You know Arts Fort Worth!  New name for Arts Council of Fort Worth signifies exciting changes while staying true to its mission.

Elena Greer, Communications Manager 817.298.3041 egreer@artsfortworth.org   Fort Worth, Texas (Wednesday, January 12, 2022) The Arts Council of Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Community Arts Center are merging into one nonprofit with a new name, Arts Fort Worth. Our new name and look reflect changes that will allow Arts Fort Worth to build on our history while reinvigorating our commitment to culture and community through financial, educational, and creative support for all the arts.   “Since 1963, the Arts Council has been a strong presence within the Fort Worth arts community, with a proud and storied history of supporting the local arts,” said Karen Wiley, Arts Fort Worth CEO & President. “As we move forward with our new name, Arts Fort Worth is committed to serve and respond to the needs of all local artists, arts organizations, and the residents of our city. We acknowledge that this can only happen through deeper engagement and collaboration with diverse community groups, and other local non-profits, active listening, and sustained connections.”     In early 2020, Arts Fort Worth responded to the needs of Fort Worth’s arts community by distributing emergency relief grants to arts organizations while continuing to engage the entire community by presenting online gallery exhibitions, readings of original plays and informal interviews with 85 local artists, creatives, and community leaders. Arts Fort Worth will continue expanding opportunities and programs for artists and organizations, kicking off 2022 with an open call for the inaugural Emerging Artist Residency Program, which provide studio space and a monthly stipend for an artist for one year. This new program was made possible generous support of the Donny Wiley Memorial Fund at North Texas Community Foundation. Arts Fort Worth will have more exciting announcements soon. “We are delighted to usher in this exciting new chapter of our history,” said Wiley.  About Arts Fort Worth Founded in 1963 as the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, Arts Fort Worth is a nonprofit organization with the mission to promote, nurture, and support the arts in Fort Worth. Arts Fort Worth administers a competitive grants program, manages the Fort Worth Public Art program, and operates what was formerly known as the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, a dynamic arts complex with theaters, galleries, studios, and office suites, on behalf of the City of Fort Worth. Arts Fort Worth also provides educational programming and supports arts advocacy at all levels of government, provides public art consultation services, rents the facilities for a wide range of private and public events and programs. Arts Fort Worth is supported in part by the City of Fort Worth and the Texas Commission on the Arts. For more information, please visit artsfortworth.org

The federal mask requirement has been extended through March 18, 2022. That means everyone will continue wearing masks when on board any of Trinity Metro’s vehicles and when inside Fort Worth Central Station and Fort Worth T&P Station. Masks are not required on the platforms or while waiting at a bus stop.

The mask mandate originally went into effect on Feb. 1, 2021, and was extended three times in 2021. The implementation is intended to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Other safety measures include social distancing, handwashing and vaccinations.

https://ridetrinitymetro.org/

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Announces WOMEN PAINTING WOMEN On View May 15 – September 25, 2022

