For one week each June, the picturesque South Texas city of Victoria, population 65,000, rolls out its red carpet and welcomes some of the finest professional musicians from around the country to take part in the Victoria Bach Festival (VBF).
Long before Facebook and Twitter, neighbors exchanged information about the real lives of people making up their communities by gossiping and conversing in front yards and stoops.
Dallas dance-lovers are proud that a dance-centric presenter like TITAS Presents exists in their city—and they should be. Executive Director Charles Santos is famous for his eye for up-and-coming troupes, as well as showcasing international groups.
Most major American cities have Japanese gardens. In Texas, you can find them in Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Fredericksburg. Dallas forgot about the one it had, but thanks to local artist Cynthia Mulcahy and a concerted community effort, there is a long-term plan to restore it.
“What are you working on?” asked Anis Shivani, a Texas poet, novelist, pundit and provocateur. “A story called ‘The loneliness of the arts writer’,” I replied. “All artists are lonely,” he shot back. “Maybe so, but arts writers are the loneliest,” I said.
Brandon Weinbrenner, Resident Assistant Director at The Alley Theatre since 2013, has also directed at 4th Wall Theatre Company and The Landing Theatre Company. In May, he directs Karen Zacharias’s Native Gardens, commissioned by the Cincinnati Playhouse, at Main Street Theater.
Jusepe de Ribera, a Spanish Neapolitan artist who spent his early career in Rome and went on to become one of the most important Caravaggesque painters, influencing Salvator Rosa and others, drew a lot, according to contemporary accounts, one of which held that “the tablecloth on Sunday was the drawings he had made during the week.”
As printmaking shows fan out across Houston over the next few months, visitors to PrintHouston 2017—a multivenue array of exhibitions and events highlighting a range of traditional and experimental techniques—it’s worth remembering that fewer than eight years ago, the Bayou City’s printmaking scene left a lot to be desired.