Alex Da Corte: The Whale
March 2–September 7, 2025
Alex Da Corte: The Whale is the first museum exhibition to survey the Venezuelan American interdisciplinary artist’s long relationship with painting. Organized by the Modern and Curator Alison Hearst, the exhibition focuses on the past decade of Da Corte’s career and includes more than forty paintings, several drawings, and a video that considers painting as a performative act. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with a special contribution from Da Corte and essays by Hearst, scholar Kemi Adeyemi, art historian Suzanne Hudson, and poet and critic Hanif Abdurraqib.
Da Corte is globally recognized for his hybrid installations combining painting, performance, video, and sculpture. Immersed in the history of art, design, and pop culture, Da Corte’s combinations evoke mixed feelings, such as fantasy and malice, while crossing hierarchies of high and low culture. His works combine modernist color theory and the spatial experiments of Post-Minimalist sculpture to consider topics including consumerism, persona, sex, invisible labor, taste, power, and desire.
Painting, forever brimming with the weight of its own history and historically itself an uncanny threshold of consumption, represents “the mouth of the whale” to Da Corte. The artist situates himself here, within a crowded, beautiful trash-scape of contemporary culture, digesting advertisements, animation cels, CD covers and liner notes, art history, and more. The ephemeral pop culture source materials referenced in Da Corte’s paintings make evident how the things we identify with, or use to define us, evolve over time.
To realize this reconstructed vision of painting, Da Corte stretches the medium’s traditional boundaries. The exhibition incorporates Puffy Paintings in stuffed, upholstered neoprene, Shampoo Paintings comprised of drugstore hair products, and sculptural Slatboard Paintings, where found objects protrude from the slatted grooves found in everyday commercial displays. The remaining paintings in the exhibition are reverse-glass paintings, in which the artist employs a process often used in animated celluloids and sign-making.
Feeling Color: Aubrey Williams and Frank Bowling
March 15–July 27, 2025
Feeling Color: Aubrey Williams and Frank Bowling, organized by the Modern and Curator María Elena Ortiz, celebrates the work of these two artists and their contributions to the story of abstract painting in the late twentieth century. Williams (1926–90) and Bowling (b. 1934) migrated from British Guiana (now Guyana) in South America to European and American cities in the 1950s, escaping social upheavals in their native country. Expanding on the international legacies of abstraction that are among the Modern’s central concerns, these artists’ works show that, even in moments of despair, art creates a space for refuge, reckoning, and imagination. This exhibition puts both artists in conversation, illustrating Williams’s powerful commitment to investigating abstract forms and Bowling’s painterly and experimental approach. Williams was Bowling’s elder, and together their works provide an opportunity to reflect on the power of art and abstraction in the twentieth century.
Feeling Color presents Bowling’s influential Map series, 1967–71, and his later poured paintings, which evidence sociopolitical concerns and explore the materiality of paint. Williams’s works include examples from two painting series, Shostakovich, 1969–81, and The Olmec-Maya and Now, 1981–85, alongside other paintings and drawings. These works reflect the artists’ histories by combining modernist abstraction with imagery derived from African diasporic dwellings and the Indigenous cultures of South America, each pointing to the complexity of their postcolonial heritage. These are works that embrace color, movement, experimentation, and abstraction to convey human emotion.
Aubrey Williams, born in British Guiana, is an important figure in British postwar painting, representing an approach toward abstraction that incorporates cross-cultural and transatlantic conversations. Originally trained as Agricultural Field Officer in Guyana, Williams moved to London in the 1950s to study engineering but changed course, earning an art degree from the St. Martin’s School of Art. The artist travelled extensively throughout Europe, created works in Jamaica and Florida in the 1960s and 1970s, and eventually settled in London until his death. Awarded the Commonwealth Prize in Painting by Queen Elizabeth II in 1965, Williams was a founding member of the 1960s Caribbean Artists Movement in London. His works have been exhibited internationally and are included in several prestigious collections in the US and Britain.
Frank Bowling OBE RA was elected to Britain’s Royal Academy in 2005 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2008. He is a pivotal figure in British abstract painting, contributing to the canon for over six decades. Born in British Guiana, Bowling migrated to London in the 1950s to study art. Eventually, he moved to New York City, keeping art studios in both cities. In New York, he cultivated a community that included critic Clement Greenberg and like-minded artists such as Jack Whitten and Al Loving Jr. His work has been exhibited widely and is part of prestigious collections around the world.
