an interstellar sanctuary to

communicate artist expression. waasgallery.com

46 THE WAREHOUSE

Curated by Allan Schwartzman, Open Storage: 25 Years of Collecting features 216 works by 148 artists representing 20 percent of The Rachofsky Collection; through April 29. Image: Open Storage: 25 Years of Collecting , The Warehouse, Dallas, installation view with work by Pierre Huyghe and Sigmar Polke (foreground); Sylvia Snowden, Jadé Fadojutimi, Todd Gray, Kai Althoff, and Shuriya Davis (background). Photograph by Kevin Todora.

47 WEBB GALLERY

Webb Gallery presents New Work by Panacea (aka Miss Pussycat), on view at the gallery through Jan. 22. Image, left to right: Panacea Theriac/Miss Pussycat, Orange Tiger, 2022, fired, 1 x 7 x 6 in.; Cat with Black Fur and Blue Dress, 16 x 7 x 6 in.; Green Glow Worm with Toenails, 2022, 10 x 17 x 9 in.; Glow Worm Sitting , 2022, 18 x 9 x 10 in. All hand-formed clay, decorated, glazed, and fired. webbartgallery.com

48 WILLIAM CAMPBELL GALLERY

Benito Huerta + Intersection continues through Jan. 5 at the Foch Street location. The work tracks the nonlinear evolution of the artist’s oeuvre over the course of 50 years. Topics have run the gamut from the political to satire, economics to social issues, intertwining pop culture, Mexican cultural motifs, art and musical references, and other influences, creating a visual gumbo. Billy Hassell Placemarks remains on view at the Byers Avenue location through Jan. 5. williamcampbellcontemporaryart.com

AUCTIONS

01 DALLAS AUCTION GALLERY

Dallas Auction Gallery is accepting consignments for the 2023 auction season. dallasauctiongallery.com

02 HERITAGE AUCTIONS

HA slated auctions for the winter begin with the In Focus: Early 20th-Century American Prints Showcase Auction on Dec. 5, Urban Art Showcase Auction on Dec. 7, European Art Signature Auction on Dec. 8, Fine & Decorative Arts featuring the Artwork of Margaret Keane Showcase Auction on Dec. 8, the Fine Furniture & Decorative Art Signature Auction on Dec. 9, Asian Art Showcase Auction on Dec. 13, Depth of Field: Photographs Showcase Auction on Dec. 14, the Prints & Multiples Showcase Auction on Dec. 21, the Urban Art Showcase Auction on Jan. 4, the Depth of Field: Photographs Showcase Auction on Jan. 11, the Pursuit of Beauty: Art Nouveau, Art Deco & Art Glass Signature Auction on Jan. 25, and the Gilded Age: Property from the Collection of Richard Watson Gilder and Helena de Kay Gilder American Art Signature Auction on Jan. 30. ha.com

Tau Lewis, Saint Mozelle, 2022, steel, enamel paint, acrylic paint and finisher, repurposed leather and suede, organic cotton twill, and coated nylon thread, 113.75 x 95.25 x 59 in. Courtesy of the artist and Night Gallery, Los Angeles.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS

the 10th consecutive year, Night Gallery will exhibit at Dallas Art Fair.

INTERVIEW BY JESSICA NOWITZKI

Night Gallery has become the hub of LA’s thriving visual arts community in the past twelve years, supporting artists of diverse backgrounds and perspectives while raising its visibility internationally. Returning each year to the Dallas Art Fair (DAF) since 2012, Night Gallery partner William Hathaway offers insight into the Dallas love affair.

Jessica Nowitzki (JN): Excited to have you back in Dallas and exhibiting at the Dallas Art Fair for the tenth time. How did you get connected to the DAF and what makes you come back?

William Hathaway (WH): I believe the first time I came to Dallas was in 2003, around when the Nasher Sculpture Center opened. I always enjoyed my time in the city. When I started working at Night Gallery in 2011, I learned that we sent artwork to TWO x TWO each year, but never a representative of the gallery. So I volunteered to go. I met so many great people at the gala that I suggested that we participate in the fair. We went the next year and haven’t looked back.

JN: Night Gallery has been in business for over a decade, owner (and visionary!) Davida Nemeroff, started the gallery in a strip mall in Lincoln Heights, LA, with openings held between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. You eventually moved across town, and today you have added on another 14,000-square-foot space across the street from the current gallery. How has your programming evolved and expanded during this time?

WH: We look for artists who both connect with our program and can contribute something different. Working with an artist should be a constant collaboration: We have to work as a team in service of a shared vision. I think what I love so much about Night Gallery is the core strength of that vision, which has only become more steadfast and ambitious over time. When I came on, we mainly showed paintings, but through the years we have started to incorporate more sculpture and installations and are now working with artists from all over the world. Han Bing is originally from China and currently works in Paris; Clare Woods, who we will be exhibiting this year, is from the UK, and recently we’ve been looking at a few artists in Brazil. To be continued!

JN: You focus on emerging artists and have a roster of artists with diverse backgrounds. As a gallery you give them a platform to support their work to a broader audience, but you have also created an inclusive culture of collaborating with other galleries. Tell us more about any of your recent collaborations.

WH: One of our best attributes as a gallery is the emphasis we place on collaborations to best support our artists. Tau Lewis has a show up currently at 52 Walker and also works with Stephen Freidman; Jesse Mockrin is now co-represented by James Cohan; Almine Rech works with Claire Tabouret and Andrea Marie Breiling. Night Gallery recognizes that partnerships are essential to getting artists’ names and work out to a wider audience.

JN: Who are you featuring in your booth this year?

For

WH: Claire Woods, Farley Aguilar, and Cynthia Daignault.

JN: We have a great collecting community in Dallas that is supportive of the fair, and the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Dallas Contemporary are beneficiaries of the fairs. I’m sure this gives an exhibitor an extra level of excitement, as you are becoming part of the larger community. How has the fair opened other doors for your gallery to get involved with the Dallas arts community at large?

WH: The DMA has been a wonderful institution to work with. The museum has been very supportive of the gallery and has purchased works both out of the fair and from us directly. They also hosted Wanda Koop’s first exhibition in an American museum, which was very significant. We have a project in the works with the Nasher, but it’s under wraps for now. In addition to the local museums, John Runyon has been instrumental in placing work in the lobbies of some amazing buildings in Dallas. Night Gallery artists are wellrepresented in and around Dallas! P

Above: Clare Woods, Heavenly Hundred, 2022, oil on aluminum, 59.12 x 39.37 in. Courtesy of the artist and Night Gallery, Los Angeles. Below: Jesse Mockrin, Abduction, 2018, oil on linen, 90 x 124 in. Courtesy of the artist and Night Gallery, Los Angeles.

A POET’S PERSPECTIVE

Barry Schwabsky is a New York–based distinguished poet, art historian, and art critic for The Nation and coeditor of international reviews for Artforum . His books of criticism include The Observer Effect: On Contemporary Painting (2019); Landscape Painting Now: From Pop Abstraction to New Romanticism (2019); and The Perpetual Guest: Art in the Unfinished Present (2016). Feelings of And (2022) is his fourth collection of poetry. He contributed essays to Amor Mundi: The Collection of Marguerite Steed Hoffman His teaching experience includes Goldsmiths College, Yale University, and the Maryland Institute College of Art. Rose Wylie: Which One releases in January from David Zwirner Books. Here Schwabsky discusses with Chris Byrne recent visits covering art in Dallas and Fort Worth:

Chris Byrne (CB): You recently traveled to Dallas to review Matthew Wong’s The Realm of Appearances at the DMA... Barry Schwabsky (BS): That’s right. I reviewed it for Artnet. It’s a remarkable show. It’s amazing how much Wong was able to accomplish in such a brief career, and the curator, Vivian Li, has presented his oeuvre in a really sensitive way. There’s a tragic side to Wong’s story, because he was just 35 when he died, but the exhibition makes clear how much beauty he was able to create in such a short time.

