From the Dallas Morning News:

Although the Texas Ballet Theater received a long-term $500,000 pledge Thursday morning, it is still planning to use recorded music for the 2008-09 season.

The dance company’s decision, which is part of its emergency efforts to conserve funds and raise at least $2 million by mid-September, came as a surprise to the Dallas Opera Orchestra and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Both orchestras were scheduled to perform live music for dance performances.

“We’re going to have to work with them to see what this means,” said Jennifer Schuder, director of marketing at the Dallas Opera Orchestra.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra leaders did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Using recorded music instead of paying both orchestras for live music is a necessary step toward helping the company raise $500,000 in cash and an additional $1.5 million in pledges within the next three weeks, said Margo McCann, the dance company’s interim managing director.

The $500,000 pledge that the company received Thursday is to be paid over the next five years. Ms. McCann declined to name the donor.

Visit DMN for more.

The Dallas presentation of this exhibition, the third U.S. venue of an international tour that Time magazine named one of the best exhibits of the year, will display several of the works previously shown in San Francisco, where the show originated, and New York and will add new pieces to the touring exhibition that have yet to be seen in the U.S.

This first full-scale survey of approximately 20 of Eliasson’s works “cements the 40-year-old artist’s reputation,” said the Los Angeles Times; the New York Times called his work “enchanting, spacious, evanescent and intellectually stimulating.” “He is one of the most ingenious, far-sighted and productive artists working today,” wrote the Wall Street Journal, “motivated by complex philosophical and social theories and yet immensely popular with crowds.”

“Eliasson likes to be emotional and likes that his work provokes emotions,” said Maria de Corral, The Hoffman Family Adjunct Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art and the organizing curator of the Dallas presentation. “As he says, ‘being emotional does not imply just feelings, but also a social responsibility.’ Eliasson is interested in the physical, social and political aspects of his work, and for this reason he tries to narrate experiences and produce reactions in the viewer,” de Corral continues. “As visitors to this exhibition will see, for Eliasson, the viewer’s experience is important, and here, the title tells us more about that experience: Take your time refers to ‘the time the viewer decides to invest in looking at the work of art, and the time that the work of art engages the viewer and makes him/her stay to experience it.’”

Eliasson is among the most influential and widely acclaimed artists of his generation. From light-filled environments to walk-in kaleidoscopes, his uniquely participatory works offer alluring spaces that harness optical cognition and meteorological elements, examine the intersection of nature and science, and explore the boundary between the organic and artificial.

For more information, click here.

The Dallas Morning News has published a story by Andrew D. Smith about AT&T’s relocation from San Antonio to Dallas, and the effect this may have on the Dallas economy—particularly in areas of art and culture. Based on AT&T’s record of generosity in San Antonio, the story speculates as to the possibilities for Dallas:

Cultural institutions could reap more direct benefits. In just the last couple of years, AT&T has given well over $10 million to such groups in San Antonio.

Here in Dallas, several major cultural groups are looking for big donations to complete ambitious projects in the Arts District and Victory Park.

The Perot Museum of Nature & Science, for example, still must raise tens of millions of dollars to meet its $155 million goal.

Click here for the complete story.

Visitors to the Amon Carter Museum can embark on a captivating visual adventure this fall in a special exhibition of paintings and drawings by Alfred Jacob Miller (1810–1874), the first American artist to journey into the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Sentimental Journey: The Art of Alfred Jacob Miller, on view September 20, 2008–January 11, 2009, features more than 85 works that offer firsthand depictions of the Lakota, Shoshone, Nez Perces, and other American Indian societies, as well as the last of the fur trappers and traders of the nineteenth-century American West.

Admission to all special exhibitions at the Amon Carter Museum is free.

“Miller took the people and scenery he encountered on his 1837 trip to the Rocky Mountains and created paintings with many layers of meaning out of seemingly simple western genre scenes, giving them intangible qualities such as mood and emotion,” said Lisa Strong, guest curator of the exhibition and author of the exhibition’s companion publication. “In doing this, he produced images that were more innovative and compelling than those of many of his peers working in the West or the East.”

“The title of this exhibition, though it may remind people of the popular song, was carefully chosen,” added Rick Stewart, the museum’s senior curator of western painting and sculpture. “During Miller’s lifetime, sentimentalism was an important means of identifying, inspiring, or guiding moral action. Sentiments are feelings guided by thoughts. This exhibition will demonstrate how Miller was not only interested in depicting western subjects, but also portraying them through the filter of his own nineteenth-century sensibilities as an artist.”

