Opera On the Go

Dallas Opera puts its show on the road with special tricked-out truck

The Dallas Opera is bringing its new OperaTruck into the community, starting on May 8 at First United Methodist Church of Heath.

Photo by Karen Almond

The Dallas Opera is bringing productions of family fare to communities around Dallas with its new OperaTruck, an 18-wheel flatbed “big rig” that has been customized as an outdoor mobile stage, the organization announced on April 12.

The truck, which can accommodate musicians and singers with appropriate distancing in “pop-up” performances, will make its debut with three new community partners:

First United Methodist Church of Heath on May 8 at 2 pm
Trinity Basin Preparatory School on May 15 at 2 pm
St. Matthew’s Cathedral on May 23 at 3 pm

The performances will feature TDO singers in two family-friendly one-act operas, Jack and the Beanstalk and Doctor Miracle.

The OperaTruck will also bring performers to private events at the North Texas Food Bank in Plano and Family Gateway in downtown Dallas. Future OperaTruck performances have yet to be announced.

OperaTruck is the brainchild of Kristian Roberts, TDO’s director of education.

“The pandemic has been challenging for arts organizations as a whole, but it has also given The Dallas Opera opportunities to become even more bold and creative in our approach to our mission," says Roberts in a statement. "We have seized this moment to better serve the community while upholding our commitment to a talented generation of Texas-based singer/actors now developing their craft."

It's reminiscent of Dallas Symphony Orchestra's popular Concert Truck, which debuted during the last holiday season and just had an encore of on-the-go shows in February and March.

OperaTruck was retro-fitted and donated by Quincy Roberts (no relation to Kristian), a TDO Trustee, TDO Chorus member, trained opera singer, and CEO of Roberts Trucking, the largest African American-owned construction hauler in Dallas.

“It’s a privilege to both support The Dallas Opera and participate with them in performance, which is why providing them with a creative way to expand their community engagement efforts made so much sense,” says Roberts in the statement. “After a year without live performances, I can’t wait to see the OperaTruck in action in our communities.”

Additional free outdoor performances of Jack and the Beanstalk will take place without the truck at the Dallas Arboretum on April 24 at 11 am and 12 pm in the Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden and at Klyde Warren Park on May 1 at 1 pm.

Art for all

Dallas’ Katy Trail will debut new public art biennial in 2027

The Katy Trail/Facebook

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Dallas' most popular jogging trails will fill with art next year: A new contemporary public art biennial called KTX Biennial will debut in spring 2027 along Dallas’ Katy Trail.

"The KTX Biennial marks Texas’ first biennial of its kind dedicated to public art and provides an open-air platform for engaging with ambitious contemporary artworks, free and accessible to all," says a release.

Organized by Friends of the Katy Trail executive director Amy Bean and Katy Trail art director Amanda Dillard Shufeldt, the inaugural event will invite New York-based curator Jovanna Venegas to organize a display of nearly a dozen existing and newly commissioned works by living artists from across the world. Venegas, the curator at SculptureCenter, has an international reputation for exhibiting and commissioning major works by living artists.

The Dallas presentation will span the 3.5-mile former railroad corridor running through Dallas’ Uptown, Knox, and Highland Park neighborhoods, which attracts 2 million annual visitors, they say. Artworks will be thoughtfully integrated into the trail’s natural environment, organizers say.

"Building on the Katy Trail’s existing public art program - which has featured work from the likes of Iván Argote, Eddie Martinez, Will Boone, Nic Nicosia, Carolyn Salas, and more - the Biennial thoughtfully integrates art into its natural environment, creates new avenues for discovery for local and national audiences, and fortifies Dallas’ standing as an international art destination," the release says.

Beyond the artworks that fill the trails, the event will include educational programs, public activities, panel conversations, and partnerships with local institutions and organizations, organizers say.

“The KTX Biennial grows directly out of our belief that the Katy Trail belongs to everyone," says Bean in the release. "By bringing ambitious contemporary art into an open-air setting, free and accessible to all, we are inviting both longtime visitors and first-time audiences to experience the Trail in an entirely new way. This Biennial strengthens the Trail’s role not only as a place for recreation, but also as a space for creativity, reflection, and shared discovery."

The inaugural KTX Biennial will open in spring 2027 and will be free and open to the public.

arts art festival sculptures gallery museums katy trail

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Art for all

Dallas’ Katy Trail will debut new public art biennial in 2027