Barry Schwabsky on his recent visits to North Texas. INTERVIEW BY CHRIS BYRNE

Matthew Wong, River at Night, 2018, oil on canvas. Collection of Shio Kusaka and Jonas Wood. Photograph © 2022 Matthew Wong Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Installation view of Nairy Baghramian: Modèle vivant, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas, 2022. Nairy Baghramian, Se levant (jaune paille) / Standing (straw yellow), 2022, cast aluminum, bronze, steel, stainless steel, ceramic. Courtesy of the artist, kurimanzutto, and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photograph by Kevin Todora, courtesy Nasher Sculpture Center.

CB: And your first trip to Fort Worth?

BS: Although this was my third visit to Dallas, it was the first time I was able to get to Fort Worth. And yes, the Kimbell turned out to be all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe I’m biased because I’m a longtime Louis Kahn fan—as a college student I even lived one year in a dorm he’d designed—but his building struck me as maybe the most beautiful museum space I’ve ever experienced. You just see everything so clearly in there. The newer building by Renzo Piano does an honorable job of living up to Kahn’s example.

CB: This past year, you visited the Nasher Sculpture Center as well as Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s Paintings about Paintings and Peter Halley’s Cell Grids at Dallas Contemporary.

BS: Actually, my two previous visits to Dallas were occasioned by exhibitions at Dallas Contemporary. In 2018 I went to see Ian Davenport’s paintings there, as I was preparing an essay for a book about his work. And then in 2021 I wanted to see the Kabakovs’ show, which was amazing. But I was equally impressed with Peter Halley’s show there, probably the best presentation of his work that I’ve seen—and I’ve been following his work, like that of the Kabakovs, since the 1980s. I’ve known Peter Doroshenko since his days in Milwaukee. He’s always gone above and beyond expectations in any curatorial situation. He did a great job in Dallas. His successor, Carolina Alvarez Mathies, has a pair of big shoes to fill. She’s an impressive person, and I think she’ll succeed.

CB: And I understand you recently completed the essay for Peter Halley‘s accompanying exhibition catalogue.

BS: Yes, I was so happy that, unexpectedly, after the fact, I was invited to write something for the catalogue. That was lucky. I hope it comes out soon!

CB: In addition, you had the opportunity to view Marguerite Hoffman’s collection. BS: That’s right. I had written short essays on works by Gillian Carnegie and Michelangelo Pistoletto for Amor Mundi, the big twovolume book on her collection, on Gavin Delahunty’s invitation, so I had an inkling of it. But what impressed me about seeing the collection on view at the house was that it represents a very personal feeling for art. It was amazing to see, among so many works by the likes of Jasper Johns, Brice Marden, and Cy Twombly—but very special works of theirs, not the most obvious things—there were so many beautiful pieces by more obscure artists. I mean, Polish fiber artists from the 1970s that were entirely new to me—and fascinating!— for instance.

One thing that floored me in Marguerite’s collection was Mandible, a gorgeous watercolor from 2020 by the Russian-born American painter Sanya Kantarovsky. As it happens, I was just about to write an article on his work for Artforum. When I went up to see Sanya upstate a week later, I mentioned it to him. He showed me a very similar piece that he keeps framed in his studio, saying he prefers the version he kept. But I prefer the one Marguerite has.

I should also mention that both last year and this year I visited an outstanding gallery, 12.26. The first time I was there, I saw a show by the LA–based artist Amy Bessone. This time, I saw work by the Dallas-based Canadian artist Keer Tanchak. Both were memorable…

Another thing I wouldn’t miss while in Dallas is a visit to the Nasher Sculpture Center. The current exhibition there, Nairy Baghramian, is beautiful and thought-provoking: a strange, abstract take on the figurative tradition in sculpture.

CB: I recently saw As Above, So Below, the show you organized for Hannah Beerman and Rafael Vega, at The Arts Center at Duck Creek in East Hampton—are there other curatorial projects you’re currently working on?

BS: No, I’m waiting for the next invitation! Maybe it will come from Dallas? P

As Above, So Below, Hannah Beerman and Rafael Vega, curated by Barry Schwabsky, July 23–August 21, 2022. Courtesy Arts Center at Duck Creek, East Hampton, New York.

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Venere degli stracci dorata (Golden Venus of the Rags), 1967–71, plaster, gold, and rags. Venus: 64.63 x 25.62 x 23.62 in. Venus with rags: dimensions variable. Collection of Marguerite Steed Hoffman.

Afro Mingei, Theaster Gates’ Art of Fusion

On ceramics made by the 2018 Nasher Prize Laureate, experience the culinary traditions of Japan and the African American South.

BY DARRYL RATCLIFF

It would be wrong to refer to Afro Mingei, a new project developed by artist and 2018 Nasher Prize Laureate Theaster Gates and tucked away inside the Nasher Sculpture Center, simply as a pop-up restaurant. Yes, it does serve food, and yes (spoiler alert), that food is incredibly delicious. Gates wants you to eat, and according to a local artist I ran into on my visit, he would also want you to have a drink or three. However, perhaps most importantly, Gates wants you to run into things. In the context of Afro Mingei , this means ideas, cultures, sounds, visuals, craft, meanings, and people. The title term, coined by Gates, connects the word for the iconic Black hairstyle that served as a symbol of Black identity and empowerment in the 1960s and 1970s and the Japanese term mingei, which was conceived by philosopher Yanagi Sōetsu and ceramists Hamada Shōji and Kawai Kanjirō to describe and honor the realm of humble objects of daily use made by unknown craftspeople. The project is a melting pot, a shrine to the sort of cultural pluralism that makes America great.

Let’s start with the food because if you go to Afro Mingei , you

should definitely eat and drink. The menu combines the culinary traditions of Japan and the African American South served on ceramics made by the artist. The communal table is reclaimed wood from Gates’ hometown of Chicago. The menu is short and uniformly excellent. Two cold share plates, three hot share plates, and two sweet share plates. Gates envisions the dining room as a public square—this is not a place for seclusion, but to bump into your fellow diners. If there is one plate that exemplifies the mashup that Gates has created it is the heirloom cornmeal dumplings, made with Anson Mills cornmeal, shiitake leek broth, kabocha squash, chili oil, and My Epicurean Farm greens. The dish retained the instant comfort food of greens and cornbread that I grew up on, and yet the flavors and presentation were fusion at its finest. Follow that up with Green Circle karaage chicken, and your mind won’t be able to decide if Afro Mingei is the hottest new soul food spot or the trendiest new Japanese restaurant.

Don’t skimp out on the tea service: the vanilla bourbon rooibos is divine and served in hand-crafted ceramic glasses. For cocktails,

Installation view of Afro-Mingei by Theaster Gates at the Nasher Sculpture Center, 2022. Photograph by Kevin Todora. Courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center.

the South Sea Sazerac, featuring brown butterfat-washed Japanese whiskey, was a highlight, as was the whiskey highball with Hibiki Harmony whiskey. If money ain’t a thing, splurge on a pour of the Tsunuki Peated Single Malt. If you are lucky, records will be spinning in the DJ booth; vinyl taken from Gates own extensive record collection.

“Theaster’s goal was to create a really sexy space,” says Jed Morse, chief curator of the Nasher Sculpture Center. Gates succeeds: the built environment is seductive, with neon lights, framed vintage prints, sleek lines, woods, just the right lighting, attentive service, earthen wares, and a sense of exclusivity. It feels like going to a speakeasy before it became not cool to go to a speakeasy. Morse shares that Afro Mingei will have a host to help welcome diners and share about Gates’ practice and intention for the space. There will also be programming throughout the duration of Afro Mingei that will give platforms to emerging artists of color.

