Office of Cultural Affairs

South Dallas Cultural Center To Open This Year. Maybe. When the City Can Find a New Contractor.

Writes Idea, Not Quite There

All the City's a Stage. And, For One Month, 3,000 Tickets Will Be Free.

Events for the week

Picture Imperfect

A struggling arts foundation gives kids a chance to see South Dallas through a camera lens

Events for the week

A struggling arts foundation gives kids a chance to see South Dallas through a camera lens

Blood and thunder

Dallas Theater Center's Perestroika is a stormy beauty

Letters

Dallas Theater Center's Perestroika is a stormy beauty

Events for the week

Dallas Theater Center's Perestroika is a stormy beauty

Events for the week

Dallas Theater Center's Perestroika is a stormy beauty

Letters

Dallas Theater Center's Perestroika is a stormy beauty

Blues no more

After waiting and worrying, playwrights finally see opening date for Blind Lemon musical

Seeing it through

Blind Lemon Jefferson musical (or is it?) finally opens its eyes

Size matters

For the world premiere of Blind Lemon to work, either the production needs to be smaller or the space needs to be larger

Blink

Dunn deal; Baack in the saddle; Art movement

Best custom frame shop

Frame Master

Dallas Theater Center Finely Combs Through The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead

Also, Opal's Husband is a gem

The untouchables

A whistleblower learns the hard way that you don't rat on your betters at Dallas City Hall

More Cops for UTD Dorm

Plus: Dialing for Dollars

Cora! Cora! Cora!

Artistic director Cora Cardona's style--passionate, arrogant, riveting, domineering--makes Teatro Dallas special and her enemies livid

A clockwork Buzz

1999, the year Bill Rojas brought panic and paranoia to DISD. But was there any other good news? Buzz takes a look back.

Buzz

Magnum CPA; Advise and consent;Regina who?

Rules are for suckers

When it came time to hire an architect at city Hall, bureaucrats Robert Troy and Jan Adams made one unforgivable mistake. They were honest.

The art district?

Bringing culture to the stuffed shirts of downtown

Sunday in the park with gays

Fans of the Dallas Symphony Easter concert in Lee Park fear it will be moved

Are You Interested in Running the Majestic Theater? Because Now's Your Big Chance.

Earlier this week, WFAA-Channel 8 reported that the Majestic Theater is losing its operator, Dallas Summer Musicals Management Group, at the end of June, because, look, it's just lost too much money to continue running the designated city landmark. Which isn't necessarily the case: Dallas Summer Mus ... More >>

The City Would Still Like to Build an Asian American Cultural Center. It's Not Sure Where, When or How. But, Still.

​You probably had no idea that since May 30, the city's Office of Cultural Affairs has been holding town hall meetings to discuss the Asian American Cultural Center. Then again, you probably didn't know the city was hoping to build an Asian American Cultural Center. You're forgiven: It was but a r ... More >>

The City Council's Budget Wish List

Natalie Dee​Curious to see which council member wants what program reinstated to City Manager Mary Suhm's proposed FY2009-2010 budget, which the council will vote on one week from tomorrow? Then you're in luck: Tomorrow, the council will discuss during its briefing session their budget amendments, ... More >>

The Dallas City Council, Paper Dolls

The city manager and mayor look awful beaten down by this particular discussion.​If you've got some time this afternoon, you may wanna tune into the city council's budget amendment briefing, which has turned its attention to the council members' proposal to cut their own budget. As you may know, t ... More >>

Cultural Affairs Hopes to Announce a New Operator for the Majestic Theatre Early in 2010

​We last spoke with Maria Munoz-Blanco, director of the city's Office of Cultural Affairs, about the Majestic Theatre in mid-May -- just as Dallas Summer Musicals Management Group was opting not to renew its contract to manage the 89-year-old city landmark, given a $1 million loss since taking it ... More >>

Greg Davis, WRR's Longtime General Manager, Has Left the Building

Greg Davis​Word's been circulating throughout the local radio community today that Greg Davis, who has been general manager at WRR-FM (101.1) since 1993, has been fired. That's not true, according to WRR employees to whom I spoke today. Instead, they say, he is retiring effective May 6. He announc ... More >>

The Latest Stack o' Council Memos: No-Bid Contracts, Policing the Protesters and More Retiring City Employees

Brian HarkinIn May, Vonciel Hill voted to keep concessions at Love Field in the hands of one company, whose CEO contributed to her campaign. ​Every so often I like to post the pack of memos Frank Librio sends to council and media at the end of every week; below are the ones that went out late Frid ... More >>

Dallas Symphony Not Syke-d About Ticket Sales And Cancels Community Concert

​This, if I am not mistaken, is the very National Public Radio story that introduced me to Jubilant Sykes, the classically trained baritone who crossed over to pop long before Renée Fleming released her controversial new Dark Hope. Sykes, who's performed at venues as varied as Carnegie Hall and t ... More >>

This Year's Bath House FIT Fest Will Be Extra Cool. (The New Air-Conditioner Helps.)