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents Women Painting Women, a thematic exhibition of forty-six women artists who choose women as subject matter in their works. This exhibition is organized by Chief Curator Andrea Karnes and will be on view at the Modern May 15 through September 25, 2022. This presentation includes approximately sixty evocative portraits that span the late 1960s to the present. International in scope, Women Painting Women recognizes female perspectives that have been underrepresented in the history of postwar figuration. Painting is the focus of the exhibition as traditionally it has been a privileged medium for portraiture, particularly for white male artists. The featured artists range from early trailblazers like Alice Neel and Emma Amos to emerging artists such as Jordan Casteel, Jenna Gribbon, and Apolonia Sokol. All place women—their bodies, gestures, and individuality—at the forefront. Four themes that trend in the works of these artists are explored: The Body, Nature Personified, Color as Portrait, and Selfhood.  THE BODY examines the spectrum from unidealized to fantasized nudes. This thematic group encompasses work by Alice Neel, Jenny Saville, Sylvia Sleigh, Mickalene Thomas, and Lisa Yuskavage, among others. The women painted by Neel convey a sense of individuality and realness—ironically through the artist’s generalizing of flesh and form. Pregnant Nude, 1967, for example, shows her characteristic tendency to streamline the body and break the rules of painting by contouring the figure in an unnatural blue outline. Like a traditional nude, she is recumbent with a passive gaze, yet her realness is too profound to be sexy. In The Turkish Bath, 1973, Sleigh subverts the traditional odalisque image by replacing women with male nudes, calling into question the values historically used to paint women while also pointing to the lack of erotic male nudes in works of art throughout time. Thomas’s monumental painting A Little Taste Outside of Love, 2007, expresses a lineage to Sleigh’s The Turkish Bath by recasting the traditional (male-painted) odalisque to make a critical statement about the representation, objectification, and sexualization of Black women. In her work, Thomas quotes Edouard Manet’s Olympia, 1863, but moves the Black woman to the forefront to highlight the historical omission of Black women, both as subjects and creators. NATURE PERSONIFIED includes artists who look to the mythology of woman as it relates to mother earth figures, priestesses, and goddesses, as well as to the metaphysical powers associated with being female. Eunice Golden, Joan Semmel, Luchita Hurtado, Susan Rothenberg, Maria Berrío, Hayv Kahraman, and Tracey Emin are among the artists discussed. Golden, Semmel, and Hurtado are each represented with a work from 1971, and each comes into figuration through abstraction; with similar concerns about reclaiming space for women, and ties to the women’s movement, they depict the body in intimate poses using first-person perspective. Rothenberg and Emin depict figures that are primal and elemental in form, color, and composition. Berrío and Kahraman use a symbolic visual language to convey issues regarding the postcolonial (Berrío) and non-Western imperialism (Kahraman). COLOR AS PORTRAIT accounts for the exaggerated or dramatic use of color and form to convey content about female identity, including race, gender, and archetypes. Emma Amos, Faith Ringgold, Joan Brown, Amy Sherald, and Nicola Tyson are among the artists who explore color to create a mood. For example, Amos painted the subjects at hand in life with flattened patterns, bold colors, and a pop sensibility beginning in her early development as an artist coming of age in the 1960s. Her Three Figures, 1966, literally reflects the idea of women of many colors, and the addition of greens, reds, blues, and whites reinforces this notion. Color here suggests exoticism and otherness within a scene comingling Black and white American middle-class life—a subject rarely broached by a woman artist in the mid-twentieth century. SELFHOOD examines the subtleties of gesture, posture, and setting to portray the energy or presence of the sitter’s psychological and sometimes physical human state. SELFHOOD is represented in the works of Nicole Eisenman, Maria Lassnig, Elizabeth Peyton, Danielle Mckinney, Marlene Dumas, Jordan Casteel, and more. For instance, Dumas’s Jen, 2005, depicts a woman lying prone, mouth slightly open and eyes closed; her abject condition explores female objectification. Casteel’s Pretty in Pink, 2019, depicts a contemporary young Black woman seen on a subway, looking at her phone—beautiful and bedazzled. Representing women of color in daily life brings a visibility to a complicated white male art history Chief Curator Andrea Karnes comments, “The pivotal narrative in Women Painting Women is how these artists use the conventional portrait of a woman as a catalyst to tell another story outside of male interpretations of the female body. They conceive new ways to activate and elaborate on the portrayal of women. Replete with complexities, realness, abjection, beauty, complications, everydayness, pain, and pleasure, the portraits in this exhibition connect to all kinds of women, and they make way for women artists to share the stage with their male counterparts in defining the female figure.”   Publication The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color catalogue featuring texts by Andrea Karnes, the artist Emma Amos, and the artist Faith Ringgold. 172 pages, 65 illustrations; published by the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and distributed by DelMonico Books.

Artists in the Exhibition Rita Ackermann Njideka Akunyili Crosby Emma Amos María Berrío Louise Bonnet Lisa Brice Joan Brown Jordan Casteel Somaya Critchlow Kim Dingle Marlene Dumas Celeste Dupuy-Spencer Nicole Eisenman Tracey Emin Natalie Frank Hope Gangloff Eunice Golden Jenna Gribbon Alex Heilbron Ania Hobson Luchita Hurtado Chantal Joffe Hayv Kahraman Maria Lassnig Christiane Lyons Danielle Mckinney Marilyn Minter Alice Neel Elizabeth Peyton Paula Rego Faith Ringgold Deborah Roberts Susan Rothenberg Jenny Saville Dana Schutz Joan Semmel Amy Sherald Lorna Simpson Arpita Singh Sylvia Sleigh Apolonia Sokol May Stevens Claire Tabouret Mickalene Thomas Nicola Tyson Lisa Yuskavage

