If you're one of the thousands of people stranded at Dallas Love Field airport this weekend, take heart. There are two new public art exhibits on display thanks to the Love Field Art Program: Tom Orr’s Intersected Passage and Diana Goldberg and Julie Cohn’s Luminaria.
Public art has been a part of Dallas Love Field since 1961, but it wasn't until the renovations the airport has been undergoing since 2009 that they really got serious about it.
Intersected Passage, a sculpture by the Dallas-based Orr, was inspired by the original 1958 entrance sign to Love Field, a sign that was recently restored and reinstalled earlier this year. The sculpture, arching over the entrance ramp to the terminal, is 17 feet tall and made of colored and mirrored aluminum.
Diana Goldberg and Julie Cohn’s Luminaria is a series of 10-foot-tall stainless steel cylinders with interior lighting located in the entrance garden area. The pieces are reminiscent of luminarias that crop up during the holiday season. But Goldberg and Cohn want the designs in each cylinder to evoke something different, namely computer technology, weather and mapping, routing, thermodynamics, Bernoulli’s Principle, and physics.
The installation of the new artworks, most of which can be seen without actually entering the terminal, means that nine of the 11 works that were commissioned in 2009 have now been installed.
Two more — a work from Stephen T. Johnson to be installed in the west tunnel from the baggage claim and one by Tim Prentice that will be put somewhere in the main lobby or terminal — will be installed by the time renovations to the airport are finished in 2014.
Dixie Friend Gay's North Texas Sunrise was installed in March 2013 at Dallas Love Field.
North Texas Sunrise by Dixie Friend Gay
Dixie Friend Gay's North Texas Sunrise was installed in March 2013 at Dallas Love Field.
It was a shot fired from Austin that rang out around the art world: In a recent CNN/Variety Town Hall featuring actors Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey, Chalamet offered an assessment of ballet and opera that immediately went viral.
During the onstage conversation at the University of Texas at Austin, Chalamet said, "I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it's like, 'hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.' All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership."
Chalamet immediately seemed to experience a twinge of regret, awkwardly adding, "But um...damn, I just took shots for no reason." He also sang a note and hid his face behind the cards he was holding.
Stars of the art forms, from Andrea Bocelli to Misty Copeland, immediately began to leap (jeté, if you will) to the the defense of opera and ballet.
In a genius marketing move, Austin's hometown ballet company is taking the unique opportunity to turn a hot topic into a promotion for its next production: Ballet Austin is inviting anyone named Timothée, Timothee, or Timothy to claim a free ticket to its upcoming world premiere of Marie Antoinette: Vampire Queen of Versailles, running March 27-29 at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.
"Timothée… you were in Austin? We were literally down the street," a Ballet Austin post says. "Austin has brisket. Austin has music. Austin also has ballet."
All Timothées and folks with similar names will have to do to claim a ticket is send a message to Ballet Austin on social media and show identification. Everyone else who wants to see the supernatural show where "the line between victim and villain blurs" will have to purchase a ticket ($25-$125) at balletaustin.org.
Ballet Austin isn't afraid to add some edge to classic stories. Photo courtesy of Ballet Austin
Even if Chalamet's words were dismissive, he's obviously not wrong about the relative distribution of public interest between the classical arts and major films like Marty Supreme, the late 2025 film he stars in and is busy promoting. The film's commercially successful release set a record for A24, an already renowned studio.
Chalamet brought up ballet and opera in service of a larger point about pacing in movies. He said he exists in a middle ground as a consumer between wanting to be drawn in early and being more patient as a film progresses. Ultimately, he juxtaposed Barbie and Oppenheimer with the classical arts, pointing out that if the masses want to go see a film, they will "be loud and proud about it" organically, without needing performers to advocate for the seriousness of the art form.
Coincidentally, there couldn't be a better counterpoint to this argument than Marie Antoinette: Vampire Queen of Versailles.
As the title suggests, the story follows historical figure Marie Antoinette as she chooses to become a vampire, seeking "power, immortality, and vengeance," according to a press release. It takes a somewhat silly premise and gives it dramatic gravitas, with an original score by Austin composer Graham Reynolds, who is known outside of classical circles and sometimes composes for movie soundtracks.
"For Ballet Austin, the moment is an opportunity to remind audiences that ballet isn’t fading away," says a release about the new promotion. "It’s evolving, drawing new audiences and continuing to thrive in creative cities like Austin."
If Chalamet really does fall in the middle of instant and delayed artistic gratification, this sounds like the perfect production to draw him in.
And perhaps Ballet Austin should add people named Matthew to their promotion, since McConaughey threw the younger star a bone after his momentary walk-back, saying, "That's not a shot — I hear what you're saying."
Ballet Austin isn't afraid to add some edge to classic stories. Photo courtesy of Ballet Austin 