This project is interesting insomuch as the last time Gates visited

Dallas, he very publicly distanced himself from social practice and relational aesthetics—insisting to be referred to simply as a sculptor. However, we are who we are, and this piece makes one think of Gates’ famous origin story, his 2007 Plates Convergence, which saw him exhibit ceramic works made by legendary Japanese artist Shoji Yamaguchi, who fled Hiroshima and settled in the Mississippi Delta, where he married a Black civil rights activist named May. He started making ceramics specifically for the food of Southern Black people, and his son continued his legacy by organizing dinners during which racial tensions were addressed in various cities.

This elaborate backstory ended up being a complete fabrication by Gates, but nonetheless marks his long and enduring investigation and appreciation of Japanese culture and form. Whether or not, on the 15th anniversary of Gates’ first breakthrough, he has any more tricks in store for us remains to be seen. In the meantime, enjoy the expertly designed, executed, tasty, and sexy cultural experience Gates has designed for us. P

Above: The Green Circle karaage chicken from the Afro-Mingei menu. Photograph by Grant Daniels. Courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center. Below: Tea service from the Afro-Mingei menu. Photograph by Grant Daniels. Courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center.

ALLIES IN ART

BCA bridges the arts-and-culture sector with the business community.

BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL

“T

he Obelisk Awards is unique because it brings together the widest cross-section of arts-and-culture supporters in North Texas,” notes Katherine Wagner, CEO at Business Council for the Arts. The symbiotic relationship between the Dallas business community and its partnerships within the cultural sector is legendary. Celebrating its 35th year, the award recognizes the significant contributions of leaders in both those sectors. As Nancy Nasher, Founder’s Chair of BCA, states, “When business supports the arts, our cities, communities and workplaces are stronger and more vibrant.”

This year’s awardees in the arts include Dr. Harry Robinson, president and CEO of the African American Museum. “I never thought that I would be receiving an Obelisk Award let alone a Lifetime Achievement Award,” Robinson marvels. For nearly 50 years, he has helmed the museum into the institution that it is today. In the late 1980s–early 1990s, he oversaw the capital campaign that led to the construction of its current facility in Fair Park. “Once we decided what we wanted to do, the Dallas community came together to build this new building,” he says. Under Robinson’s leadership, the museum’s many achievements include its 46-year-old summer camp, its commitment to academic discourse, a robust exhibition calendar, and a vast collecting program.

While Lily Cabatu Weiss assumed the reins as executive director of the Dallas Arts District in 2016, her tenure in the area predated the cultural district itself. In 1978, she joined the faculty of the nascent Arts Magnet (now Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts), where she spent nearly four decades, shaping its dance conservatory into the nationally renowned program that it is today. “The most transformational moment on this incredible journey in the Arts District is directly related to surrounding myself with amazing leaders, like Rosann McLaughlin Cox, one of the founding leaders at the Arts Magnet/Booker T. Washington HSPVA,” she explains. She also cites her family, immigrants from the Philippines, as having a profound influence on her.

From her front-row seat, Weiss has watched the neighborhood transform from the Sasaki Plan, the original blueprint for an arts district drafted in 1983, through the evolution into its current 118acre footprint. “One of the best things that I believe in is the idea of connectivity,” says Weiss, recognized as a Visionary Nonprofit Arts Leader. On her watch, the Dallas Arts District has become increasingly pedestrian-friendly, while programming both in and out of its physical buildings attracts the broadest swath of the city.

The BCA itself reflects the diversity of Dallas. Board member

Harry Robinson, president and CEO of the African American Museum, received BCA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Photograph by Jesse Hornbuckle

Pamela Zeigler-Petty chaired this year’s Obelisk Awards. “As the first African American in this position, she has brought new connections that advance BCA’s diversity and mission success,” Wagner states.

In broadening the narrative of the American experience, this past spring the Boeing Company, this year’s honoree for New Initiatives, served as the sole sponsor for The Continual Struggle: The American Freedom Movement and the Seeds of Social Change. The exhibition, featuring Brian Washington’s charcoal paintings chronicling the history of the civil rights movement, was on view at the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Another connector in the city is UT Southwestern Medical Center. An honoree for Arts Partnerships, UTSW values the arts as a key component in healing. According to John Warner, MD, executive vice president for Health System Affairs and Health System CEO, “We hear from our patients and their families often about how much

they appreciate the art program at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.” Not only does the art provide a balm for its patients, but it also strives to support the local arts ecosystem through its insistence that over 50 percent of the work on its campus comes from regional artists and galleries.

UTSW also partners with area art museums to offer its students The Art of Observation. This elective course teaches the elements of art while offering instruction in empathy. It also offers tips to avoid the increasingly serious issue of burnout.

The November award luncheon is one of the ways in which BCA builds bridges. “In addition to the Obelisk Awards, another key program of BCA is Leadership Arts. This excellent trademarked program is for business professionals who wish to serve on nonprofit arts and culture boards of directors,” says Wagner. Nominations for next year’s Obelisk Awards open in January. P

Dallas Arts District executive director and CEO Lily Weiss was honored as this year’s Visionary Nonprofit Arts Leader. Photograph by Jonathan Zizzo.

“This excellent trademarked program is for business professionals who wish to serve on nonprofit arts and culture boards of directors.”

–Katherine Wagner, CEO at Business Council for the Arts

CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC

BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL

Theatre Three derives its name from the symbiotic triangle of authors, actors, and audiences. Founded in 1961 by Norma Young, Jac Alder, Esther Ragland, and Roy Dracup, it is the second-oldest theater company in Dallas. It has been in its current space at The Quad (formerly the Quadrangle) since 1969. Following a major renovation, its signature splashy, red sign now glows brightly in the greatly expanded lobby. Adjacent to the relocated front door, the theater’s name is now emblazoned in black and white, echoing the signage of its original home in Deep Ellum. Entering its sixth decade and moving into its next chapter, the theater’s updated look creates visual continuity with its origins.

Young and Alder, who ran the theater until their respective deaths in 1998 and 2015, were trailblazers on many fronts. In 1960s Dallas, they insisted upon integrated casts. They presented new works by playwrights such as Harold Pinter, Edward Albee, and August Wilson. Actor Morgan Fairchild and Pulitzer Prize–winning playwrights Doug Wright and Beth Henley began their careers there. More recently, it served as a launchpad for actor Major Attaway before his move to Broadway. “We are an essential stepping stone not just for here, but for national stages,” says artistic director Jeffrey Schmidt.

Schmidt, who worked closely with Alder, assumed his role in 2016, following a national search. In 2019, fellow actor Christie Vela was named associate artistic director. The pair continues the vision set forth by Young and Alder. “Norma was so much about experimental and new work,” Vela explains. In addition to an enduring commitment to inclusion and equity, she and Schmidt continue to pursue a contemporary repertoire while still crafting new ways to tell old stories. As Schmidt says of their upcoming production, “The Elephant Man is a great example of a classic that we’ll bring new ideas to.” In this case, they look forward to experimenting with the show’s technical aspects. Similarly, the theater will present a new adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s The Butterfly’s Evil Spell, scheduled for later in the spring.

The artistic staff is complemented by director-inresidence Joel Ferrell. “It’s a vote of confidence to have him on board. Theatre Three is now his home, and he’s

part of our artistic conversations,” Schmidt says. Vela adds, “Joel is invaluable in so many ways. He is always thinking, ‘How do we improve?’”

The forward momentum is also propelled by several incubators for playwrights. Once the downstairs Theatre Too reopens, the Monday Night Playwright program will return, offering writers an opportunity to read, rehearse, and develop new work. In The Festival of Bad Ideas, creatives may pitch their experimental work to Schmidt, which, if accepted, will be performed as part of a cabaretstyle event.