David-Jeremiah: The Fire This Time
August 16–November 2, 2025
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents David-Jeremiah: The Fire This Time, organized by guest curator Christopher Blay. The exhibition’s title, derived from that of James Baldwin’s novel The Fire Next Time (1963), refers to a stanza of the spiritual hymn “Mary Don’t You Weep”: “God gave Noah the rainbow sign, / No more water, the fire next time!”
The body of work on view in this exhibition is a group of vertical assemblages of black and other monochromatic paintings on shaped wood that form an installation. Collectively titled Hood Niggas Camping, the twenty-eight works stand over ten feet tall. This primary configuration surrounds viewers completely.
Fire is a major motif in David-Jeremiah’s work. Figuratively, fire is the crucible through which the artist has passed, having spent nearly four years in prison for an aggravated robbery he committed as a teenager. During that “staycation,” as he refers to it, David-Jeremiah conceived of binders full of work, operating in a conceptual space that defies any self-imposed rules made from the comfort of most artists’ studios. Birthing new modes of self-reflective determination and urgency born out of detention, David-Jeremiah brings the fire this time, incinerating what has come before to propose something new: confinement-conceptualism. His maximalist approach to art-making feeds the flames of Hood Niggas Camping and its towering paintings. This is a purifying, refining fire—a disruptive, controlled burn that course-corrects the trajectory of conceptualism. It is fire.
In his artistic practice, David-Jeremiah engages with the ritualistic context of fire and flame. Whether it is sending dead cops to hell in a race to redeem their souls, as in his 2019 painting Hamborghini Rally: Soul Hunt City (‘68 Semipro), or the last in the series of his I Drive Thee tondo paintings manifesting its soul over the flames of an incinerator for a succession of urns in L’Anima, 2023 (part of his 2024‒25 exhibition at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts), the flames are there. In the presentation at the Modern, his paintings-as-figures bask in the glow of embers that we, the viewers, create. David-Jeremiah’s work resides at the edge of the fire, and we see our faces and selves reflected back in the flickering flames.
Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting
October 12, 2025–January 18, 2026
Organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London, and Senior Curator of Contemporary Collections, Sarah Howgate, Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting is the first major museum exhibition in the US dedicated to the work of one of the world's foremost figure painters. The exhibition will be overseen at the Modern by Chief Curator Andrea Karnes. Saville rose to prominence in the early 1990s, following her acclaimed degree show at the Glasgow School of Art. In the years since, she has played a leading role in the reinvigoration of figurative painting—a genre that she continues to test the limits of to this day. Her unique ability to create visceral portraits from thick layers of paint reveals an artist with a deep passion for the process itself, an act that she experiences as both energetic and bodily.
Bringing together fifty works made throughout the artist's career, this exhibition traces the development of her practice from the 1990s to today, spotlighting key artworks from her career while exploring her lasting connection to art history. From charcoal drawings to large-scale oil paintings of the human form, this broadly chronological display includes works that question the conventional and historical notions of female beauty. The exhibition also highlights the monumental nudes that launched Saville to acclaim in 1992 and new 'portraits' made for the twenty-first century. Rendered in fluorescent, saturated tones, this pioneering series interrogates the connections between the physical and virtual in our image-saturated age.
Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting was created in close collaboration with the artist, and includes works borrowed from important public and private collections around the world. The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive publication, with texts from Emanuele Coccia, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, John Elderfield, Roxane Gay, and Karnes, and a conversation between Saville and Howgate.
FORT WORTH, TX – Nov. 19, 2024 — The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is thrilled to announce the groundbreaking for the Baker Martin Family Garden, which took place on Saturday, November 16. The launch of the family garden marks a significant milestone in the Garden's ambitious 20-year Master Plan.
Mayor Mattie Parker, along with the Family Garden Campaign Co-Chairs Laura and Greg Bird, philanthropist Louella Martin, FWBG Board Chair Billy Brentlinger, and FWBG President and CEO Patrick Newman, spoke before more than 100 guests who came to witness this historic moment at the Garden.
Designed with children and families in mind, the Baker Martin Family Garden aims to forge intergenerational bonds and deepen connections with nature. By offering unique experiences through its interactive galleries and thematic zones, the garden promises endless exploration for visitors of all ages.
Key Features and Vision
Interactive Galleries: Eleven distinct nature spaces are designed to stimulate curiosity, inviting children and their accompanying adults to explore celestial themes and urban agriculture.
