I honestly just realized that I never finished my series on my first trip to Dallas. I discussed my amazing trip to the Dallas Heritage Village, falling in love with tex-mex food all over again, and the discovery I made about underground and overground Dallas. But, I forgot to discuss one very important part of my trip: the art! Yes!
Dallas has quite the art scene, especially with its focus on creating and revamping an arts district.
Walking around the area, you’ll notice loads of public art projects, sculptures, and monuments. Though walking around with no shade and in over 90 degree weather is not exactly a fun time… be sure to check it all out on a nice, cool day.
At the center of the arts district is the Dallas Museum of Art. The museum collection has more than 24,000 objects. They date from the third millennium BC to the present day. It also happens to be one of the largest art museums in the United States.
Among the highlights include works by Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Willard Metcalf.
The museums has a lot of great art, and a vast range, but one of my favorite parts of the museum was actually the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection. It’s really interesting because the collection is actually housed in an elaborate 15,000-square-foot reproduction of the couple’ home in France, the Villa La Pausa, where the works were originally displayed.
Outside the museum is a beautiful (gorgeous) mural. My jaw dropped when I saw it and I was immediately drawn into its story.
Mexican muralist Miguel Covarrubias designed this sixty-foot long mosaic mural. Genesis, the Gift of Life is a spectacle of glass pieces about an ancient Mexican myth. Four worlds preceded the world we currently live in. Four principal deities controlled the four elements—water, earth, fire, and air—and each god destroyed the world once using their element. The gods then worked together to create the fifth, or current, world. The images of the mural reference this myth and incorporate imagery from numerous historic cultures in Central and North America. Amazing!
The other great museum in the area is the Nasher Sculpture Center. It houses the Patsy and Raymond Nasher collection of modern and contemporary sculpture.
The Nasher Sculpture Center features rotating exhibitions drawn from the Nasher Collection as well as special exhibitions in its indoor and outdoor galleries.
Of course, there’s even more to see in the Arts District. The Crow Collection of Asian Art is a museum for the arts and cultures of China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia.
In addition to the museums, there’s an arts center, an opera house, a couple theaters, a symphony center, and Klyde Warren Park. Don’t underestimate Dallas’ dedication to the arts!
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