Between their apprenticeship program and their partnership with Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, the theater continues to mentor succeeding generations of performers. Through these programs, Vela says, “Students get full access to Theatre Three.” This includes attending rehearsals, performances, and master classes, as well as ultimately having an opportunity to perform with professionals on the Norma Young Stage. Schmidt continues, “You do everything as an apprentice here. We all wear so many hats.”

The playhouse’s unique layout recognizes its audience as another foundational component. “Theater-in-thesquare,” as Vela calls it, pulls the audience into the performance, creating an intimate experience. It was a configuration favored by local theater revolutionary and Young’s inspiration, Margo Jones. “The treasure of this space is not only the experience on stage, but to see how fellow patrons will react. It brings them into the story,” Vela adds.

Perspectives of its diverse audiences are further explored with the T3 Talks program. What began as an experiment, with a single facilitator through whom audiences could converse about their reactions to the work, has evolved in size and scope. “I expanded it to have more facilitators who look like our city. It’s always easier to open up and have difficult conversations when you see someone like you. It has been a great success,” Vela offers.

Finally, Schmidt says, “We want to honor the past, but we have to move forward.” As heir to the theater’s history, Schmidt is advancing the timelessness of the founders’ original vision while plunging it into the future. P

Theatre Three returns to newly renovated space.

Drew Wall in The Elephant Man . Photograph by Jeffrey Schmidt.

DRAWING INTEREST

With scores of drawings, Michael Williams’ solo show is a contemplative feast.

BY TERRI PROVENCAL

During the busy fall art circuit, you may have missed the voluminous show for Los Angeles–based artist Michael Williams, but there is still time to catch it. Known for his paintings that “reflect modern complexity and contradiction,” in this show, 250 drawings are on view at The Power Station through March 10, illustrating his approach to creative intent and personal observation. It’s the artist’s first show to present works on paper and drawings exclusively.

Drawing encapsulates gesture and thought in a teeming interaction. In each work, Williams shows how to make the potential for wayward thinking compulsory and working as an act of drawing, whether it is calligraphic or choreographic or a result of tedium and failure.

The Power Station is among the best art spaces in town for an artist to be venturesome, and this installation reveals the joy of experimentation. Profound, peculiar and humorous, as in Untitled (Yoga) where the artist suggests PRACTICE YOGA AND MEDITATION TO BECOME A BETTER PAINTER IN JUST SEVEN YEARS, Drawings is a contemplative journey, much like a bookstore where you could find yourself lost for hours. P

Drawing is a privilege and painting is an obligation. It’s the difference between thinking and working.

Drawing is thinking. –Michael Williams

Above: Michael Williams, Drawings, installation views at The Power Station. Photography by Kevin Todora. Right: Michael Williams, Untitled (Yoga), 2021. colored pencil on paper, 11 x 9 in. Photograph by Patron

THE

OF

TEXAS

Did you know that Dallas is home to the largest contiguous arts district in the country? Not but it is home to some of the most famous international artists and art that is weaved and hidden throughout the city. Art supporters and philanthropists keen on improving Dallas impressive works have worked hard to bring collections to the public’s attention. Here are coolest areas of town to explore if you find yourself with an eye for the arts.

THE TIN DISTRICT

Inside large tin warehouses in West Dallas, south of Trinity Groves, 75+ contemporary artists are creating and designing in studios and art spaces that are off the beaten path. Street art and graffiti don the walls and alleyways, so it is easy to find once you know you are in it. The walls change daily, and any artist can come and paint over an existing mural. Here you’ll find magnificent works from everyone from Dan Lam—who recently was featured in Architectural Digest—to Zeke Williams—whose work is in the collections of Toyota Headquarters and UT Southwestern and everyone in between.

EAST QUARTER

The East Quarter is located between the Farmers Market, Deep Ellum and the Central Dallas Business District. It consists of 30 properties, eight city blocks and is all owned by Todd Interests. The company is on a mission to preserve the 100-year-old brick automobile showrooms that line the streets and captivate them. In addition to adding restaurants, retail and housing to the area, art has also become a focus. You can find life sized Richard Orlinski’s, a ‘Kaws’ family, and a new mural by Shepard Fairey to name a few. It is a very exciting new area of for creativity to bloom.

VALLEY HOUSE GALLERY AND SCULPTURE GARDEN

This hidden gem is the oldest modern art gallery in Dallas and is an amazing find for those wanting art off the beaten path. Feel free to stroll the four-acre sculpture garden created in 1959 by Clarence Roy. It’s filled with Michael O’Keefe and Ballard among others and its exhibitions change frequently. One can always find something to fall in love with open daily from 10 am to 5 pm. It is closed on Sunday.

BACKSTAGE ACCESS

A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT HOW A FULL-THROTTLE PERFORMING ARTS SEASON IS BROUGHT TO LIFE BY STANDOUT CREATIVES.

BY LEE CULLUM

Elizabeth Askren, alumna of The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors, will conduct Così fan tutte . Photograph by Kim Leeson. Courtesy of The Dallas Opera.

One wedding and a honeymoon. Flight from the borders of a brutal war. Puppets and Persian voices. These are the stories of artists returning to stages in Dallas after on-again-off-again lives on the edges of their art.

Elizabeth Askren, an early standout at the Hart Institute for Women Conductors and now a member of the faculty, will be back in March to lead Mozart’s Così fan tutte at The Dallas Opera. In a phone interview from Cluj, Romania, where she has been living with her husband and daughter, she talks about Mozart from the standpoint of a pianist, which she started out to be. “Anybody can play [Mozart],” she avers, “few can master him.” She cautions against “anything that risks being oversimplified.”

Oversimplified Askren is not. After graduating from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, she studied both piano and conducting in France and married a French-Romanian violinist named Paul Brie. When he took up IT in Romania, she turned entrepreneurial herself, starting the Transylvanian Opera Academy, among other ventures, while continuing, more and more, to lead orchestras in the US and Europe.

Now, however, she’s faced with the war in Ukraine, right across the Romanian border. At first, she relates, “I opened my home to some families in transit and helped orphans on their way to Israel.” But now doctors in Romania are giving out

Here and below: Erin Hannigan, principal oboist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Photograph by Teresa Berg. Courtesy of the Dallas Symphony.

iodine pills for nuclear radiation, just as they are in Ukraine. The Askren/Brie family sees no choice but to move. They’re heading to New York, not too far, they hope, from her parents on the Upper West Side, who can help look after their daughter, Eliane (who prefers Willie) when Askren is traveling. Her husband can pursue funding for his IT company there as well as anywhere, and Eliane will be the fifth generation of the family to attend the Convent of the Sacred Heart.

While war rages in Europe, honeymoons nonetheless still happen. I hear about one of them when I catch Erin Hannigan, principal oboist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, at DFW airport as she and her new husband, Fred Tuomi, are about to board a plane to Paris, and from there to Marseilles for a French river cruise through Burgundy. They met, she tells me, at the Arizona Music Festival in 2019, got married last July while in lockdown. Now they’re celebrating, but only because her parents are willing to come to Dallas from Colorado to look after their three pets: an aging pit bull, a German shepherd/border collie mix, and Gabby the cat, who hung out in a Costco drain before Erin rescued her, as she has many animals over many years. Indeed, she co-founded Artists for Animals to raise money for these friends in distress.

Like Askren, Hannigan attended Oberlin. After a stint at the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, she came to Dallas,

where the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s music director at the time, Jaap van Zweden, quickly elevated her to principal oboist. Since then, she has commissioned and recorded, among others, Serenada Concertante written just for her; taught oboe at SMU; and delighted especially in playing new work. “Knowing the audience is hearing this music for the first time” is a thrill, she says.