Image credit: Emma Amos, Three Figures, 1966. Oil on canvas. 60 x 50 inches. John and Susan Horseman Collection. Courtesy RYAN LEE Gallery, New York © Emma Amos For high-resolution images, please email kendal@themodern.org. LOCATION Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth 3200 Darnell Street Fort Worth, Texas 76107 Telephone 817.738.9215 Toll-Free 1.866.824.5566 www.themodern.org   Museum Gallery Hours Tue-Sun 10 am-5 pm Fri 10 am-8 pm   General Admission Prices (includes special exhibition) $16: General (age 18 and above) $12: Seniors (age 60+), Active/Retired Military Personnel and First Responders with ID $10: Students with ID Free: Under 18 years old The Museum offers half-price tickets on Sundays and free admission on Fridays. The Museum is closed Mondays and holidays, including New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas.

Botanic Garden Invites Public Comment 

FORT WORTH, Texas (Jan. 10, 2021) — The  Fort Worth Botanic Garden | Botanical Research Institute of Texas , with Studio Outside , Bennett Partners , and DEI Consultants , will launch a robust, citywide public engagement process later this month to inform a long-term master plan for the Garden, with a particular focus on Fort Worth’s rich and growing diversity. 

In addition to providing online comment capabilities through a website www.brit.org/masterplan , five community forums are planned as follows: 

 

Jan. 26, 6:30 p.m. Rockwood Park Golf Course Clubhouse 

Jan. 27, 6:30 p.m. at Como Community Center 

Jan. 29, 10 a.m. at MLK, Jr., Community Center 

Feb. 2, 6:30 p.m. at Chisholm Trail Community Center 

Feb. 3, 6:30 p.m. at Heritage Church 

Estrus Tucker, president and CEO of DEI Consultants, outlined goals for the 90-minute community forums. “Listening, building relationships and informing the master plan are the three major goals for soliciting this public feedback,” Tucker said. “We especially want to hear from new and diverse community voices while building relationships across the city with organizations and individuals.” 

Forum agenda formats will consist of brief opening remarks with a welcome from City Council members, an overview of Fort Worth Botanic Garden | Botanical Research Institute of Texas, a summary of the master planning process, a brief statement about “why” these meetings are being held, and a series of interactive conversations, listening sessions, and engaging planning activities. With health and safety of all participants a top priority, CDC guidelines will be followed. 

“We consider public feedback immensely important in the master planning process since the Garden is a local treasure belonging to all Fort Worth residents,“ said Bob Byers, FWBG|BRIT executive vice president and co-chair of the Master Planning Committee. “Creating a long-term, inspiring guest experience is at the heart of this process.” 

The master planning committee led by former District 7 City Councilman Dennis Shingleton comprises members from throughout the community, representative of Fort Worth civil servants, local garden associations, Fort Worth ISD, FWBG|BRIT Board and staff, and other community advocates and developers. 

About Fort Worth Botanic Garden | Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT®) 

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden (FWBG) is the oldest public botanic garden in Texas with beautiful theme gardens, including the Fuller Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, and the Victor and Cleyone Tinsley Garden, which features plants native to north central Texas. The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT®) is a nonprofit, international research, education and conservation organization that collects and safeguards plant specimens, studies and protects living plants, and teaches about the importance of conservation and biodiversity to the world. BRIT assumed nonprofit management of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Oct. 1, 2020. The combined organization comprises 120 acres in Fort Worth’s Cultural District two miles west of downtown Fort Worth at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas 76107. 

Winter Hours: Monday-Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Admission: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors 65+, $6 for children 6-15 and free for those under 5. Free admission with annual membership. Parking: Parking is free throughout the campus during regular business hours. 

