Catherine the Great: Treasures of Imperial Russia, set to open July 4 at Fair Park’s Centennial Building, represents quite a gamble for the Dallas Historical Society, which is sponsoring the 21-week exhibit. If the show succeeds as it did in Memphis last April, (603,589 turned out, bringing $80 million to $90 million into the city’s economy), it will mean new prestige and profit for the DHS-at the cost of ruffling a few feathers along the way.
Among the miffed is Rick Brettell, director of the Dallas Museum of Art. When he heard the DHS was bringing Catherine to Fair Park, Brettell told Peter Mooz, DHS executive director, that the Society had invaded sacred turf. Only the DMA had the expertise to put on such a major art/history exhibit, he fumed.
And then there’s money. Sources say it took about $2 million to lure the Russian roadshow to town. The last thing the city needs, in Brettell’s view, is cutthroat competition between two institutions chasing the same shows and the same money.
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