Hannigan and Tuomi had been married for almost three months when playwright Isaac Gómez and his fiancé, Rasheed Hall, an actor, returned for their wedding to Chicago—in many ways their creative home. Gómez, originally from El Paso/ Juarez, was drawn to Steppenwolf Theatre and other lively Windy City theaters after graduating from UT Austin. A TV writers’ room lured him to Los Angeles in 2019. He “had no interest in staying” he tells me by phone, but Covid intervened, so he and Hall decided that was where they had to hunker down.

At 31, Gómez has produced an impressive body of work, either commissioned or already done. One of those plays, The Way She Spoke, will be mounted by the Undermain Theatre in June next year. This is a one-woman show about Juarez women and the culture of violence in which they’ve been forced to live, if they lived at all. Gómez went back to the border to search for true stories that would illuminate a shameful world, shrouded in shadows.

Watch out for Isaac Gómez. We will hear from him again and again.

Playwright Isaac Gómez. Photograph courtesy of Toda Sola Productions.

Gómez also is working on a seven-hour epic for Steppenwolf that examines “what it is to have blind faith.” In this instance he is focused on the women around the crucified Christ, and, in part two, on the death of Mother Teresa. And he is pursuing a project on his lifelong binge-eating disorder for Lincoln Center. It’s “wild and crazy,” he promises, done in repertory, with one performance in English, the next in Spanish. Watch out for Isaac Gómez. We will hear from him again and again.

To talk with Tiana Kaye Johnson is to know pretty quickly that she is a powerhouse. After notable success with the Brierley Resident Acting Company at the Dallas Theater Center, she is turning now to directing. Her last was a major production in October called Trouble in Mind, a 1955 hit by Alice Childress. In a long conversation by phone, Johnson describes her extensive research for Trouble and zeroes in on the “generational struggle.”

Wiletta Mayer is a successful Black actress who knows how to “play the game,” as Johnson tells me, portraying one stereotype after another—mainly based on “a maid, mammy”—while Millie Davis, as Johnson conceives her, is younger, “more combative,” and not interested in going along to get along.

The aim of this production, Johnson stresses, is to delve

Dallas Theater Center’s Trouble in Mind, directed by Tiana Kaye Johnson. Photograph courtesy of Dallas Theater Center.

Tiana Kaye Johnson. Courtesy of Dallas Theater Center.

into the “complicated history” of film and “go at it in a nuanced way…[to look] at strong emotion [and not] shove it under the rug and never talk about it again. That doesn’t help.” To this end she prepared a syllabus with lists for watching and reading, works like Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World by Wil Haygood; D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation ; and Imitation of Life, directed by Douglas Sirk. “The industry didn’t know what to do with Dorothy Dandridge…Billie Holiday, or Ethel Waters,” Johnson laments. “These were glamorous actresses relegated to playing service people.”

At this pivotal moment between two worlds—ease and disease—cooking seems to be the key to sanity for some performing artists in Dallas, including dancer Sean Smith. A star of astonishing virtuosity at Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Smith goes in for Mediterranean fare—hummus, marinated chicken with Greek yogurt, tabouli. “I cook like I have a large family,” Smith explains, “though it’s just me and Elizabeth”—a stray kitten that jumped off a balcony, was found in a parking lot, and landed in his life. Like Hannigan, Smith is devoted to animals in need of a home, but in his case it’s just one.

During Covid, Smith tore his meniscus, which required knee surgery and forced him to slow down, he says. However, he quickly returned to his usual regimen to stay in shape: weight training, stretching, yoga, Pilates, and “I walk all the time,” he tells me. “I don’t drive [and I do a] 30-minute walk to the DBDT” from his apartment in the Design District. Originally

Sean Smith. Photograph by Kent Barker

Sean Smith in Execution of a Sentiment Photograph by Sharen Bradford.

from the Vancouver area, trained partly at the Ailey School, Smith has been in Dallas over a decade and wrestles annually with the visa issue. Though he calls himself “pretty nomadic” and “not super social,” he’s still here, and that’s good. To watch Sean Smith in action is to see the extraordinary, concentrated energy of an introvert, never diverted by the extraneous or the second-rate.

Hamid Rahmanian landed at New York’s JFK International Airport the last day of 1993. He was getting out of Iran to find new outlets, any outlets, for the creative energies for which he had no hope at home. The Pratt Institute took him. So did Disney in LA, where he excelled at animation and was nominated for an Oscar but chafed at being told what to do. The best thing that came to him at Disney was Melissa Hibbard, an art director from Oklahoma, who married Rahmanian and moved with him to Brooklyn. Now she produces all his works, including Song of the North, a puppet shadow play of riveting enchantment, due at TITAS January 13 and 14.

Speaking from his studio, Rahmanian recounts the 15 years he has devoted to Shahnameh: The Book of Kings, a long Persian epic poem written around 1010 from which Song of the North is drawn. With puppets, actors, and music behind an animated movie screen, he and Melissa, plus a multifaceted cast, dramatize a love story set in a dangerous world of impending war. It is “a sophisticated narrative [dealing with] mythology, history,” says Rahmanian, not “empty stories” so often produced in America. When Joy Bollinger, artistic director of Bruce Wood Dance, said she was sending me her “senior dancer” for this article, I expected someone still young, of course, but pushing 40. Jillyn Bryant is 28. Still, she is the longest in tenure at the company, not the oldest. She marvels at the way the ensemble has been, “grounding, maturing, and growing, making it through the pandemic together…stronger, tougher, probably more grateful… with trust and respect for everyone.” Even so, she explains, there has been a “revolving door at Bruce Wood,” as dancers are “more interested in doing projects…something else…to experience enough different aesthetics.”

Bryant, however, happily returned to Dallas, her hometown, after studying at Park Point University, Juilliard, and other venues. A tight-knit family of five siblings drew her back, with a boyfriend in marketing eventually added to the mix. Now she is looking forward to many things at Bruce Wood, but especially to dancing Rhapsody in Blue, “one of my all-time favorites,” in the company’s show in early June. She is always on the lookout for the new, the heretofore unknown. “The way we do things, the way we experience life,” she points out, “is not the only way.”

How did Jillyn Bryant—and indeed all the artists I’ve talked with for this piece—develop such powers of expression? Where did they get the depth of insight, the poetic imagination, or the inner resources, learned and earned? From introspection, I suspect—an unexpected, even unwelcome, gain bestowed by Covid. Zoom didn’t work for these dancers, musicians, or actors as well as it did for those who deal with words or numbers. The mutual exchange of physical energy means more to performers, and the loss of it is greater. Somehow artists have assimilated those losses and the necessary spirit of recovery to become the theologians of the age, the pathway to the infinite. P

Above: Jillyn Bryant and Cole Vernon in Dark Matter, Bruce Wood Dance. Photograph by Sharen Bradford. Below: Jillyn Bryant in Carved in Stone. Photograph by Sharen Bradford.

TITAS Dance/Unbound presents Hamid Rahmanian’s Song of the North . Photograph courtesy of Hamid Rahmanian.

Hamid Rahmanian. Courtesy of the artist.

Nancy Best Fountain light show. Courtesy of Klyde Warren Park.

ALL TOGETHER NOW

AT 10, KLYDE WARREN PARK EXPANDS ITS ALL-INCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH A NEW FOUNTAIN FOR SPLASHY GOOD TIMES.

BY LEE CULLUM

It was “as if all the fountains of the English language had been set playing in the sunlight for our pleasure.”

In penning this, Virginia Woolf had in mind John Ruskin, like her, a ravishing British writer. She might also have been talking about the Nancy Best Fountain, whose language is color, water, and music. By day or by night, it too is ravishing. Created to liven up the East Lawn of Klyde Warren Park, it has become a park unto itself, complementing the myriad attractions across Olive Street in the Dallas Arts District, but too spectacular to be ancillary to anything.

