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.
The metaphor that life is a journey, a road we trek, and the decisions we make, the diverging paths we must choose, is probably almost as old as roads themselves, and an analogy not confined to any one culture or era.
Very few artists create in a cultural or political vacuum, and some of the greatest artists in history have produced work that reflects and confronts the societal issues and struggles of their era.
Share an article, pin an image, save a post, link a story. The immediacy of social media and digital visual culture is astonishing. And yet, with all of its accessibility, its staying power is questionable. With so many artists relying on social media to maintain a significant, up-to-date digital presence, is it possible to preserve the knowledge and contributions of living artists?
You may be hard-pressed to explain what ZZ Top, Eva Longoria, Willie Nelson and Walter Cronkite have in common, but for the Texas Cultural Trust, the answer is simple: Texas.
Some people say ideas are a dime a dozen.
The Idea Fund says they are $3,500 each and, with help from a special initiative of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, it is putting that money directly into the hands of Texas artists. As a result, some of the state's most provocative or otherwise unexpected imaginings are being made real.