About Studio Outside
Studio Outside is a landscape architectural practice in Dallas, Texas, that thrives on the challenge of projects which demand a comprehensive intellectual, artistic and collaborative design process. Passionate about all facets of landscape architecture, the studio has completed projects of many types and locations around the world, ranging widely from high profile public spaces to high-end residential properties. The team’s passion for design drives them to pursue projects that require original thought and intense detailing, drawing upon years of experience with many cultures and a wide diversity of construction techniques. Studio Outside aspires to design places that demand a thoughtful and refined aesthetic while also incorporating sensitivity and intrigue for the human experience. For more information about the Studio Outside team, please visit: https://www.studiooutside.us/ .

About Bennett Partners
Bennett Partners is a Fort Worth-based architecture, interior design, and planning firm focused on creating well-designed, well-built spaces in the public and private sector. At the core of our practice is the idea of partnership. Partnership with our diverse and talented staff, our clients, and our community. We believe design can make a difference, and through our work we can inspire positive change. To learn more about the firm’s award-winning work, visit www.bennett.partners.

About DEI Consultants, LLC
DEI Consultants, LLC is a Fort Worth-based consulting firm specializing in advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion via creative engagement practices and processes that target transformative outcomes for corporations, non-profits, membership organizations and local governments. We utilize an equity lens supported by key questions to help decision makers be deliberately inclusive and focus on equity in both their process and outcomes. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are more than values to aspire to, they are strategies and practices that lead us into a future where neighbors from all walk of life explore, learn, support and enjoy together the natural environment. www.deiconsultants.com 

Garden Hosts 2022 “Butterflies in the Garden”Popular Local Event Returns to Rainforest Conservatory 

FORT WORTH, Texas (Jan. 7, 2022) — Behold nature’s wondrous transformation and marvel at brilliantly colored living jewels fluttering in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s Rainforest Conservatory during “Butterflies in the Garden,” the largest exhibit of live, exotic butterflies in north central Texas, starting Feb. 25. and running through April 10. The six-week exhibit will be open daily, including Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.   

“Beautiful, exotic butterflies of every hue and size will be flying in the conservatory,” said Bob Byers, executive vice-president. “People will have a chance to walk among hundreds of fluttering butterflies from around the world, watch them land on tropical flowers and lush foliage — maybe even on their shoulders — and learn about the amazing life cycle of the butterfly.” 

Hosted by the Fort Worth Botanic Garden|Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Butterflies in the Garden will offer educational programs, exciting exhibits, gift shop items and more designed to enhance the visitor experience.   

The exhibit is likely to feature Central American butterflies such as the Starry Night Butterfly (Hamadryas Iaodamia), the Mosaic (Colobura dirce),  the elegant Glass Wing (Greta oto), Small Postman (Heliconius erato), Pink-Spotted Cattleheart (Parides photinus), the green Malachite (Siproeta stelenes), and Tiger Longwing (Heliconius hecale).  The ever-popular Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides) will definitely be featured in the exhibit.  Of all the butterflies in the exhibit, the Blue Morpho is the most striking and a perennial favorite among visitors. Also included in the exhibit will be butterflies from North and South America, Africa and Asia. 

Tickets for timed entrance are currently for sale online. Admission is $12 for ages 16-64; $10 for seniors (65+); $8 for ages 6-15; and free for children under five. For those who want to visit both the Garden and the butterfly exhibit, the price is $18 for adults and seniors and $10 for children. School groups of 20 or more may purchase tickets in advance for $8 per person. FWBG|BRIT members receive a discounted price of $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $6 for children.  

About Fort Worth Botanic Garden | Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT®) 

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden (FWBG) is the oldest public botanic garden in Texas with beautiful theme gardens, including the Fuller Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, and the Victor and Cleyone Tinsley Garden, which features plants native to north central Texas. The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT®) is a nonprofit, international research, education and conservation organization that collects and safeguards plant specimens, studies and protects living plants, and teaches about the importance of conservation and biodiversity to the world. BRIT assumed nonprofit management of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Oct. 1, 2020. The combined organization comprises 120 acres in Fort Worth’s Cultural District two miles west of downtown Fort Worth at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas 76107. 

Winter Hours: Monday-Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Parking is free throughout the campus during regular business hours. 

The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is excited to announce that it will be expanding its days of operation beginning in January 2022. From January 14 – February 5, the Museum will be open seven days a week. The extended operating hours align with the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo beginning on January 14. After February 5, the Museum will be open five days a week. 

