In 1930, John Ankeney, then director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (today, the Dallas Museum of Art), stated, “Nature made Dallas rich, time will make her powerful, but only art can make her great.”
His prescient words speak for the great cultural repository that is the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex today. With Fort Worth’s marketing slogan of “Cowboys and Culture” cleverly signaling the scope of the region’s cultural diversity, the world-class venues of the Dallas Arts District, including the singular AT&T Performing Arts Center, signify the area’s preeminence on the global cultural stage. Move out into the smaller cities of the Metroplex, and you will find a talented supporting cast of venues and experiences.
From restored movie palaces and old-school rodeos to historic fairgrounds and iconic ranches, the DFW Metroplex’s cultural map has coordinates galore for planners, including these 10 unmistakably Texan experiences.
1. FORT WORTH MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND HISTORY, FORT WORTH
www.fwmuseum.org
Conceived in 1939 and chartered in 1941, this Fort Worth institution is a regional leader in informal science education and engaging exhibitions focusing on Texas and the Southwest. Opened in 2009, the museum’s striking new 166,000-square-foot facility—an architectural masterwork worth the visit alone—is a rewarding location for meetings, receptions, corporate events and special occasions.
For most gatherings, the museum’s Oak Room offers a flexible, private room adjacent to the beautiful Heritage Courtyard, capable of hosting from 100 to 450 guests. With catering and event services provided by national leader Sodexo Leisure Services, the Oak Room comes “presentation-ready” with inter-connectivity, large-screen projection, integrated sound and a podium.
“From a small seated dinner under the stars in the Noble Planetarium to a large corporate party covering the entirety of the museum, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History offers a wide variety of meeting spaces to suit any event,” says Lindsay Wilson, director of sales and special events.
2. ARLINGTON MUSIC HALL, ARLINGTON
www.arlingtonmusichall.com
This classy venue in downtown Arlington opened in 1950 as a movie house and was an early showcase of balcony and theater-style seating. A true survivor of the era—many of the surrounding historic structures were torn down during the city’s urban renewal phase—the venue recently completed a major renovation. Back to its former glory, the hall forms part of Center Street Station, a new catalyst development mixing entertainment, retail, restaurants and office space.
With the original marquee preserved, the makeover included an expanded stage and state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems for the main 1,080-seat auditorium. Additional event space is available in the lobby and a 3,000-square-foot hospitality room.
“We are very nostalgic in this area, and so it has been rewarding to see this historic venue being rediscovered by groups,” says General Manager Michael Hix.
The word is clearly getting out. In addition to hosting local business meetings, country music revues and the Arlington Symphony, the hall attracts a growing number of music acts from around the U.S.
3. FAIR PARK, DALLAS
www.fairpark.org
As the city’s largest cultural center, this 277-acre complex is one gigantic architectural time capsule. Site of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Texas Republic, Fair Park today is the only intact and unaltered pre-1950s world fair site remaining in the U.S.
Boasting the world’s largest collection of 1930s Art Deco exhibit buildings, art and sculpture, the park is stunning to behold, with murals, statues, lagoons, fountains and esplanades adding to the air of outer-worldliness. Fair Park is home to the annual State Fair of Texas, where “Big Tex,” standing 52 feet tall and sporting a 75-gallon hat, welcomes visitors with his signature booming voice.
Providing more than 749,000 square feet of space for conferences, exhibits, festivals and sporting events, the park’s many beguiling venues include the Creative Arts Building, built in 1936, with 17,000 square feet of exhibition space; the Automobile Building, built in 1947; and the 20,000-seat Gexa Energy Pavilion. Built as a flour mill for the 1936 exposition, the Old Mill Inn today is available for group rental.
4. MESQUITE CHAMPIONSHIP RODEO, MESQUITE
www.mesquiteprorodeo.com
For the past 54 years, professional rodeo (under the auspices of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) has been the signature attraction in Mesquite, an increasingly attractive group destination known as the “Rodeo Capital of Texas.” Since 1986, the Mesquite ProRodeo Series, which runs every Friday and Saturday from June through August, has been held at the 5,500-seat Resistol Arena, where groups experience the excitement of bull riding, steer wrestling, team roping and other rodeo events.
“The city ends and the Wild West begins in Mesquite,” says Steve Gander, the arena’s general manager. “Groups looking to experience real Texas flavor come to the Mesquite Rodeo—it’s the most fun you can have with your boots on!”
Located next to the Mesquite Convention Center complex, the air-conditioned arena hosts entertainment events throughout the year, with ticket packages including group discounts, food and beverage all-inclusives and nightly suites. With its own entrance and attached 1,600-square-foot patio, the 8-Second Club flexibly accommodates meetings, reunions, parties and other gatherings, with Wi-Fi, seven HD televisions and an in-house audio system provided.
5. DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART
www.dallasmuseumofart.org
First conceived in the late 1970s and completed in 2009 with the opening of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, the Dallas Arts District is the driving force behind the city’s globally recognized identity as a cultural mecca. Including outstanding venues such as the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Meyerson Symphony Center and the exquisite Crow Collection of Asian Art, the vibrant 68-acre complex is anchored by the venerable Dallas Museum of Art (DMA).