The Nancy Best Fountain is striking, first of all, because of the elegance of its elements, beginning with the tall, sculptural, stainless steel “trees”—they remind me of Bertoia or Platner— where dancing showers undulate, sometimes with a light touch, flanked on either side by rainy chorus lines of subtlety and grace, and other times more dramatic, soaring on sky-high liquid reds and blues, with songs to match. Such a show of artful flair and technical prowess demands a spirited response. Consequently, everyone dances in the pool, which stretches asymmetrically around the fountain, spouting bubbles of its own everywhere. Toddlers wade with abandon, moving to the music. So do their parents. So do their dogs.

Beyond the merriment, pavers of concrete aggregate, with patterns shifting from one section to another, underscore the perfection of the place, while bright-blue umbrellas above white

tables and chairs—plus more chairs in green, yellow, and burnt orange—create an atmosphere of undiluted welcome. Then there’s the donut stand—no flimsy pop-up here. Instead, it’s a round, pristine, sturdy structure with folding windows in front, open to the air for customers to place their orders.

Kit Sawers, president of KWP, attributes the design sense that’s everywhere apparent to her chairman Jody Grant, a da Vinci-like character whose easy understanding of baffling complications allows him to breeze from an underground concrete vault holding 20,000 gallons of water to the unbearable lightness of being up above, where those waters dance and software lights the night. A sound system with 18 speakers brings music to the air, but “aimed inside the park,” he emphasizes, stressing that exacting tests were done. “Tricia Linderman [executive vice president] heard nothing at Museum Tower,” he assures, “and it was pretty loud.”

Grant is a banker and at one time a champion swimmer who came to SMU from San Antonio. He has a natural affinity not only for numbers and graphs but also architectural and engineering models. He wears his success so disarmingly that it seems donors give him almost anything he wants. Kelcy Warren did when he agreed to fund a large chunk of the original Klyde Warren Park. So did Nancy Best, an early board member of KWP, when she made possible the fountain that bears her name.

Talking with Nancy Best by phone, I recognize immediately

Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s Sean Smith celebrates the Nancy Best Fountain. Photograph by Tramaine Townsend.

Nancy Best, Richie Butler, Sheila and Jody Grant. Courtesy of Klyde Warren Park.

her command of every piece of the project. Women, I find out, have her to thank for insisting on really nice restrooms, with plenty of space and a changing table for babies. “I learned that in the children’s park,” she points out. When it comes to music, Best wants “something for everybody”— “Texas artists…women soloists, C&W…jazz, classical.” She adds, “You can’t get 10 people to like the same music, [but] I want everyone who comes to the park to feel they can respond to the park.”

Best grew up in Ponca City, Okla., went to Oklahoma State University, and then moved to Houston (“Everybody was going to Houston,” she recalls), where she met her husband, Randy, also a funder of the fountain. In time they came to Dallas, which they by then considered “the place to be.” Three words sum up Best’s essential interest in this latest, finest feature at Klyde Warren Park: beauty, nature, and children. They belong together, she believes. That’s what the fountain, in her mind, has been created to accomplish.

“We’re in the entertainment business,” explains Grant, “to bring people downtown.” No one would agree more than his wife, Sheila, a devotee of dance who does not concur with the notion that they also serve who only stand and wait. She was built for action. Indeed, she has gotten over 100 dancers out of Ukraine since the war began. While Jody looks after the structural side of the park, Sheila, also a board member, concerns herself with choreography, marrying “Ring of Fire,” “Dancing Queen,” and “It’s a Wonderful World” to the palette of the fountain. “Music

Girl power at Klyde Warren Park.

A young boy enjoys the park. Courtesy of Klyde Warren Park.

Klyde Warren Park aerial view. Photograph by Cash Sirois. Courtesy of Klyde Warren Park.

Nancy Best Fountain daytime view. Courtesy of Klyde Warren Park.

and dance,” she reminds, “have a universal vocabulary.”

“I was not expecting this,” she says of the volumes of energy she has poured into the park. “Dance and books were my life.” Even so, she set out with Jody, doing “homework—footwork [visiting park after park]—learning what works, what doesn’t.” When she started the Fort Worth Ballet, “there were [dance] companies to call,” Sheila recalls. “They knew what to do. Not so with parks.” KWP is “different from the empty green space [of yesteryear]. We don’t want empty park space. [That can be] trouble. [Parks] need to be activated. We want to offer people something they can’t get elsewhere. All for free.”

Parks today “are a brand-new field,” Sheila continues. “No one knows. There is not a special formula yet.” Forming a living park—that is the job of Sawers. Jody Grant does pivotal projects like negotiating a Property Improvement District to give KWP a fair share of the increased taxes paid by neighboring buildings whose values are up thanks to their proximity to this extraordinary collection of pleasurable outings. Sawers must keep those activities going (1,300 of them as of September,

maybe more by now) and that means not just managing staff but raising money, since everything in her purview is indeed free to the public, except for the food trucks. She also keeps track of those, however, making sure to maintain a lively mix, including the new donut shop by the fountain.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” she says, echoing Sheila Grant’s readiness to risk the new and the uncharted. No matter what, Sawers is confident that “the park is changing our skyline. It is changing the city.” She would understand that. Like Sheila Grant, Sawers grew up in Dallas and has done many things, all of them well—from running the Tate Lecture Series at SMU to events at the Super Bowl. But it is Klyde Warren Park that has deployed her substantial talents to the fullest.

The same might be said of Linderman, another longtime Dallasite. As the park’s project manager for the fountain as well as executive VP, she keeps this daunting enterprise on track and moving. Previously at EDS and Jody Grant’s Texas Capital Bancshares, she became the indispensable person as construction progressed, working from seven a.m. to ten p.m., day and night

Clockwise from top left: Popsicles at the park; a boy with his dog; Downtown Fever Band; Tree Lighting Ceremony view; Movies in the Park; The Dallas Conservatory performs; View from the Tree Lighting Ceremony. All courtesy of Klyde Warren Park.

by the end, to get it done. Like the Grants and Sawers—Best too—Linderman seems born for this moment. And Jody Grant called the park “the most gratifying thing outside my family I’ve ever done.”

Then there’s the itinerant genius, Jim Garland. His firm, Fluidity Design Consultants, brought the Nancy Best Fountain into being and made it a star. He has moved from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore., where he’s restoring an historic house—but he doesn’t see much of it since he’s always on the road, looking after new creations all over the world, including a recent assignment in Cairo.

Some who meet Garland might take him for a good ol’ boy. A mistake. He has a well-stocked, wide-ranging mind, as I discover when I catch up with him at Logan Airport in Boston, where he’s waiting to fly to LA. We talk by phone for almost an hour. Jim doesn’t just work with water, he reveres it as one of Aristotle’s four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water. It is to be celebrated, he feels, “as the Japanese do, with refinement.” The fountain in Dallas, he explains, should be “open to the sky

and anchored to the earth,” with the stainless steel trees (he says they could be chalices) not just “a backdrop to churning water.” To him they are sculpture, he says, remembering that in the Renaissance, the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Rome was designed by Bernini, a great sculptor. The last thing he wants, he says, is for the Nancy Best Fountain to be “a dumb wet deck.” That it definitely is not.

Garland’s plane is ready for boarding, so we wind up with his touching on German philosophy, once again celebrating water, celebrating time, celebrating life. He would have been as pleased as I was a few weeks later to meet a young man stretched out on the greensward near the fountain, reading a book. I ask him to show me the title: Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche, in Spanish. Later I see that he has moved to the sidelines to get away from a soccer game played by little guys and big guys—fathers, and sons perhaps. My reading friend spots me standing on the far side of what is now the field. He waves. I wave back. And so it goes at the Nancy Best Fountain, in this, the tenth anniversary year of Klyde Warren Park. P

Not One to See the Father for the Trees

LA’s Meliksetian | Briggs leads heavy for their Dallas debut with a Bas Jan Ader exhibition.

