No other concerto, for any instrument, comes so close to perfection as Dvorak’s Cello Concerto. Here, Dvorak wove the musical and spiritual experience of a lifetime into one grand tapestry; the sheer quality and beauty of the melodic material, the command of structure and form (including the masterful departure from expectations in the quiet, ruminative coda), the profundity of meaning—all combined with a solo part that shows off the virtuosity of the performer without any empty sparkle—can make a performance ..read more

In Roman Polanski’s latest film, The Ghost Writer, Ewan McGregor plays a character who has no name. He is on a island, working on the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister and gets drawn into a double intrigue: the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of his predecessor, another ghost writer who disappeared off a ferry and washed up on the shore the island, and an political scandal involving his boss, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), who is accused of sponsoring ..read more

There’s a lot riding on the shoulders of first-time actor Katie Jarvis in Fish Tank, the latest film by British director Andrea Arnold. Her performance makes or breaks the movie. Jarvis plays Mia, an adolescent girl who lives a tough, impoverished life in a charmless apartment block on the outskirts of London and falls for her mother’s boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender – Inglorious Bastards, Band of Brothers). It is remarkable that Arnold trusted the role of Mia to Jarvis, an absolute unknown, a girl who was spotted arguing with her boyfriend by a casting director on a train platform. And yet Jarvis’ inexperience is Fish Tank’s secret ingredient. The film is one of those realist efforts (think the Dardenne brothers) whose power comes from a rawness of action and immediacy of its characters. Jarvis doesn’t so much act in the movie as play herself. The result is a story that is honest and deeply felt – an adolescent on screen who isn’t exaggerated, romanticized, characterized, or underserved.

Mia lives with her mother and ten-year-old sister in grim circumstances. Her mother parties, philanders, and neglects. Her sister smokes, drinks, and swears. Mia is adolescent id. Her moods swing wildly. She lashes out and attacks, is cut-off, withdrawn, and temperamental. She wanders the streets, picks fights, and finds solace by stealing off to an empty apartment where she dances, imitating the moves she learns from hip-hop videos on television.

Into this mix enters Connor, Mia’s mother’s new boyfriend. Mia first encounters Connor when he is standing in the kitchen of their apartment shirtless. The film becomes charged from there on out with sexual tension that builds between the hunky Connor and the 15-year old. She falls for him like a typical teenager: shy and flirty, possessive and suggestive. Connor indulges her. All he needs to do is pay attention to the outcast Mia, and she is smitten.

Fish Tank’s allure is Mia’s heart. It is on fire – even before she meets Connor – and the unfolding of their relationship is just a foil for its eruption. Arnold achieves a deep physical and psychological intimacy with her camera. Its eye explores and lingers, allowing Jarvis to simmer and boil. Arnold is telling the story of an illicit a romance, but it becomes a meditation, a series of moments that capture the forging of spirit in the gauntlet of adolescence. Her achievement is being able to get something this honest to work on screen.

They say fate follows character, but in Steve Buscemi’s case, it should be “fate follows face.” Why is it when someone throws the master supporting actor a leading role, it’s a strange, quirky black comedy with midgets, strippers, nudists and plenty strung-out, sweaty Buscemi? In St. John of Las Vegas, Buscemi is a down-and-out recovering gambleholic who sets off on a surreal journey when assigned to a fraud investigation for the insurance company he works for. There’s a choice with ..read more

Off West Jefferson Blvd, near the border between Dallas and Cockrell Hill, the future home of the La Reunion artist residency is a rolling, raw woodland, with a pretty little brook cutting down a steep slope under the remnants of an old Sante Fe Railroad trestle. That this pristine natural setting exists mere miles from downtown speaks to the unique promise of the La Reunion project – a Walden Pond surrounded by urban Dallas . It also helps ..read more

Itzhak Perlman played the violin a little, conducted a lot—and proved generally disappointing in his appearance with the Dallas Symphony Thursday night at Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. A polio victim who has walked on crutches since the age of five, Perlman received an exceptionally warm reception from an audience that clearly recognized the level of artistry and accomplishment he has represented in a decades-long career; however, the evening’s performance simply failed to come up to the standards Perlman has ..read more

Wayne White, I Fell 37 Miles To Earth 100 Years Ago. Marty Walker Gallery. Feb 20 – Mar 20.

What’s so great about Marty Walker is that she never balks at mixing things up, trying different approaches to the same-old, white box gallery routine. The gallery’s recent downsize left her with less space to play with (still missing the always compelling Project Room) but she has managed to embrace her little exhibition room to good effect, often employing more ambitious exhibition ..read more

The annual DMA Young Masters Juried Exhibition opens February 26, and the museum has released its list of the 42 artists from local high schools with pieces in the show. The represented schools include Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Bryan Adams High School, Colleyville Heritage High School, Coppell High School, Creekview High School, Episcopal School of Dallas, Grapevine High School, Newman Smith High School and Poteet High School. A release is below, and you can look at the full artist list including some images here.

