SPRING ART SEASON IS HERE

Hope springs eternal in these 8 Dallas-Fort Worth art openings in March

Hulktaur is one of the pieces on exhibit at Joshua Goode's solo show, "The Ruins of Burg Worth," at Fort Works Art.

Joshua Goode, Hulktaur, 2018

Spring may not officially be here yet, but we can tell it's on the way as art springs up all over.

In Fort Worth, the Fort Worth Art Dealer's Association (FWADA) welcomes the season with their annual Spring Gallery Night on March 25. FWADA's website features a list of member organizations you can check out for their planned events for the evening.

In Dallas, March could be called a warm-up month for Dallas Arts Month in April. Till then, here are eight must-see exhibitions to visit in March, in order of opening date.

"Artists of Texas Spring Fling"
Keller Town Hall, March 6-April 20
The work of 11 Texas artists will be on display in the Town Hall in Keller this month. Works span from watercolor to modern abstract, covering subject matter from animals to the outdoors and more. An artist reception will be held at 7 pm on March 16 at 1100 Bear Creek Parkway.

Rapheal Crump "B.O.R.N." Solo Exhibition
Atelier Gallery, March 11
It's only right that luxury apartments in the Dallas Arts District have their own galleries, right? At Atelier on Pearl Street, this month's exhibition is from Raphael Crump, who moved to Dallas in 2014. He classifies his work as urban contemporary art, and indeed, scenes from Dallas play a role in his "Beautiful Outside Right Now" show. Join the artist for a gallery walkthrough and talk at 11 am on Saturday, March 11 at Atelier.

"Modern Analog: Historical Processes in the Digital World"
Dallas Center for Photography, March 11-25
The photographs in this juried exhibition use "a wide array of analog and alternative processes, including pure analog from start to finish, film-captured to digital-print, Polaroids, alt processes, cyanotypes, digital negatives and photograms, and many more techniques that incorporate the unique traits and discipline of analog photography." Juror Lisa Elmaleh and several exhibiting photographers will be present at the opening reception on Saturday, March 11 at 6 pm.

"Parables of Mayhem"
Kirk Hopper Fine Art, March 11-April 15
Artist Shaun Roberts, an associate professor of art at Stephen F. Austin State University, creates self portraits and narrative works influenced by allegory, and the universal human condition. This exhibit features twenty of his paintings from the last six years and illustrate pandemonium, desperation, and the enduring human spirit's unvanquished capacity for redemption. The artist's reception will be held from 5 to 7 pm on Saturday, March 11.

"Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation"
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, March 12-July 9
This exhibition, which includes the work of seven contemporary Black artists, explores the legacy of the Civil War. With installations including sculpture, photography, and paper and textile fabrications, each work is an artist's response to a sculpture in the Carter's collection, The Freedman, by John Quincy Adams Ward.

"Talk of the Town: A Dallas Museum of Art Pop-Up Exhibition"
NorthPark Center, March 19-April 29
Featuring artworks from the Dallas Art Fair, and opening during Women's History Month, this group exhibit celebrates women using non-traditional portraiture. All of the works on display were acquired by the DMA in the last six years through the Dallas Art Fair Foundation Acquisition Program. Visit the free exhibit at NorthPark Center’s Level Two, between Nordstrom and Macy’s.

Joshua Goode: "The Ruins of Burg Worth"
Fort Works Art, March 25-April 29
In his first solo show at Fort Works Art, North Texas artist and curator Joshua Goode brings together created artifacts and remnants of the "ancient" past with performance art in an interactive installation. In the exhibit, Fort Worth history is reimagined and set in a fortress at Eagle Mountain.

Goode intertwines his research of local culture and background in archaeology into his creations of sarcophagi and other items reminiscent of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. With works featuring extinct animals, objects and artifacts, he aims to expose “the malleability of our past, present, and future” and the ease at which history can be distorted. An opening reception will be held on Gallery Night, March 25, from 12-9 pm.

"We are all Homeless"
Art on Main, March 26-April 9
For more than 30 years, SMU Meadows School for the Arts professor Willie Baronet has been purchasing signs from people experiencing homelessness. The installations Baronet creates from them help viewers "explore the humanity of the signs, and questions regarding the nature of home, compassion, and what it means to truly see each other." Art on Main will host an artist reception from 3-5 pm Sunday, March 26 with an accompany event from 2-4 pm. to help put together Blessing Bags to be distributed to people in Dallas experiencing homelessness.

Amon Carter Museum Art on Main Dallas Museum of Art Fort Works Art Spring Gallery Night galleries openings

Encore, Encore

Proposed new arts center would bring Broadway touring shows to Frisco

Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

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Far North Dallas residents might soon not have to drive all the way to Fair Park to see touring Broadway shows — that is, if a newly introduced proposal goes through.

The City of Frisco has announced plans to partner with the Prosper Independent School District (PISD) on a proposed Frisco Center for the Arts (FCFA) and collaborate with Broadway Across America/Broadway Dallas to create a "Broadway Frisco" series to reside in the facility.

The vision for the FCFA includes a 2,800-seat performance hall that's capable of accommodating Broadway and large touring and community productions, as well as a 300 to 400-seat community hall to be used primarily by Prosper ISD while also providing access to community organizations and events.

The proposed facility also includes support spaces, rehearsal areas, and visual arts creative spaces.

“The City of Frisco has envisioned a performing arts hall for two decades,” says Mayor Jeff Cheney in a release. “Last year, we discovered an opportunity to partner with the Prosper Independent School District on such a facility. We’re really excited about the possibilities. Ultimately, the decision to participate will be up to Frisco voters if the proposed project is placed on a ballot by the City Council in 2025.”

Ultimately, Frisco voters will decide whether to fund the project.

School spirit
On October 21, PISD Board of Trustees were provided a report about the proposed partnership.

“We are excited about the possibility of partnering with the City of Frisco to provide a world-class educational opportunity for our students," says Dr. Holly Ferguson, Prosper ISD Superintendent of Schools, in the same release. "This collaboration would allow our teachers and students to produce campus and district concerts, musicals, and theatrical productions while also participating in Broadway-level productions with outside partners."

The City of Frisco has finalized a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Broadway Across America/Broadway Dallas, which would be the presenter of touring Broadway shows at the new facility as an annual "Broadway Frisco" series. (See Broadway Dallas' current season here.)

“Reflecting the population growth and interest in arts and culture across North Texas, we look forward to creating a new Broadway Frisco series for the community while we continue to present Broadway Dallas at the Music Hall at Fair Park and the AT&T Performing Arts Center,” says Broadway Dallas president Ken Novice.

More than seven square miles of Prosper ISD is located within the City of Frisco. More than 2,900 PISD students currently live in the City of Frisco. A location for the proposed facility has not been determined; however, it will be built within overlapping boundaries.

The timeline
The City of Frisco has been studying the possibility of a new center for the arts for more than six years and has completed several studies and assessments to support the future planning of the project.

On September 17, 2024, Theatre Projects and Keen Independent Research presented the findings of Phase 1 to City Council.

City of Frisco City Council has authorized a 10-month continued project planning process (Phase 2), led by Theatre Projects in collaboration with Turner & Townsend Heery.

A Community Engagement Session will take place November 2024, with the City Council presentation scheduled for January 2025 and a final presentation set for July 2025.

The FCFA, as proposed, has a total maximum project budget of $340 million. Prosper ISD intends to contribute $100 million from its 2023 Performing Arts Center bond funds. The City of Frisco is considering private and philanthropic funding sources, which would not increase property taxes, should voters approve the proposed facility.

More information about the project status is available here.

schools tours broadway touring musicals propser isd theater