BY BRANDON KENNEDY

Bas Jan Ader, Light vulnerable objects threatened by eight cement bricks, 1970, eight objects, rope, and cement cinder blocks, dimensions variable, unique. Two detail views of installation at Meliksetian | Briggs, 2021.

Let us begin with the artist’s disappearance at sea. Departing his adopted shores to return to the motherland. The second component of a never-completed trilogy, In Search of the Miraculous

The tragicomic artist with an existentialist bent. His melancholic longing echoes in the waves, concealing previous melodramatic splashes elsewhere. Sea shanties sung by a choir, nighttime walks from the city to the ocean, now long gone but not completely silent.

Dutch conceptual performance artist Bas Jan Ader often used photographic and filmic means to capture his Beckettian variations influenced by Buster Keaton’s sense of comedic timing. Drawn or printed text was also widely utilized by the artist to provoke, plead, or share a pursuit with the viewer. Ader commonly worked stylistic variations of connected themes and made the majority of his small but potent oeuvre while living in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles or his native Netherlands. Ader settled in Los Angeles in 1963, having initially sailed across the ocean from Morocco. The City of Angels haunts a number of the artist’s works and vice versa, as the Los Angeles namesake gallery of Anna Meliksetian and Michael Briggs solely represents the estate of the late artist.

The centerpiece of the January exhibition at Meliksetian | Briggs’ new location in Dallas’ River Bend is a durational installation entitled Thoughts unsaid, then forgotten (1973). The conceptual work consists of the titular phrases rendered in oil stick in capital letters on a white wall. The two-line phrases are illuminated by a common clamp-on light on a tripod, a ceramic vase of flowers placed adjacent on the floor. Once the blooms fade, they are disposed of and replaced. The

Bas Jan Ader, Light vulnerable objects threatened by eight cement bricks, 1970, eight objects, rope, and cement cinder blocks, dimensions variable, unique. Two detail views of installation at Meliksetian | Briggs, 2021.

Bas Jan Ader, Thoughts unsaid, then forgotten, 1973, oil stick, tripod, clamp-on lamp, flowers, and ceramic vase, dimensions variable, unique. Installation view at Metro Pictures, New York, 2016. Photograph by Genevieve Hansen.

text is then painted over and written again, starting the cycle anew. The click of the lamp’s switch marking an empty envelope of time.

Similar in tone, Light vulnerable objects threatened by eight cement bricks, (1970), features an arrangement of objects resting on the gallery floor (pillows, a boxed cake, a string of lights, a flat of eggs) with a cinder block looming just above each scenario and secured by a rope. The anxiety of the present moment, oozing an absurd, yet-to-be-realized finality to the gravity of the relationships between objects.

Telling gestures and repeated motions mark the edges of Ader’s artistic ideas. An idea can run the gamut of media in his oeuvre or exist solely as directives or explanations; the dissolving of a subject into its circumstances. In his Broken Fall series, the artist presents both (geometric) and (organic) subtitled variations filmed in Holland. Rocking rhythmically on a path in the direction of a nearby sawhorse, the artist eventually succumbs to listing over sideways onto the supporting object and off the path. A lanky figure swings back and forth from a high tree limb, a stream below to break his eventual descent. In 1970—a year before the two previous examples—the Dutch artist famously veered his bicycle into a murky Amsterdam canal, disappearing with a splash for Fall 2, Amsterdam, resulting in both a color production still and black-and-white silent film of just nineteen seconds. Adam, Icarus, Man.

Running under just two minutes, Untitled (Tea party), 1972, is a black-and-white silent film featuring the artist crawling slowly on a hillside. At left is the open long side of a large appliance box propped up with a simple long limb tied with a string leading offscreen. Once underneath, Ader methodically pours and sips tea from a porcelain

set whilst on his haunches in suit and tie. He turns away from us after setting his cup down on the tray, and the string pulls taut as the artist is trapped underneath in a timely fashion. A cardboard coffin parked beneath a tree on a sunny hillside cleft.

Ader’s father, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church (as was his mother), aided Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by hiding them in the family’s home in the countryside near the German border. He was later arrested by the Nazis and then executed along with several others at the edge of a wooden area. Israel honored the fallen hero by planting 1,000 pine trees in the Hebron district of the West Bank on the ruins of 350 homes of displaced Palestinians razed during the 1948 war, their former occupants never allowed to return. Decades later, Bas’ brother Erik, a retired diplomat, learned of the cover-up and donated olive trees to an occupied Palestinian territory. He has also asked for their father’s name to be removed from the grove of trees dedicated in his honor.

In Bas Jan Ader’s Untitled (Swedish Fall), 1971/2003, the artist is photographed at the edge of a wooded area in two separate color, square-format compositions. The first image captures the artist standing at the composition’s center, erect among the straight, tall pines alongside and behind him. The second mirrors the first but finds Ader fallen, laying prostrate among a few felled trunks. The implied actions between postures confronts the past, yet also projects into the unknown future an echo of mortality, absence, and grief. Tinged with longing and ringing softly through the tendered quiet of a thicket. Planted by others in memory of those once, or not yet, lost. P

Bas Jan Ader, portrait at Master of Fine Arts exhibition, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, 1967. Photograph by Mary Sue Andersen-Ader.

Clockwise from top: Bas Jan Ader, Fall 2, Amsterdam, 1970, black-and-white 16mm film, silent, duration: 19". Color production still from set; Bas Jan Ader, Broken Fall (geometric) Westkapelle, Holland, 1971, black-and-white 16mm film, silent, duration: 1'32". Still image from 16mm film; Bas Jan Ader, Untitled (Tea party), 1972, black-andwhite 16mm film, silent, duration: 1'52". Production still from 16mm film. All images: © The Estate of Bas Jan Ader / Mary Sue Andersen-Ader, 2022 / The Artist Rights Society (ARS) New York. Courtesy of Meliksetian | Briggs.

Jewels that Sleigh

Gorgeous and glorious, seasonal gems inspire.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DIXIE DIXON CREATIVE DIRECTION BY ELAINE RAFFEL

Winston Candy tsavorite earrings featuring peridots, tanzanites, aquamarines, and diamonds set in platinum; Winston Kaleidoscope pendant with tanzanite center stone set in platinum; Winston Candy ring featuring aquamarine and diamonds set in platinum; Avenue Classic timepiece featuring a white mother-of-pearl dial, diamonds, and sapphires set in 18k white gold on blue alligator strap. All Harry Winston, Highland Park Village; Carolina Herrera tiered lame gown, Carolina Herrera, Highland Park Village. Hair and makeup LB Rosser, Kim Dawson Agency; crew chief Eric Jang; stylist assistant Kendel Bolton; model Kate Woodman, Kim Dawson Agency.

deBoulle Collection Mermaid earrings with two pear-shaped aquamarines over 77 cts., accented with diamonds, and crafted in 18k white gold; deBoulle Collection Helen of Troy necklace features aquamarines over 99 cts. and amethysts 20 cts., crafted in platinum; deBoulle Collection Mermaid ring features an aquamarine over 47 cts. mounted with diamonds in 18k white gold. All exclusively at deBoulle, Preston Road.

From left to right: David Yurman Chevron pinky ring in 18k white gold with reverse-set pavé black diamonds; Modern Renaissance band ring in 18k yellow gold with diamonds; Chatelaine ring in 18k yellow gold with full pavé diamonds; Stax Seven Row ring in 18k yellow gold with pavé diamonds; Modern Renaissance band ring in 18k yellow gold with blue sapphires and diamonds; Chatelaine Pavé bezel ring in 18k rose gold with morganite and diamonds. All David Yurman, NorthPark Center and davidyurman.com; Alex Perry Haynes ruched column gown, Tootsies, Plaza at Preston Center.

