Arts News For You

Staff switch-ups and artist opportunities kick off 2024 Dallas-Fort Worth arts news

Antonio Lechuga's Structures of Softness

"Structure of Softness" by Antonio Lechuga, displayed at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center in 2023.

Photo courtesy of City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture

We might have just published our look back on 2023's most-read arts stories, as well as the biggest memories of Dallas-Fort Worth theater — but the New Year isn't wasting any time. Theater rebrands, staff changes, and a call for visual artists are all helping 2024 start off big in the arts and culture world.

Teatro Dallas new staff
Gustavo Ott joined Teatro Dallas just around this time last year, becoming the company's new artistic executive director. Now he's gone, having joined the Gala Theater in Washington, D.C. on January 1, 2024.

The board of directors will conduct a regional search for a new artistic executive director for fall 2024. In the interim, an artistic advisory committee comprised of Teatro Dallas co-founder Cora Cardona, resident producer Mac Welch, and NYC based-actress Elena Hurst will craft upcoming summer and fall projects.

This is a newly created role for Welch, who addition to helping plan the next season, stage 2024's Days of the Dead celebration, and assume all marketing responsibilities, will oversee Teatro Dallas' 21st International Festival and its first ever musical, a collaboration with Chicago-based Aguijon Theater in May.

Erica Herrera, Teatro Dallas' long time managing director, will expand her role to coordinate the theater's educational programs.

In 2025, Teatro Dallas will complete forty seasons of professional theater in Dallas, making it one of the longest-running theaters in the city and one of the oldest Latinx theaters in the country.

Ohlook rebrands
Ohlook Performing Arts, a cornerstone of Grapevine's arts scene for nearly two decades, announced on December 31, 2023, the departure of founder Jill Lord.

Jessica Taylor Stubblefield will now lead the mostly youth-based theater, which is also rebranding as Starling Performing Arts. Its board of directors is changing, too, with Steffi Keusch as the newly appointed president.

All classes, camps, and performances are expected to continue as usual, while Starling becomes the resident theater for the Vine Arts Center.

ART214 call for entries
The City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture (OAC) is calling for entries for the fifth-year ART214 juried exhibition, a multi-venue collaborative project which will be presented during Dallas Arts Month in 2024.

Entry deadline is January 27, 2024.

Art in all media created by artists who currently live in the DFW and Greater North Texas region will be reviewed. All the ART214 entries will be reviewed by a panel of five art professionals from the DFW area. The jurors will select the artwork that will be featured in the five participating venues: Latino Cultural Center, the Bath House Cultural Center, the Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Moody Performance Hall, and the South Dallas Cultural Center.

ART214 provides opportunities for artists to exhibit their work for the first time in one of the four cultural centers found across Dallas. The juried exhibition also gives artists who have previously exhibited at one of the cultural centers an opportunity to display their work at a different location.

Theatre Frisco new leadership
Since 2016, Neale Whitmore has served as artistic director of Theatre Frisco, and now that he's retiring the multi-talented Andi Allen is stepping into the role.

The longtime DFW actor, designer, and director officially takes over with the theater's 2024 season, which runs on the calendar year. The first production is Rodgers & Hammerstein's A Grand Night for Singing, running February 16-March 3 at the Black Box Theater inside the Frisco Discovery Center.

Oak Cliff Film Festival call for entries
Do you want to have your film seen on the big screen? The 2024 edition of the Oak Cliff Film Festival, taking place from June 20-23, 2024, is welcoming submissions. Stronger consideration is given to films that have not had significant prior exposure in DFW, particularly in the case of feature-length projects. The final deadline to submit is in April, at filmfreeway.com.

The Oak Cliff Film Society is a nonprofit dedicated to discovering independent and archival films and sharing them with new audiences via screenings and educational programs. They're committed to cultivating the film community in and promoting the Dallas neighborhood of Oak Cliff and strive to utilize historic theaters and venues for their annual Oak Cliff Film Festival.

