There’s a certain kind of madness to the holidays —- a kind of sugar rush, glassy-eyed fervor that’s somehow completely lovely and totally overwhelming. I think this is particularly true for the men and women out there who put a soul-crushing pressure on themselves to find the perfect gift. You’ll…
Thursday, December 3 Holiday Presence 11 If you’re the kind of person who prides themselves on buying the perfect gift for the people in your life, or if you’d like to be that kind of person, you really can’t go wrong with a work of art. Especially one by a…
SOFT4SOFT Housed in a storefront in Expostion Park, Beefhaus is one of the city’s few artist-run spaces keeping things fresh. Recently re-invigorated with a swath of new artists at the helm, the space is off to roaring start. This weekend, Pierre Krause curates SOFT4SOFT a group show featuring artists, Kyle…
There is no better season for reading a book than winter. The cold chases you inside to the respite of a warm coffee, the licks of a freshly lit fire in the fireplace. In your hand? A new book you’ll devour to keep your mind occupied. But in this winter…
There’s so much to be grateful for in Dallas culture, it’s difficult to limit the counting to two hands. But here’s my best attempt. The Dallas OperaBy the end of this year, the Dallas Opera will have produced three opera world premieres in under 12 months. They gave us the…
Who knows what started the trend, but adult coloring books are a thing. And we don’t necessarily mean adult like raunchy, of course, we’re not opposed to that either. Two of our favorite places, the library and the sculpture center, organized groups of local artists to create outlines of various…
Friday, Nov. 27 Cinewilde’s La Cage Aux Folles If you’re in the mood for a madcap comedy that was originally an award-winning music, head to Texas Theater for the one-night-only showing of La Cage aux Folles. It’s the story of two gay men, Georges and Albin, who run into a bit…
If you’re looking for a specific breed, there are quite a few organizations dedicated to matching pets with a forever home. The Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas, for example. But sometimes it’s more specific to a connection with an animal. Sometimes you’ll meet an animal and know. And if that’s how…
Today is the last day to nominate your favorite artist, performer, writer, curator, choreographer, songwriter, community activist, etc. for the annual Mastermind award. See original post below and get those nominations in today by midnight. Artists in Dallas are always complaining about the limited spread of funds. This is why…
Friday, Nov. 20Art Film at the Dallas Contemporary Dallas-based fashion designer Charles Smith never seems to be without a new vessel to pour his creative talent into. In the last couple of years, he has put out his first line of couture as well as a ready to wear line,…
Wanting Snow, But Getting Ice Every once in a while around Christmas, it gets really close to snowing. White stuff even starts spitting out of the sky. But by the time it lands on the ground it’s one big sloppy pile of ice. It’s such a tease. We’re still dreaming…
Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots You’re going to need multiple trips to the Dallas Museum of Art (1717 N. Harwood St.) to fully see the stunning new exhibition, Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots. In collaboration with the Tate Liverpool, this is the ONLY time all of these works will share a room,…
All the Christmas Trees and Twinkling Lights City sidewalks, busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style. This is how the feeling of Christmas gets into the air. It’s not through shopping or even, dare I say it, designs on a certain red coffee cup. Nope, it’s all those twinkling lights. That’s…
In the corner of a secluded, street-facing gallery in the Nasher Sculpture Center a young Indian man sits under a sign that reads, “I am hear for you. I will listen to you.” He’s Maneesh, aka “the listener,” and he’s inside Piero Golia’s social sculpture, Chalet Dallas, to do exactly…
Artists in Dallas are always complaining about the limited spread of funds. This is why one of my favorite things about my job is the annual announcement, “Hey, Dallas artists, we’re giving away dolla dolla bills.” Well, we’re writing checks at least. Annually, we give away $6,000 to artists working…
There are a lot of “official surveys” created as backdoor marketing strategies for companies. Car companies will release clever angles on road trip statistics or someone like a doggy poop pick up service might release a list of the poopiest cities in the country. Then, they’ll send these lists out…
Sherwin R Tibayan/IndexYou ready for a bit of mind-blowing trivia? Susan Sontag’s tour de force, On Photography, doesn’t have an index. I know, it sounds impossible, but if you dust off your copy from college, you’ll find that it’s true. Although, I suppose in some ways that bit of trivia…
Thursday, Nov. 12 Noir at the Bar You’ve probably packed away all your spooky decor and scary movies now that Halloween is over, but you can still indulge in the delightfully dark at Thursday night’s Noir at the Bar reading at The Wild Detectives. Authors from Dallas and beyond will…
Art Conspiracy is by far the biggest annual art party in Dallas every year. Bigger isn’t always better, but in this case it’s an indication of an event’s ever-increasing popularity; a sign of something grown from the ground up in Dallas;`and proof that it’s just a fun night. If you…
Thursday, Nov. 5 The Instigators The Kettle Art gallery is not pretentious. There is no veneer. The difference between a “snobby” art gallery and Kettle Art is like the difference between going to an expensive department store where you can’t afford anything and shopping at Dolly Python. The setting is…
Lorem Ipsum When an art director or graphic designer wants to see what text will look like on the page or in an online post, they will often use the Latin words Lorem Ipsum as placeholder text. Sometimes the text is used because a writer has blown a deadline for…
“Did you come here together,” a woman in a white lab coat asks, pointing between myself and Caroline North, who happens to be the Observer’s copy editor, an arts reporter and my friend. Yes, we answer. “Does she like you more than you like her?” she asks me. I don’t…