YOUNG MASTERS EXHIBITION OPENS AT THE DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART

Exhibition features 42 works of art from local AP Studio Arts students

(Dallas, TX) – The O’Donnell Foundation proudly announces the opening of the twelfth annual Young Masters Exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art on Friday, February 26, 2010.  The exhibition, comprised of over 42 two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of art created by students from nine area high schools participating in the O’Donnell Foundation’s AP Arts Incentive Program, will be on view February 26 through April 18, 2010 in the Museum’s concourse.  The Dallas Museum of Art is located at 1717 North Harwood in the Dallas Arts District.

Over 280 works submitted by students throughout the Metroplex were reviewed by preliminary judges Ellen Soderquist, Rick Maxwell, Dr. Michael Corris and Susan Barnett.  From those submissions, 42 works were selected for this year’s exhibition.  Schools represented include Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (BTWHSPVA), Bryan Adams High School, Colleyville Heritage High School, Coppell High School, Creekview High School, Episcopal School of Dallas, Grapevine High School, Newman Smith High School and Poteet High School. (A complete list of the 42 students participating in this year’s exhibition is attached.)

The Young Masters Exhibition was created over twelve years ago to recognize outstanding artistic expression in students in the Dallas area AP arts incentive program and to inspire all young artists to reach their full potential.  Showcasing high school talent at one of the most prestigious museums in the country serves as a source of lifelong accomplishment to participating students, many of whom begin to truly perceive themselves as artists when their work is exhibited at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Edith O’Donnell, who created the program in 1994, remarked, “The proudest moment for an AP Art student is to have a work of art chosen for the Young Masters Exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art. One student exclaimed, ‘I can hardly believe that I have a painting hung in the same institution with Cézannes and Picassos.’ They never forget this great thrill and they covet this honor.”

Jeffrey Grove, the Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art, will select the final place winners from the works on exhibition including Best of Show, First Place, Second Place, Third Place and Honorable Mentions.  A private reception honoring the young artists, their families and teachers, will be held on Tuesday, March 9 in the Atrium Café at the Dallas Museum of Art, followed by the Awards Presentation in the Museum’s Horchow Auditorium.

The Dallas Museum of Art is located just south of Woodall Rodgers Freeway.   With the construction of the new Woodall Rodgers Park, the parking garage is accessible only from St. Paul Avenue.  Underground parking is available at the Museum’s 400-space garage on a first-come, first-served basis for a flat fee of $10, payable at time of entry.  Garage parking for DMA and Nasher Sculpture Center members is free, pending availability.  The Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday; the Museum is closed Mondays.

The general admission fee includes viewing the Museum’s collections galleries and most exhibitions.  DMA members and children under 12 are free; $10 for adults; $7 for senior citizens and military personnel; and $5 for students with current school identification.  Admission is free to all on the first Tuesday of each month.  For more information, visit DallasMuseumofArt.org or call (214) 922-1200.

ABOUT AP ARTS

In 1994, the O’Donnell Foundation created an AP Arts Incentive Program to motivate high school students’ interest and success in rigorous arts courses. The AP Music Theory program was added in 1998. Courses offered include AP Art History, AP Studio Art Drawing, AP Studio Art 2D Design, and AP Studio Art 3D Design, and AP Music Theory. Pre-AP courses may include any classes that prepare students for AP arts courses.

This year, 77 teachers and 1,147 students from 21 Dallas-area high schools and 16 middle schools participate in the program.  In the sixteen-year history of the program, more than 9,000 arts and music students have benefited from the O’Donnell Foundation’s AP incentive programs.  Last year, graduating seniors earned over $11.7 million in scholarships.

Wasn’t a week ago I was wondering, whatever happened to those GuerillaArts guys? I checked their website and there didn’t seem to be anything new. I had heard a rumor they were knocking doors around town looking for cash, so I was pretty sure Patrick Short and company didn’t pick up shop. So I was happy this note dropped in my inbox announcing an open house this very Sunday. Be there or be square, as they say.

Hi everyone! We would like to invite the world to our Open House on  Sunday, February 28th at 2pm.  We will be making a presentation regarding the past, present and future of GuerillaArts, introducing new programming, and outlining our financial need for the next year.

We would love if everyone would join us for a reception, presentation, and ongoing tours of the building and see what we have been up to or the last few months.

Also, our website is now set up to accept donations online! We hope this adds a level of convenience as an option for giving for those who cannot make our event on the 28th.

We can’t wait to see everyone!

–

Patrick Short

Director

GuerillaArts

(857) 222-5217

1900 N Haskell

Dallas, TX 75204

www.guerillaarts.org

Southern Methodist University visiting drama instructor Mace Perlman carries around a bag of masks – hand-crafted leather faces made for him by a famous Italian master while he was studying with the renowned Commedia dell’arte company, Giorgio Strehler’s Piccolo Teatro di Milano. As a young man, Perlman’s fascination with Shakespeare led him to Europe where he studied with Strehler and the master mime Marcel Marceau in Paris. The experience fueled Perlman’s lifelong fascination with Commedia dell’arte and Renaissance drama ..read more