Editor’s Note

December 2021 / January 2022

TERRI PROVENCAL

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

Like a still life, the bounty of talent within the performing arts retained their beauty but laid in waiting, bursting with readiness that only the pandemic deterred. In this issue, we applaud the full release of North Texas arts organizations mounting varied performances of all disciplines across our stages. Lee Cullum investigates ten of these in Ring Up The Curtain, a sequel to the story she wrote amid the predominance of stage lockdown one year ago. From the small and bold theatres like Undermain Theatre and Theatre Three to full symphonic performances at the Dallas Symphony and Fort Worth Symphony replete with brass, and operas within sight at The Dallas Opera, we are so glad to be back in the audience.

Fort Worth’s Abraham Alexander weathered the COVID-storm too. We were hooked after seeing the singer and songwriter perform at the Thompson Dallas for Dallas Contemporary’s celebrations of its fall openings. Back on Track brings the work of the soul-stirring artist to life through the eyes and ears of Steve Carter.

Wanda Gierhart Fearing and Dean Fearing have many talents, but perhaps among their most impressive is their ability to combine two diverse careers and lifestyles into one stunning home. A Tasteful Retreat takes readers inside the home designed by Dan Nelson with architect Bruce Bernbaum and contractor Joel Greenwald. The couple’s own taste for art, music, food, their border collie Walker and Gumbo the cat, makes this home their signature.

From the visual arts front, read Milton Avery’s Great Independence in these pages. Here Nancy Cohen Israel highlights the exhibition on view at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Lilia Kudelia interviews Hungarian artist József Csató, who has a forthcoming solo show next year at Galleri Urbane, in Abstract Set of Rules, while Chris Byrne visits with gallerist Kirk Hopper about his own collecting habits in An Enriched Life.

For shop-ability look to the Nasher Sculpture Center’s collaboration with AMEICO, bringing the Connecticut-based company’s artisan wares to a holiday pop-up shop inside the Corner Gallery. In Let There Be Light, Abitare18 adds brilliance with the wispy yet dramatic Baxter Q2 suspension chandelier. For gifts of opulence, awestruck by exotic flora, the dream team of Elaine Raffel, Nelly Adham, and Chris Plavidal collaborated to produce Tropical Brilliance, showcasing fine jewelry in our annual holiday installment.

Within our new department Morsel, Kendall Morgan catches up with Chef Dan Landsberg, who reigns over Ellie’s in HALL Arts Hotel, proving that, although ephemeral, the art of food and wine can be just as enticing.

In November 2019, before the world shut down, I was in Madrid with Honorary Consul of Spain Janet Kafka, The Dallas Opera’s Ian Derrer, and Dr. Mark Roglán. This proved to be a lasting memory, not only for the glorious trip to commemorate the signing of the cooperative agreement between the Meadows Museum, The Dallas Opera, and Teatro Real, but also for the chance stroll I took with Mark when I asked him the best way to get to the Prado from Teatro Real. With his signature grace, he offered to walk me there. In Furthermore, we remember Roglán, who lost his battle with cancer this fall but won the hearts of all through his pivotal legacy. As the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair of SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, his influence on the establishment of the Custard Institute for Spanish Art and Culture before his passing will influence generations to come.

– Terri Provencal