Kimbell acquires significant sculpture
On December 13, 2023, the Kimbell Art Museum announced the acquisition of one of the most renowned sculptures from ancient Mesoamerica, an unqualified icon of Olmec civilization. Standing Figure Holding a Were-Jaguar Baby (c. 900–300 B.C.), a statuette carved in jadeite, has been at the center of Olmec studies and the subject of scholarly interpretation since the mid-twentieth century.

It becomes the most significant work of ancient American art in the Kimbell’s collection. The superb figure was acquired in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Kimbell’s Renzo Piano Pavilion, where it will be the centerpiece of the museum’s ancient American collection from December 15, 2023, onward.

SheDFW debuts
The Table Co/Lab formed in 2022 as a theater company led by female-identifying and non-binary people that sought to uplift underrepresented voices. Now it's becoming the nonprofit SheDFW, a part of the SheNYCArts company, and will present its inaugural SheDFW Summer Theater Festival in 2024.

The festival will be led by producers Rebecca Lowrey (head of MusicalWriters.com) and Sarah Powell (co-founder and executive director of The Table Co/Lab). It will feature three new original works — two plays and one musical —by women, trans, and non-binary writers in DFW.

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Drama kings

Dallas theater lures new leaders away from Hollywood and Broadway

Photo courtesy of Lyric Stage

Malcolm Goodwin is an actor, director, and producer familiar for roles in Reacher, iZombie, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

Dallas theater company Lyric Stage has looked to Hollywood and Broadway for new leadership, hiring film and television actor and director Malcolm Goodwin and Broadway veteran Victor Hawks as the theater company's new co-artistic directors.

The appointments mark a new chapter for the company, which was founded in 1993 by Steven Jones, executive director Catherine Carpenter Cox says in a November 2 announcement.

Goodwin and Hawks are the co-founders of Team Vision Entertainment, a production company developing and producing film, television, and theater projects.

Their longstanding creative partnership will now extend to Lyric Stage, where they will work alongside Cox to develop programming, support new works, and strengthen the organization's connections to the broader entertainment industry, a press release says.

Goodwin is an actor, director, and producer best known for roles in Amazon Prime Video's Reacher and The CW's iZombie. Other credits include The Fall of the House of Usher, American Gangster, and Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna.

His new role at Lyric Stage brings him back to the art form that first inspired his career.

"Theater is where I first learned how to tell stories and where I discovered that I loved every part of the creative process, not just performing," Goodwin says in the release. "I was building theaters, working with lighting and sound, and learning how everything comes together to create something special for an audience. Being able to return to that world and help create opportunities for other artists is incredibly meaningful to me."

Hawks brings an extensive Broadway background to his new position, having appeared in the original Broadway company of Urinetown the Musical, the 2006 Broadway revival of Les Misérables, South Pacific at Lincoln Center, and The Producers national tour.

Victor Hawks, Lyric Stage Victor Hawks.Photo courtesy of Lyric Stage

"Musical theater changed the direction of my life," Hawks says in a statement. "I know firsthand what happens when someone gives a young performer an opportunity to learn, grow and be part of something bigger than themselves. That's what makes this next chapter so exciting. Lyric Stage already has an incredible history, and we want to build on that by creating great theater and opening doors for artists who are just beginning their journeys."

Over the past three decades, Lyric Stage has earned a reputation for its professional productions, world premieres, and restoration of classic Broadway works, with a big focus on musicals.

For Cox, the appointments are about bringing together artists who understand the importance of theater while offering the experience and relationships to help the organization grow.

"Steven Jones built something truly special with Lyric Stage, and we have a responsibility to honor what he created while continuing to move the organization forward," Cox says. "Malcolm and Victor have built remarkable careers in entertainment, but what I love most is that theatre is where both of their journeys began. They understand what the stage can mean to an artist, and they share my passion for creating opportunities for the next generation."

Cox also recently moved into a new role as director, making her directorial debut with Lyric Stage's production of the musical Godspell, which finished its run on October 25.

Upcoming Lyric Stage productions include A Very Lyric Christmas, A Chorus Line, Newsies, and Once.

Future planned endeavors for the company include Lyric Stage Academy, an educational program designed to introduce young people to the performing arts, as well as Children's Theatre, Summer Stock, professional training opportunities, a New Works Lab, and master classes.

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