Thematic Zones: From sun, moon, and stars to earth art, each zone offers a story to discover.
Central Water Feature: A 150-foot-long creek creates opportunities for safe, interactive play among Texas limestone bluffs and native plants.
Texas Pond: A living classroom for ecological learning, home to amphibians, fish, and dragonflies.
Bird and Pollinator Gardens: Ecologically designed to attract native species, providing rich educational experiences.
Open Play Areas: Expansive lawns encourage physical activity and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Facilities and Amenities
Discovery Center: A LEED-certified space for educational programs, complete with rotating children's books.
Accessibility and Comfort: No additional entry fees, family restrooms, dedicated parents' room, flexible seating, and shaded areas ensure inclusivity for all visitors.
A Garden of 'Yes'
This garden represents a shift from prohibitive experiences to one that inspires interaction and connection with the natural world. By fostering curiosity and a love for nature, the Baker Martin Family Garden hopes to prepare children for future scientific and environmental endeavors.
With design excellence led by Terra Design Studios, known for their successful family gardens across the nation, this development seamlessly integrates with the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s mission to create sustainable and engaging natural spaces.
Community and Inclusion
The family garden will be a welcoming haven for all families, offering vibrant play areas and serene quiet spaces that cater to diverse needs, ensuring a community-centered environment.
We hope you will follow along with us as we bring this visionary project to life. The Baker Martin Family Garden is scheduled to open in the fall of 2026.
By Teresa Gubbins - Culture Map Fort Worth - A nicely-outfitted new Mexican restaurant is coming to the Cultural District of Fort Worth: Called La Cabrona, it'll be located at 2973 Crockett St., in the former Tillman's space, and will open in mid-September, according to a release.
La Cabrona is a family-owned and -operated Mexican-inspired restaurant celebrating the colors and flavors of Mexican culture, and will open in Artisan Circle, the entertainment district formerly known as Crockett Row.
"We are thrilled to launch La Cabrona in Artisan Circle and introduce our authentic Mexican experience to the community," says La Cabrona owner Adam Shanaa in a statement. "Our goal is to create a space that serves exceptional food while reflecting the beauty and vibrancy of Mexican culture. We can't wait to share this experience with our diners and their families."
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Bring your family to FWBG on free admission days and unplug, unwind, and let nature weave its magic.
FWBG’s free admission days* are an invitation for all to explore this 120-acre sanctuary of nature in the middle of the city. No tickets are needed, simply arrive during Garden hours.
Whether you seek solace, inspiration, or a moment of tranquility, the Garden provides the perfect place to reconnect with nature and create emotional souvenirs. It’s a place where memories bloom, and hearts find respite.
May 10 is our first free admission day of the year, kicking off the American Public Gardens Association’s Go Public Garden Days!
*Free admission days are for general admission tickets only. Group ticket sales, special events, and classes are not included.
With two decades’ experience in venue operations management and the equestrian industry, Allison McNamara, CEM, CVP, CMP, will assume the interim role of general manager at Will Rogers Memorial Center after the retirement of current general manager Kevin O Kemp, CMEC, CMP on April 30.
Kemp, after 23 years with the City of Fort Worth and 13 years as general manager, will pass the reins to McNamara, who will oversee all operations, personnel and sales functions for the 120-acre complex.
“With Allison’s experience in City operations, finance and team management, plus her education and enthusiasm for the equestrian industry, she will provide a smooth leadership transition for our key stakeholders,” said Mike Crum, director of the City of Fort Worth Public Events Department. “Claude Humphrey’s back-of-house crew leadership and longstanding relationships with clients and vendors will offer stability during the transition.”
McNamara has been operations manager for the Fort Worth Convention Center (FWCC) since 2021 and has 18 years’ experience in the City’s Public Events Department. She began her tenure as an event coordinator at Will Rogers Memorial Center (WRMC) for seven years and advanced through department ranks with another seven years as account tech at the FWCC. She was then tapped as acting operations manager of FWCC through the COVID-19 pandemic and was promoted to that position.
Her previous equestrian venue experience also includes a six-year stretch at the Mississippi Horse Park as a student and graduate from Mississippi State University, where McNamara earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science with an emphasis in equines and a minor in agribusiness. She holds numerous industry certifications, including Certified Venue Professional from the International Association of Venue Managers and Certified Exhibition Management from International Association of Exhibitions and Events. In May, she will receive her master of public administration degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.