Hours of Operation from January 14, 2022 – February 5, 2022: 

·    Monday – Saturday: 10 AM – 5 PM 

·    Sunday: Noon – 5 PM 

 

Hours of Operation beginning February 6, 2022: 

·    Monday – Tuesday: Closed 

·    Wednesday – Saturday: 10 AM – 5 PM  

·    Sunday: Noon – 5 PM 

 

The Museum closed its doors for several months in 2020 and 2021 in response to guidance from local, state, and federal health officials to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 throughout the community. On June 25, 2021, the Museum reopened to the public at a limited schedule, Friday - Sunday. 

“We are dedicated to lifelong learning as our Mission and are thrilled to return to more days open!” said Kippen de Alba Chu, interim President at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. “We invite you, our beloved community, to rediscover the Museum through our creative, vibrant programs and exhibits interpreting science and the history of Texas and the Southwest.” 

To learn more, visit fwmuseum.org. 

As you deck the halls this holiday season, the Fort Worth Fire Department reminds residents to stay fire-smart. A small fire that spreads to a Christmas tree can grow large very quickly.

Here are safety tips from FWFD:

• If you choose a real tree, make sure it is fresh and green with needles that don’t fall off when touched.
• Before placing the tree in its stand, cut 2 inches from the base of the trunk.
• Make sure the tree is at least 3 feet away from any heat source like fireplaces, radiators, candles, heat vents or lights.
• Make sure the tree is not blocking an exit.
• Add water to the tree stand daily

The City Council continues to move closer to adopting a new district map in advance of the May 2023 municipal elections.

Meetings of the Redistricting Task Force have been postponed so the Council can discuss certain details about map eligibility and provide clarification on the submission of maps from city staff members. The City Council will discuss the details and take any formal action at its Dec. 14 meeting.

The task force is expected to begin meeting again in January, and the timeline for redistricting activities will be adjusted to accommodate the delay. The new timeline will be posted on the city’s website.

At the Dec. 14 meeting, Council will also consider reopening the online portal for submitting resident-drawn maps until Dec. 17. In January, the task force is expected to review all the submitted maps and recommend one for councilmembers to consider.

Learn more about redistricting. Sign up for updates.

Need a safe place for your child during the winter break from school? Your local community center has a solution: Winter Break Camp.

Camp will be conducted 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 20-23, Dec. 27-30 and Jan. 3-4 for children ages 5-13. Parents have the flexibility to select which days they wish to register their child for.

A variety of recreational, educational and cultural programs are designed to give campers fun and memorable experiences. Lunch and a snack will be served each day.

Price varies by location but starts as low as $5 per day plus a $5 community center membership card. Registration is required and can be paid by credit card or electronic check.

Winter Break Camp will be offered at these community centers: Andrew Doc Session, Chisholm Trail, Como, Diamond Hill, Eugene McCray, Fire Station, Greenbriar, Handley Meadowbrook, Highland Hills, Hillside, Martin Luther King, North Tri Ethnic, R.D. Evans, Riverside, Southside, Southwest, Thomas Place, Victory Forest and Worth Heights.

Camp locations follow safety protocols that include physical distancing, increased sanitation and disinfection, and providing masks upon request.

To learn more, contact a local community center. 

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden | Botanical Research Institute of Texas invites everyone to celebrate the season at this year’s Holiday in the Garden, Dec. 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The festive indoor-outdoor event takes place rain or shine and will feature a Sip-n-Shop, festive décor, free afternoon admissions to the Garden (2-4 p.m.) and a visit from Santa Claus. The Fort Worth Opera continues a favorite tradition of live, holiday performances and this year, Wandering Roots Markets has organized a larger number of food trucks, live music and an artisan market featuring handmade goods for sale.

“Holiday in the Garden continues to grow, and this year will be supporting more local businesses than ever before,” said Vice President of Operations Ennis Anderson. “Guests will be able to delight in the holiday season while shopping for one-of-a-kind gifts and enjoying time with friends and family.”

Event highlights:

• Holiday Sip and Shop. Food trucks, live music, artisan market featuring handmade goods for sale. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free.
• Santa in the Garden. Stop by and say hello to Santa, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free.
• Fort Worth Opera. Experience the magic of the holiday season in song with an outdoor performance. Free.