Arts News

10 must-see art exhibits make their Dallas-Fort Worth debut in April

The Offing, Jennifer Pritchard, on exhibit at the Dallas Center For Photography.

With the Dallas Art Fair and Fort Worth's Main Street Arts Festival both taking place in April, the mood this month is nothing short of celebratory. Visual artists are well represented at Dallas Arts Month events, and local galleries and museums have special treats in store for art lovers, as well.

Given the abundance represented on our events calendar, it might be a challenge to see everything you want to see this month. Still, if you're ready to attempt it, put these 10 must-see exhibits and events on your list.

New Art Reveal Parties
Giddens Gallery, April 14-15

This charming fine art gallery in historic downtown Grapevine has recently begun hosting bi-monthly art reveal parties in the gallery. Enjoy wine and hor d'oeuvres while you get a first look at new works from one of the artists represented by the gallery. Attend the VIP Prosecco Preview Party on Friday, April 14 or the Art Reveal Party on Saturday, April 15. Both events are from 6-9 pm and are free.

"Transcending"
Visit Fort Worth Gallery at Fort Worth Arts, through April 29

University of Dallas student and Irving resident Mikey Hernandez creates large-scale works on paper incorporating a selection of traditional watercolor, gouache, ink, chalk, colored pencils, and charcoal. He also uses time as a medium as the paintings meld and dry in an act of surrender. Hernandez says his process as well as the finished works are comparable in some ways to a meditation. "Both in my meditations and artwork, I intuitively work on areas in hopes for growth and a better outcome by the end."

Join the artist for a guided meditation in the gallery at 10 am on Saturday, April 15. "Transcending" is on view at Fort Worth Arts through April 29.

"Japan, Form & Function: The Montgomery Collection"
Crow Museum of Asian Art, April 15-April 14, 2024

The collection of Jeffrey Montgomery is a landmark exhibit for the Crow Museum, as it marks the first time they'll host a sole presentation throughout the entire museum. Featuring Japanese folk art across a wide range of media, format, influence, and style, the exhibit will present one or more themes from a specific region of Japan in each gallery.

The museum has been closed and reopens to the public on Saturday, April 15. Entry is free but they welcome donations online. Join guest curator for the exhibit, Luigi Zeni, at a Curator’s Conversation event from 12-5 pm on Saturday, April 15; space is limited.

"Memory is a Verb: Exploring Time and Transience"
Dallas Center for Photography, April 15 - May 13, 2023

This major photographic exhibit features the work of 11 female photographers exploring the profound subjects of time, transience, and loss. While the creators come from different geographic regions and backgrounds, their photographs collectively express the universal desire to be connected and remembered.

An opening reception will be held from 6-8 pm on Saturday, April 15.

Dallas Art Fair
Fashion Industry Gallery, April 21-23

One of the premier Dallas art events for collectors, arts professionals, and the public, the Dallas Art Fair consists of three days, April 21-23, of curated exhibits from national and international galleries at Fashion Industry Gallery (F.I.G). A preview benefit takes place on April 20.

A single-day pass is $25, or $20 for seniors and students. A three-day pass is $55. Tickets are for sale on the Dallas Art Fair website.

Spring 2023 Exhibition Opening
Dallas Contemporary, Wednesday, April 19 · 7-9 pm

An El Come Taco pop-up and music by nosocial + Al G are on the agenda at the spring exhibition opening at Dallas Contemporary. Preview upcoming shows cerámica suro: a story of collaboration, production, and collecting in the contemporary arts and eduardo sarabia: this must be the place. Admission is free, with complimentary drinks for those over 21.

"Eyeboretum"
The Eyeball (across the street from The Joule hotel), April 21-23

In celebration of the Dallas Arts Fair, Headington Companies and The Joule are hosting of series of garden parties surrounding the trippy giant eyeball in downtown Dallas. Choose a day and timeslot to attend, stroll some surreal gardens, and quench your thirst at the bar. Proceeds benefit education programs of the Dallas Art Fair. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online.

Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival
Downtown Fort Worth, April 20-23

Now in its 36th year, this festival has been recognized as one of the top arts and music festivals in the nation. Art on display is from more than 200 juried artists. Food stands of all kinds abound and you can catch about 50 music and entertainment shows on two stages. City Center Fort Worth is hosting the Chloe Collection Wine Pavilion and Tarrant County College is presenting TCC Makers Zone, with demonstrations and activities for the whole family. Entrance is free.