“Will Rogers Memorial Center holds a special place in my heart,” said McNamara. “I grew up attending events as a spectator and often reflect on the years I spent as an employee there. I am grateful for the opportunity to return, and I look forward to working with the incredible team at the facility and continuing strong partnerships with our clients. Also, many important capital projects are in the works and I look forward to seeing them come to fruition.”
Claude Humphrey, longtime WRMC field operations supervisor, will step in as interim operations manager. With 37 years’ experience in Public Events at both Tarrant County and the City, Humphrey will lead day-to-day operations, event attendants, barn crews, maintenance and engineering. He will also be the main point of contact for multiple contractors.
Humphrey was named Manager of the Year at WRMC in 2018 and received Visit Fort Worth’s Beyond Award recognizing excellence in hospitality service in 2022. He completed the City’s yearlong management training program and is certified by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council. A Fort Worth native, Humphrey is a graduate of Paschal High School.
Both interim managers will be supported by the department’s executive team, experienced mid-managers and skilled back-of-house crews at WRMC.
After launching the annual budget process in March – earlier than in past years – City staff has a good start on preparing a recommended Fiscal Year 2025 General Fund budget, the budget that covers police and fire services, community services and capital projects, among other things.
By the numbers: For now, staff is projecting a $1.049 billion budget, a $35 million, or 3.5% increase, from FY24. Competitive salaries to retain employees and higher insurance costs are contributing to the increase.
This year, staff and department leaders are leaning more heavily on a budget process called priority-based budgeting. Last year, three departments used this method and served as a pilot.
Now, nine departments are using this method, by which some 323 programs are undergoing peer reviews to determine how they align with the City Council’s goals and priorities. The remaining departments will be phased in over the next two budget cycles.
Priority-based budgeting augments traditional budgeting with new vantage points to make data-driven decisions, FWLab Director Christianne Simmons said. The method also means the City Council’s priorities and goals are aligned with recommended department budgets.
City Council FY25 budget priorities include economic development, community investment, community safety, infrastructure and responsible growth.
Starting earlier on the budget means City staff will begin asking residents to add their thoughts on the budget earlier as well. That will be done at a series of open houses starting in May, on Connect Fort Worth, a new online engagement platform, and other avenues.
Join City staff and departments at these open houses to provide feedback about the FY25 budget:
We also encourage residents to “Help us STEER the budget” by providing feedback and taking pictures with our mascot, Molly. Submit feedback and pictures via the website, the MyFW app or on Facebook. @fortworthmolly
Published on April 17, 2024
Of the 300 proposals submitted from across the U.S., the City of Fort Worth, in partnership with North Central Texas Council of Governments, has been awarded $2 million through the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants funding.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) announced Fort Worth is one of the 34 recipients of the Fiscal Year 2023 Planning and Prototyping Grants. The project will pilot low altitude weather sensors of freight routes used by autonomous vehicles (AV).
Why it matters: The project will provide insight in technology solutions to enhance safety and trip reliability in our changing environment. Adverse weather conditions pose significant challenges to the performance and safety of AVs. Weather phenomena like severe rainfall and dense fog can degrade the accuracy of critical vehicle sensors, potentially leading to inaccuracies affecting vehicle performance during hazardous road weather conditions.
Microclimate sensors offer a solution by providing precise, real-time localized weather data, enabling AVs to adapt to varying weather conditions and make informed decisions to enhance operational safety and reliability. The pilot will be used at the Alliance Truck Port.
Go deeper: In the winter of 2021, a tragic vehicle pileup unfolded on Interstate 35 in Fort Worth due to treacherous icy conditions, particularly black ice, which went unnoticed by drivers. This incident involved 130 vehicles, including cars, trucks and 18-wheelers, resulting in a nightmarish crash scene spanning nearly a mile.
Tragically, six lives were lost, and numerous others were injured. Notably, many of the 18-wheelers involved were fully loaded and headed to the Intermodal Truck Depot at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport for regional distribution. This disaster could have been avoidable if the appropriate weather sensors had been in place to warn drivers of the impending danger.
What would your Fort Worth be like in the year 2050? How can we make Fort Worth an even better place to live, work and play?
The 2050 Comprehensive Plan will establish a shared vision for the City. It will determine the goals, objectives, strategies and policies to ensure a high quality of life for all members of the community.
