bringing the arts together

WE COMMISSIONED James Brantley Hightower, an architecture student at the University of Texas at Austin, to draw a mock-up of what a future performing arts center might look like. The design is pure imagination, but the elements depicted are very possible and the need for such a building is very real.

The current bond program includes $10.5 million for site acquisition, design, construction, and renovation for the Arts District, a vital step toward its completion.

Theatre Projects Consultants interviewed more than 100 individuals and organizations to gauge the needs for performing arts space in Dallas. In the study, several groups expressed concern about availability of current facilities and felt priced out of such spaces as Music Hall at Fair Park, Majestic Theatre, McFarlin Auditorium, and Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. For other groups, those spaces are not convenient or sufficient. For example, according to the study, “the limitations of the Music Hall have inhibited organizational growth as well as artistic excellence and innovation” for The Dallas Opera. The Dallas Theater Center is currently using a temporary space in the Arts District that is too costly and inadequate. The Dallas Children’s Theater needs a new. dedicated home to accommodate performing, teaching, shop, and rehearsal space because of its unique programming.