The Dallas Pancakes & Booze Art Show
Deep Ellum Art Company, April 29

Popular pop-up is back this year at Deep Ellum Art Co. with all-you-can-eat pancakes, DJ music, live body painting, adult beverages, and more than 750 works of art on display. This is not your parents' art show: Plan on rocking to the music and viewing art from talented emerging artists till midnight. Tickets are $10-$20 and available on Eventbrite.

"Avedon's West"
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, through October 1, 2023

In 1979, the Museum commissioned a project, In the American West, from celebrity photographer Richard Avedon. The famed photographer took photos of everyday people in states from Texas to Idaho in 752 sittings over a period of six years. There are only two full sets of the series of photographs, and the Amon Carter Museum owns one of them. A select 13 of these photographs will be on display throughout the Museum’s collection galleries through October 1. Admission is free.

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Season Announcement

Echo Theatre introduces Dallas audiences to a season of strangers in 2026

Photo by Julieta Cervantes

'The Roommate' was recently on Broadway.

It's a "Season of Strangers" for Echo Theatre this year, as the Southwest's premier company for promoting dramatic works by women+ focuses on how someone different than you can change your life.

The 28th season begins with the new musical Silhouettes by Jordan Ealey and Ari Afsar. This score-in-hand workshop was developed in the aftermath of the fall of Roe v. Wade, and examines a pivotal moment in American history through the intersecting lives of two women navigating the decision to have an abortion. Echo's managing and artistic director Kateri Cale directs, with Vonda K. Bowling as musical director.

In a joint statement, Ealey and Afsar say that Silhouettes was born from their need to process the emotional and political aftermath of Roe’s fall. “We continue to see that history is cyclical and equity is fleeting,” they say. “But when policy fails, art has the opportunity to step in. Silhouettes is a musical about choice, sisterhood, and intergenerational courage.”

They add that presenting the work in Dallas reflects their commitment to community-building in states like Texas, where bans and restrictions have made women and gender minorities particularly vulnerable. “We want this musical to be a safe and brave haven amid attempts to create a culture of fear and a reminder that people are not alone.”

It runs January 16-17, 2026, and admission is free, though a $20 donation is suggested.

The world premiere of You Must Wear A Hat by C. Meaker is next, and plugged-in Dallas theater fans might recognize the play from its reading at Kitchen Dog Theater in 2019.

Tuesday and Weeks make hats on the Great Barrier Reef, waiting for the world to end. It's described as "A play for two. And a rabbit."

C. “Meaks” Meaker (they/them) is a playwright, essayist, and teacher whose work often explores queerness, monstrosity, and the end of the world. Their plays have been performed and developed across the United States, including the Kennedy Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Annex Theatre (Seattle), Hub Theater (D.C.), Fat Theater Project (Chicago), and About Face (Chicago). They’re a two-year finalist for the Dramatist Guild National Fellows program and a recent finalist for the Jerome Hill Theater Arts Fellow.

You Must Wear a Hat runs February 27-March 14, 2026.

The season closes with The Roommate by Jen Silverman. The play was on Broadway in 2024 starring marquee names Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone.

In it, a divorced Midwesterner takes a roommate from The Bronx. A relationship evolves and secrets unfold into a darkly comedic exploration of life choices. It runs June 19-July 4, 2026.

All shows this season will be performed at the Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther Dr., in White Rock Lake Park.

Tickets range from Pay-What-You-Can to $40, with discounts available for students and seniors.

Additional events this season include Cake by the Lake on April 21, Echo's free birthday party fundraiser that also launches its reading series, Echo Reads.

Echo Reads runs April through September, presenting six plays in six month. All plays will be performed on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm, and then read the next day at different venues around the city.

Echo Offstage Podcasts is going monthly. The free podcast series interviews women+ who are making art and making a difference.

And Echo is already teasing its 29th season, which will begin in the fall of 2026 and run the more traditional September through August instead of the calendar year.

The season 29 opener is a co-production, the company mysteriously hints, involving three Dallas theaters, two shows, and an internationally known writer. We'll all just have to wait and see what this intriguing production might be.

echo theatre podcasts world premieres echo reads the roommate play theater