Artopia 2014 Is Coming. Here’s How To Score Those Pre-Sale Tickets.

Hey, you love the arts. Well we do too, and that’s why we throw Artopia, a massive immersive experience celebrating those creative people shaping Dallas’ exciting new era. Also, there’s booze. You’re welcome. One ticket gets you access to runway shows by local designers, food and drink stations, live music…

A Weekend With Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman likes red meat. This much is clear. The lines between him and the comic creation Ron Swanson, one of the most consistently funny sitcom characters ever made, are distinctly blurred. Both are huge fans of woodworking. Both enjoy self-sufficiency. Both would rather there were less government encroachment into…

Dear Artists: The Dallas Observer Is Giving Away Money

The Dallas Observer just opened nominations for its annual Masterminds competition. We’re passing out a total of $6,000 in no-strings-attached cash to driven Dallas County residents who are making a difference through film, visual arts, dance, fashion, performance, theater and other non-music avenues of expression. We’re looking for people who…

The 11 Best Photos from Art Con 9

Art Con 9 hit a cultural tipping point this year, attracting thousands of Dallas residents to a warehouse on Singleton Boulevard. DJs Sarah Jaffe and emptycylinder kept the collective heart rate up between auctions rounds while headliners Zhora and New Fumes circulated their own energies through the front of the…

Nine Reasons Why Art Con 9 Is Saturday’s Best Party

This Saturday night Dallas gets more inventive, thanks to a little shindig called Art Con 9. Organized by a legion of do-gooders, the event unites the city’s fringe in an unassuming warehouse at 500 Singleton Blvd. That space has been converted into a fleeting party venue where a few thousand…

Five Reasons Garrison Keillor’s Stories are Better Than Your Grandpa’s

On Saturday nights for a couple hours, the good old days still exist on National Public Radio. For nearly 30 years, Garrison Keillor’s old-fashioned variety show A Prairie Home Companion has transported its listeners to a simpler time with musical performances from American folk musicians, celebrity guests from the literary…

The Best Man Holiday Brings Back the Black Ensemble Comedy

From the mid-1990s to somewhere around 2006, Hollywood bankrolled a number of romantic entertainments targeted to — though not made exclusively for — black audiences. Pictures like Love Jones, Brown Sugar, How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Something New provided a showcase for actors of color, a refreshing change…