Lydia Courteille Dragon earrings in 18k gold with jasper, tsavorite, spinel, and rubies; Lydia Courteille Cameo ring, in 18k gold, with silver, ruby, and diamond. All exclusively at Grange Hall, Travis Street.

Piranesi 18k rose gold earrings with oval pink sapphires and two shield diamonds; JB Star platinum necklace set featuring 36 multicolor heartshape sapphires alternating with 35 round brilliant-cut diamonds; Eiseman Collection 18k white gold bracelet prong set with multicolored emerald-cut sapphires with oval diamonds; Piranesi 18k yellow gold three-stone halo ring featuring three multicolor sapphires and round brilliant-cut diamonds. All Eiseman Jewels, NorthPark Center. Jonathan Simkhai Coco taffeta off-the -shoulder bustier, Tootsies,

Plaza at Preston Center.

Sylva & Cie opal earrings, 18k yellow gold, round brilliant-cut diamond 1.10 cts. opal 73.17 cts.; Sylva & Cie Riviera necklace, 14k rose gold, with cushion-cut blue topaz approximately 213.92 cts.; Sylva & Cie blue topaz Renee ring, 18k yellow gold, round brilliant-cut diamond 0.75 cts. with topaz 8.95 cts.; Sylva & Cie opal ring, 18k opal blue sapphire and diamond. All at Stanley Korshak, Crescent Court.

Nan Fusco mismatched earrings with faceted diamond slices in diamond bezel, marquis French hinged post; gold chain fringe; Nan Fusco Peace/ Harmony pave diamond charm necklace on hammered gold links; Aquaprase tanzanite and diamond pendant on paper clip link; Aquaprase and green tourmaline ring in diamonds on Van Cleef link; princess-cut green tourmaline 7 ct., hand-forged bezel with sprinkled peridot; triple diamond intersecting loop band; flat hammered-link bangle with diamond links; 18k double-wrap flex diamond bracelet/choker, 7.5 ctw. All Nan Fusco at Carefully Curated Luxury.

William Noble Rare Jewels 18-karat white gold round and baguette diamond earrings; emeraldcut diamond necklace 34 cts. handcrafted in platinum; handcrafted diamond eternity band, all diamonds 1.00 ct each and G.I.A. certified. All William Noble Rare Jewels, Preston Road; Tibi ruffle-neck dress, Tootsies, Plaza at Preston Center.

Cindy Rachofsky, Rashid Johnson at the TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art 2022 Gala and Auction.

Photograph by Kevin Tachman

TWO x TWO FOR AIDS AND ART 2022 GALA AND AUCTION PRESENTED

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUNO SNAP THE PICTURE AND KEVIN TACHMAN

BY

Cameron Silver, Suzanne Droese

Meghan Looney, Ryan Beal, Piper Beal

Christen Wilson

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Cindy Rachofsky, Sheree Hovsepian, Rashid Johnson, Howard Rachofsky

Brian Bolke, Taylor Olson, Faisal Halum, Maria Valim

Carlos Gonzalez-Jaime, Dr. Agustín Arteaga

SAKS AT THE RACHOFSKY HOUSE

Melissa Ireland, Gene Jones, Nancy Rogers

Alex Israel

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Marguerite Hoffman and Elaine Agather

Rashid Johnson, T. Ryan Greenawalt, Kevin McClatchy

Charlotte Jones, Amir Rozwadowski, Haley Anderson

Stephanie and John Roberts, John and Lisa Runyon

TWO x TWO FIRST LOOK PRESENTED BY NEIMAN MARCUS AT THE RACHOFSKY HOUSE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

SNAP THE PICTURE

Eric and Sheryl Maas, Jacquelin Sewell Atkinson, William Atkinson

Geoffroy van Raemdonck, CEO of Neiman Marcus, Alvise Orsini

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Fenil Ghodadra, Kira Nasrat, Dio Chang, Leigh Anne and David Clark

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BRUNO,

Carlos Gonzales-Jaime, Lucilo Peña, Agustín Arteaga, Adriana Perales

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Alden Pinnell, Janelle Pinnell, Terry Kurz, Jeff Kurz

Sarah Blagden, Kelly Cornell

DALLAS CONTEMPORARY GALA 2022 HONORS FALL

GOLIATH AND SHEPARD FAIREY AT EAST QUARTER

ARTISTS

Porschla Kidd, Lilla Nash

Shelby Wagner and Karla McKinley

Carolina Alvarez-Mathies

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James Mcdonald, Gabrielle Goliath Shepard Fairey, Z-Trip, Chuck D

Caroline Todd, Rosie Roberson

J. Patrick Collins, Greg Katz

Emily Edwards, Renata Morales

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BECKLEY & CO., JON FURLONG, AND JONATHAN ZIZZO

Jim and Deborah Nugent, Gustavo Hinojosa

Dean Fearing, Wanda Gierhart Fearing

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Calvert Collins-Bratton

Philip Clemmons, Donna Wilhelm, Herb Weichsel Nico and Nicole Leone

PHOTOGRAPHY BY F8STUDIO

TACA GLITZ AT THE RITZ FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST ERICH BERGEN

THE GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN EAR

BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL

“I

t is quite a challenge to balance a career and school,” admits DAMOYEE. Poised to graduate this spring from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, the Dallas native is someone to watch. DAMOYEE is a composer, musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. Her R & B and jazz sound is the backbone of an impressive resume of accomplishments and awards—and she is still in her early 20s.

Local arts patrons may be familiar with DAMOYEE. In 2019, as a senior at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, her composition, The Lights are Rising , was selected to accompany the ascension of the chandelier at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Composed for the 10th anniversary, it succeeded Philip Glass’s inaugural composition. It was recorded with her classmates in the school’s Music Conservatory.

DAMOYEE’s musical path began at the age of two. For her, Sesame Street was more than a place to learn her letters and numbers. “My mother noticed that I replicated the rhythm of the songs,” she says. Before long, she was enrolled in piano lessons. Within a few short years, she was reading music and studying theory. With her absolute pitch, the young performer has already mastered 16 instruments. She produced, composed music, and wrote the lyrics for her first five-track EP at the age of 13. She has released two albums since then.

Composition is at the core of her practice, and through it she explores many avenues. “I usually start the process of composing at my home studio. It helps me focus,” she explains, adding, “I always think which instruments would work with which songs.” She is mindful of the emotions each conveys as well as the feeling they will elicit from listeners.

Typically, she would write each part for each instrument. Lately, however, DAMOYEE is exploring sampling, the process by which snippets of sound or music may be reused in another recording. The combination of seeing this on TikTok and a pandemic-year collaboration with fellow recording artist Annie Elise illuminated its possibilities. “We wrote a song together. She used samples to create effects. Now I’m obsessed with it,” DAMOYEE states, and she has been experimenting with it ever since.

Though the young artist is months away from graduating with a major in film and media scoring, it should be noted that she already has several film scoring credits to her name. “It’s always been a fun thing for me to do,” she says. In addition to scoring several short films, the pandemic gave her the opportunity to work on her first horror movie. Scoring gives her another pathway into her art. “I enjoy being able to do it whilst still focusing on being a music artist,” she says.

Her years in Boston have been inspiring and enriching. “Berklee has given me so much writing material,” she notes. It also opened doors to other opportunities. The school’s career center, for example, provided her with the chance to open for a touring band. “It was one of the largest crowds I’ve ever played my original music in front of,” she marvels.

DAMOYEE’s career feels limitless. She has already played in prestigious venues across the country, her music is climbing to the top of several charts, and her advocacy is a powerful voice for social justice. Following graduation, she says, “I am forever grateful about my journey and super grateful for the people in Dallas and Arlington.”

DAMOYEE looks to the future as her music career advances.

Above: DAMOYEE. Photograph by Meredith Holser.

Below: DAMOYEE performs in Strauss Square.

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