As Miller’s paintings communicate different stories, ideas and feelings, Sentimental Journey will offer visitors a multilayered experience: a compelling opportunity to follow Miller’s escapades in the American West with his patron, Scottish aristocrat and adventurer Sir William Drummond Stewart; a view into the ironic parallels between America’s emerging national identity during the 19th century and that of the Scottish highlander identity; an insight into the life and career of an artist of the American West whose name is less well-known and whose career is less understood than some of his contemporaries; and the story of a great visual artist as a commercially successful businessman, who painted a limited repertoire of western subjects again and again in a changing artistic style that remained relevant and appealing to successive audiences during his lifetime.

Visit the Amon Carter Museum for more.

Guidelive has provided a list of upcoming concerts for the month of August:

JOHN MAYER, COLBIE CAILLAT, BRETT DENNEN Aug. 1 at 7:30 at Superpages.com Center. $35.50-$59.50. Ticketmaster.

TED NUGENT Aug. 2 at 10:30 at Billy Bob’s Texas, Fort Worth. $15 and $35. Ticketmaster or 817-624-7117.

OZZFEST 2008 Aug. 9 at Pizza Hut Park. Time TBA. Prices TBA. Ticketmaster.

YES Aug. 9 at 8 at Superpages.com Center. $10-$149.50. Ticketmaster.

SONNY LANDRETH Aug. 9 at House of Blues’ Cambridge Room. Doors at 7. $20. Ticketmaster.

NEEDTOBREATHE Aug. 10 at House of Blues’ Cambridge Room. Doors at 7. $10. Ticketmaster.

FULL BLOWN CHAOS, SHAI HULUD Aug. 12 at 7:30 at the Door’s Main Stage. $12. 214-742-3667 or www.thedoorclubs.com.

WEDNESDAY 13 Aug. 14 at Lola’s, Fort Worth. Doors at 7. $12.50 advance, $14 day of show. Ticketmaster.

ROGER CREAGER Aug. 14 at 8 at Glass Cactus. Free. 817-778-2800 or www.967thetwister.com.

SHERYL CROW, JAMES BLUNT, TOOTS & THE MAYTALS Aug. 15 at 7 at Superpages.com Center. $15-$75. Ticketmaster.

MELISSA ETHERIDGE Aug. 15 at 8 at Nokia Theatre, Grand Prairie. $39-$104. Ticketmaster.

UB40 Aug. 16 at House of Blues’ Music Hall. Doors at 8. $42.50-$87.50. Ticketmaster.

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND Aug. 16 at 7 at Superpages.com Center. $40 and $70. Ticketmaster.

NINE INCH NAILS Aug. 18 at 7:30 at American Airlines Center. $29.50-$54.50. Ticketmaster.

THE DERAILERS Aug. 21 at 8 at Glass Cactus. Free. 817-778-2800 or www.967thetwister.com.

JUDAS PRIEST, HEAVEN AND HELL, MOTÖRHEAD, TESTAMENT Aug. 22 at 5:30 at Superpages.com Center. $25-$125. Ticketmaster.

CHRIS CAGLE Aug. 22 at Cowboys Red River. Doors at 7. Price TBA. 214-352-1796.

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS, STEVE WINWOOD Aug. 27 at 7:30 at American Airlines Center. $55-$99.Ticketmaster.

LADY ANTEBELLUM Aug. 28 at 8 at Glass Cactus. Free. 817-778-2800 or www.967thetwister.com.

THE OCTOPUS PROJECT Aug. 28 at Lola’s, Fort Worth. Doors at 9. $12. Front Gate Tickets.

SETH WALKER Aug. 30 at 8:30 at House of Blues’ Cambridge Room. $10. Ticketmaster.

THE GIPSY KINGS Aug. 31-Sept. 1 at 7:30 at the Meyerson. $40-$140. 214-692-0203 or www.dallassymphony.com.

The Dallas Observer has announced the winners of the 20th annual Dallas Observer Music Awards. The big winner was country band Eleven Hundred Springs, who won four awards: Best Band, Best Album, Best Country/Roots Act and Best Male Vocalist.

Here they are:

Other winners include:

• Best Song: “Slow Southern Home” —Doug Burr

• Best Hard Rock Act: The Backsliders

• Best Rap/Hip-Hop Act: Astronautalis

Head over to DallasObserver.com for the complete list.

The Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas (CADD) announce the opening of CADD Art Lab, an exciting new contemporary art venue located in downtown Dallas. CADD Art Lab will open to the public on Saturday, September 20 at 1608 Main Street with an all-day event, Open House: In the Lab, presented by DOWNTOWNDALLAS, from 11:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.