Churchmouse ProductionsJoey Folsom and Stephanie Hall star in Churchmouse Productions' Georgie Gets a Facelift and Thank U Berry Munch​Each summer the Festival of Independent Theatres puts Dallas' hottest stage actors in a bunch of short one-act plays in rotating rep over four weekends. The 12th a ... More >>

Some Light Weekend Reading: City Manager Manager's Proposed FY 2010-11 Budget

​Moments ago, the city posted to its website the proposed budget City Manager Mary Suhm will discuss with the council at 9 a.m. Monday. It's not a detailed breakdown by any stretch, but a terse, bullet-pointed 53-page summation of what we've known for months was coming -- from the 450 "civilian la ... More >>

Liveblogging This Morning's Packed, Star-Studded Budget Workshop at City Hall

​Bon matin, Mes Amis de le Parc Qui Est Unfair. Overflow crowd this morning at the City Council Budget Meeting in 6ES, and Tom Leppert, pin-striped as ever, has just told the packed house to sit tight while they figure out what to do with everyone. Atmosphere is stuffy and contentious -- this is t ... More >>

City Couldn't Find Takers to Run the Majestic, So Office of Cultural Affairs Is Now in Charge

Flickr user: John McStravick​Last December, Maria Munoz-Blanco, director of the city's Office of Cultural Affairs, told Unfair Park that she had hoped to have in place a new operator for the Majestic Theatre by mid-May of 2010 at the latest. Requests for proposals were out, and, fingers crossed, ... More >>

State of the Arts: City to Take Part in Americans for the Arts's National Economic Impact Study

Patrick MichelsWinspear Opera House audiences will soon be greeted by folks bearing surveys.​On the other side is a release that just arrived from City Hall announcing the Office of Cultural Affairs and Dallas Arts District's decision to take part in D.C.-based nonprofit Americans for the Arts's e ... More >>

Give the Three Ross Ave. Underpass Proposals One Final Once-Over Before Tonight's Meeting

One of the three Ross Avenue underpass finalists, this one from Koryn Rolstad​For as long as I can recall, the city's been talking about making the Ross Avenue underpass at Central Expressway in the Arts District an art project all on its own. Tonight, it inches closer to reality: On your way home ... More >>

How Goes That City Performance Hall, Anyway?

At left, the under-construction balcony of the City Performance Hall, seen at right in a conceptual rendering​We spent much of Saturday in the Arts District, where the 7-year-old who lives in my house went trick-or-treating amongst the hundreds of Earth Day Dallas vendors handing out an ironic num ... More >>

City Puts Out the Call For "Iconic," Quarter-Million-Buck Sculpture For White Rock Lake

​On the other side is the announcement just in from the city of Dallas's Public Art Coordinator Kendall Ferguson, who's looking for someone with public-art experience to craft a "White Rock Lake Centennial Commemorative Sculpture." Budget's plenty big: $272,000, which would buy a ton of Dallas Far ... More >>

Checking In With the City-Run Majestic Theater, Which Is Getting a Bit of a Facelift

Office of Cultural AffairsFrom the stage, a view of the Majestic Theater's auditorium, barely visible through the scaffolding​A Friend of Unfair Park who lives near the Majestic Theater (lucky!) wonders what's going on inside the historic venue, which, earlier this year, had its roof replaced and ... More >>

This Week in Council Memos: Members' Budget Wish Lists, Flow Control and Looking Ahead

​Those in need of a little light reading this Saturday morning will find on the other side the stack of heads-ups sent to the city council last night, the highlight of which will probably the proposed budget amendments offered by council members before Monday morning's briefing and straw vote. And ... More >>

Pure Imagination: At Its First Meeting, Council's Arts & Culture Committee Talks New Revenue

​I'm dialed into the inaugural meeting of the council's Arts, Culture & Libraries Committee, tasked by Mayor Mike, as you'll recall, with finding "alternative funding sources" to help make Dallas "a smart, cultured and creative city." And God bless her, Maria Munoz-Blanco, director of the city ... More >>

Take an Early Stroll Through the Public Art That Will Decorate New Love Field Airport

Tom Orr's Intersected Passage, which visitors to Love Field will walk under beginning some time in 2013.​We're still waiting to see with which concessionaires the city will fill a Distinctively Dallas Love Field, which is in the process of being modernized from now till 2014ish. But this afternoon ... More >>

City Performance Hall Would Love Some More Arts Groups to Make Reservations

Skidmore, Owings & MerrillWhat the performance space inside the City Performance Hall is supposed to look like when completed​Back in June, Schutze laid out his case against the under-construction City Performance Hall in the Arts District, which is set to open in September 2012 and serve as a ... More >>

Money Tight, the Dallas Historical Society Now Needs to Charge Admission to the Hall of State

Flickr user: Whatknot​At present, the Hall of State in Fair Park is closed to the public whilst it breaks down the "Texas!" exhibit that went up in time for, and lingered well after, the State Fair of Texas and attracted some 120,000 visitors during its run. But when it reopens at the beginning of ... More >>

Your First Look Inside City Performance Hall, Which, Again, Could Really Use Some Rentals

Photos by Anna MerlanCouncil members and others took their first tour of the City Performance Hall yesterday, beginning in the lobby​Yesterday afternoon the Arts Culture and Libraries Committee took its quick tour of the construction site that will soon be the City Performance Hall, which they ... More >>

You Can't Say This Is a Total Surprise: Dallas Summer Musicals Needs $5 Million Pronto

Via.Michael Jenkins​Only last week, following the Wilco-Nick Lowe two-fer, we asked: Why isn't the Music Hall at Fair Park, long ago a popular venue for pop music, used for more concerts? At which point we were told: That's certainly a possibility. Matter of fact, said Jayne Basse, who books the j ... More >>

There's a New General Manager at City-Owned WRR-FM: Sarah Colmark, of New Mexico

​It's been close to two years since Greg Davis, WRR's longtime general manager, left the city-owned classical-music radio station -- and, remember, he didn't quit, he retired. But tonight, buried in the stack of docs prepared for next week's council committee meetings, we find this bit of breaking ... More >>