Currently featuring the mesmerizing Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit on its limited North American tour, the nationally acclaimed DMA, founded in 1903, routinely features the world’s best touring art, along with its global collection of over 24,000 works of art spanning 5,000 years of human creativity.
Once housed in Fair Park, the DMA became the first arts organization in the Dallas Arts District when it opened its doors in 1984. Tours are a group must, while artful meetings and gatherings are in store at elegant spaces such as the popular Seventeen Seventeen restaurant (created by star chef Kent Rathbun) and the Horchow Auditorium, featuring state-of-the-art acoustics and theater-style seating for up to 300 guests.
6. DR PEPPER ARENA, FRISCO
www.drpepperarena.com
Having added performance capabilities via recently completed renovations and enhancements, this popular sports venue has become a leading cultural attraction in fast-growing, fun-loving Frisco. Serving as the corporate office and practice ice for the Dallas Stars NHL team, the venue also features group-ready acts such as Cirque du Soleil, currently contracted at the arena through 2013, and the Texas Legends, farm team for the current NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.
“The Dr Pepper Arena has become recognized as an excellent venue for premiere entertainment, sporting events, trade shows and conventions in the North Texas area,” says Ed Reusch, vice president of the arena. “With flexible seating for groups up to 6,000, two attached parking garages, 12 luxury suites, a private club, state-of-the art audio and video capabilities and the ability to produce events as diverse as a Cirque du Soleil performance to a convention general session, the Dr Pepper Arena’s prime location in Frisco makes it the perfect venue for just about any event.”
7. IRVING ARTS CENTER, IRVING
www.irvingartscenter.com
Opened in 1990, this Smithsonian-affiliated performing and fine arts venue features two fully equipped theaters, four galleries and meeting, classroom, reception and rehearsal facilities on a picturesque 10-acre complex in the heart of the Metroplex. Hosting more than 200 events and 20 rotating exhibitions each year, the welcoming center has an irresistible philosophy when it comes to meetings and events: The use of its Wi-Fi-ready facility is limited only by the imagination.
Exemplifying this approach is the verdant sculpture garden, complete with flowing fountains, and The Carpenter Performance Hall, seating more than 700 and offering attention-getting special effects for presentations. The center’s signature special event space, Suite 200, features hardwood floors and doors that open to the Main Gallery. Accommodating up to 200 seated guests or 300 guests for standing receptions, the room also opens onto a beautifully landscaped interior courtyard, available in conjunction with rentals of 200 Suite.
8. SOUTHFORK RANCH, PARKER
www.southfork.com
Who can forget J.R. Ewing and the other characters of “supersoap” Dallas, which ran over 356 episodes in the U.S. from 1978 to 1991 and lives on in syndication around the world? Legendary, too, is the show’s shooting location, Southfork Ranch, which rapidly became a visitor attraction as the show’s profile and popularity soared. As requests for tours and events surged in, Southfork was converted into a full-time tourist attraction and event location in 1985, with its signature white mansion opened to the public and a 63,000-square-foot conference and event center built to accommodate special events and functions.
Along with the Dallas Cowboys, Southfork, just minutes from Plano Centre, remains a defining icon of the Texas cultural experience. Hosting more than 1,400 events each year, the award-winning venue includes 10 ballrooms and over 300 acres of ranchland for tours, team building and other group activities. Parties here are especially fun. In addition to the expected Western-style events, the Southfork team has regaled attendees from 10 to 2,000 with themes ranging from the Roaring Twenties to the Oil Barons’ Ball.
9. NATIONAL COWGIRL MUSEUM AND HALL OF FAME, FORT WORTH
www.cowgirl.net
In 1975, a group of visionary women in the Texas Panhandle community of Hereford began exhibiting memorabilia devoted to the largely overlooked women whose courage, resilience and independence helped shape the American West. Originally housed in a cramped library basement, the collection steadily grew in size and importance, and in 2002 moved to a new home in the heart of Fort Worth’s Cultural District.
Today, this vibrant 33,000-square-foot facility is an enlightening choice for tours and gatherings. Featuring dazzling optical technology that animates honorees including Dale Evans, Georgia O’Keefe and El Paso-born Sandra Day O’Connor, the “first lady of the U.S. Supreme Court,” the light-filled rotunda of the Hall of Fame is an inspiring setting for receptions, parties and corporate functions. Events can also be staged in the galleries and Spirit of the Cowgirl Theater, with access provided to the venue’s Western gift store.
With reservations required for all groups, the museum offers docent-guided tours for groups of 15 or more.
10. PALACE ARTS CENTER, GRAPEVINE
www.grapevinetexasusa.com/heritage/palacetheatre
A showcase for the performing arts in festive Grapevine, this Art Deco gem, originally the Palace Theatre, has been a prominent mainstay of the historic city’s Main Street since 1940. Threatened with closure in 1991, the venue was acquired by Grapevine Heritage Foundation and saved from demolition. Today, the newly restored state-of-the-art venue, located just minutes from DFW International Airport, is a flexible, multiuse facility with over 15,000 square feet of event and entertainment space. Featuring 435 seats and a spacious stage area for performances and the visual arts, the balconied theater also provides a memorable turn-of-the-20th-century atmosphere for events.
Regular contributor Jeff Heilman’s coverage of Texas for Meetings Focus South includes writing the annual Meetings Focus Texas supplement.