CADD Art Lab is designed to serve the art community as an exhibition space and as a center for programs on contemporary art. CADD Art Lab will focus on developing and presenting innovative educational programs designed for artists, collectors, museum professionals, and the cultural community of Dallas. The 4,000 square-foot venue will feature six thematic curated group exhibitions a year drawn from the eleven CADD member galleries: And/Or Gallery, Barry Whistler Gallery, Conduit Gallery, Craighead-Green Gallery, Gerald Peters Gallery, Holly Johnson Gallery, Marty Walker Gallery, PanAmerican ArtProjects, The Public Trust, Road Agent, and Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden.

On Saturday, September 20, CADD Art Lab will celebrate the opening of its doors officially with Open House: In the Lab, presented by DOWNTOWNDALLAS. Hours will be extended that day to 11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Scheduled events include an Artist Talk at 2 p.m. followed by a reception and tours throughout the day. Art Lies, the Texas-based contemporary art magazine, will be on hand to launch their Fall 2008 issue. The inaugural exhibition, “Indexing the Moment,” will run from September 20–October 30, 2008. “Indexing the Moment” explores the relationship of artists to the “contemporary” and features art from all eleven CADD member galleries.

For more information, visit Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has announced that Douglas W. Adams has been named as the DSO’s new president, and will assume his duties on September 8, 2008. Adams has been the president and CEO of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for the past six years.

“I find the chance to work with this exceptionally talented group of musicians, Music Director Jaap van Zweden and the dedicated board and staff of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra absolutely irresistible,” says Adams. “To be able to pursue this mission in Dallas, which has a demonstrated commitment to being recognized as one of the truly great cultural centers of the world, is especially rewarding.”

Under Adams’ leadership, the CSO has posted six consecutive years of in-the-black financial performance and seen an increase in ticket sales of more than 40%. The CSO’s artistic reputation has also grown under Adams’ guidance and is now recognized as one of the country’s outstanding regional symphonies. In addition, during Adams’ tenure with the CSO, he led the campaign to win voter approval of $60 million dollars in bond funds; funds slated to be used for a major renovation of Denver’s Boettcher Concert Hall and the construction of a new symphony center.

This appointment marks a homecoming for native Texan Adams, who joined the CSO after working in Dallas for many years during his 28-year career; most recently as general manager of the Dallas Symphony under former DSO President and CEO Eugene Bonelli. As general manager of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra from 1999 to 2002, Adams managed all business aspects of the orchestra and administration.

“We were thrilled with the high-caliber of candidates we interviewed from across the nation who also were very interested in leading the DSO,” said Blaine Nelson, DSO Board chair and chair of the DSO’s search committee. “But after an exhaustive search, it became clear that Doug’s experience and skill set was the perfect fit for our orchestra, staff and the Dallas community. Doug was the unanimous choice of the search committee and the executive board of the Dallas Symphony Association.”

DSO Music Director Jaap van Zweden is also looking forward to Adams’ arrival. “I am impressed by what Doug has accomplished in Denver, and I am happy that we have found someone that has such a great love for this city,” said van Zweden. “I look forward to working with him to raise the Dallas Symphony’s artistic profile locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.”

Prior to his appointment at the Dallas Symphony as general manager, Adams had a highly successful career in television. For nine years he was the president and general manager of KXAS-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth — recognized as one of the most successful television operations in the United States.

Adams’ accomplishments also include serving as president of NBC Affiliates Board; chairman of the Dallas Business Committee for the Arts; and national vice president of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He has also served on numerous boards; most notably as a member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Board of Governors and Executive Committee for ten years.

Doug Adams follows Fred Bronstein, the DSO’s former president and CEO who resigned this past February to become executive director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Since then, Sam Self, former DSO Board member and Texas Instruments executive, has been interim president & CEO.

Click here for more.

Chef Wolfgang Puck will visit the Nasher Sculpture Center on September 8 as a part of the NasherSALON 2008 Lecture Series. Puck will deliver a live cooking demonstration and an “intimate discussion.”

Visit the Nasher Sculpture Center for more.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, the exhibition that drew nearly four million visitors during its two-year, four-city tour, will return to the United States for a three-city encore tour, said the Dallas Museum of Art. Following the success of the first tour, which broke records at each of the four museums it visited in the United States from June 2005 through September 2007, the exhibition will return from its current London engagement to open at the Dallas Museum of Art in October 2008, followed by visits to two yet to be named museums.

Visit the Dallas Museum of Art for more.