Why it matters: With the community’s help, the resulting plan will describe the community’s desired future for Fort Worth – from active and walkable neighborhood centers, to new housing options, vital business districts, invigorating parks and open spaces, new and enhanced transportation infrastructure and transit, robust public safety and community-building libraries and other facilities. The plan will establish the goals, objectives, policies and programs that will help to make the community’s vision a reality – while preserving the culture and identity that make Fort Worth special.
Learn more about the 2050 Comprehensive Plan.
The new 2050 Comprehensive Plan will be the result of the creative efforts of the community to lay a successful foundation for the future of Fort Worth.
Get involved: A robust community engagement campaign begins soon. There will be many opportunities to participate, both in person and online.
Join a Help Plan FW workshop at a location near you:
More dates and engagement activities will be announced soon. Follow City News to learn the latest.
Sign up for updates. Register for emails to learn about upcoming meetings and announcements. Share questions or ideas by email.
Story by Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
More premium office space is coming to Fort Worth’s Cultural District.
Crescent Real Estate LLC announced Thursday it plans to build a second 170,000-square-foot office building on the backside of its existing mixed-use development at 3300 Camp Bowie Blvd. The Crescent Office West will front West Seventh Street between Van Cliburn Way and Boland Street.
The current office development, Crescent Office East, is nearly completely leased up, which motivated this latest expansion, according to a developer press release.
Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank relocated members of its commercial, corporate and private banking teams to the building in September 2023, and Dallas based Duro Hospitality plans to open a new restaurant on the ground floor of the building later this year, the press release said.
“The market demand for best-in-class office space in a luxury, amenity-rich environment is strong, and we are ready to bring the next phase of the project to the city,” said John Goff, CEO of Goff Capital, which owns Crescent Real Estate.
Goff highlighted the success of other components of the Fort Worth development, including the recently opened 200-room Crescent hotel. The development also includes a Canyon Ranch spa location and a 169-unit luxury apartment complex.
“Fort Worth, and the Cultural District in particular, continue to shine, and we are excited to be a part of the growth,” he said.
The Crescent Office West, which is scheduled to break ground late this year, will contain two restaurants, a gym, amenity deck and meeting space. It will have balconies on every floor, giving tenants a panoramic view of the Cultural District, the release said.
It will join a pair of projects from Nebraska-based Goldenrod Companies, which plans to build roughly 200,000-square-feet of office space in the West 7th entertainment district.
©2024 Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Visit star-telegram.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Leave your passport at home and come to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden to experience some of the planet’s most beautiful pollinators in one convenient place. Butterflies in the Garden, presented by Central Market, will take flight, March 1 through April 14, in the Rainforest Conservatory. One of the Garden’s most anticipated seasonal exhibits, guests will enjoy thousands of breathtaking exotic and native butterflies as they flutter through the lush foliage and tropical flowers in the conservatory. Butterflies in the Garden is the largest exhibit of live, exotic butterflies in north central Texas.
See butterflies of every size and hue, including Central American butterflies such as the Starry Night Butterfly (Hamadryas Iaodamia), the Mosaic (Colobura dirce), the elegant Glass Wing (Greta oto), the Pink-Spotted Cattleheart (Parides photinus), the green Malachite (Siproeta stelenes), the Tiger Longwing (Heliconius hecale), and the Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides). Species from North and South America, Africa, and Asia will also be flittering from flower to flower. Two lepidopterists, specialists in the study of butterflies and moths, will be onsite to oversee pupae arrivals and monitor the health of the Garden’s visiting butterflies once they emerge.
“There is no one place in nature where you could go to see the wide variety of butterflies that are a part of the Garden’s extraordinary exhibit,” said visiting lepidopterist Lucy Milas G. Salik, Ph.D. “It’s exciting to be able not only to share their beauty with guests, but also to educate them on the importance of these powerful pollinators.”
In nature, butterflies play a vital role as pollinators for many plants and flowers. These winged wonders inadvertently collect pollen on their legs as they land on flowers and then transfer it to other blooms they encounter. This process promotes cross-pollination and genetic diversity in plant groups.A massive 80 percent of land plants are pollinated by insects and animals.
Tickets for timed entrance to the butterfly exhibit may be purchased online at fwbg.org. Online admission prices are $12 for adults (16-64), $10 for seniors (65+), $8 for children (6-15), and free for children five and under. Combo tickets for both the butterfly exhibit and the Garden are $22 for adults, $20 for seniors and $12 for children. Don’t miss out on this rare display of butterfly beauty!
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