We kicked off The Dallas Opera’s new casual series of pre-season events, “Figaro in Flip-Flops” with a lovely opening event for Board Members and Trustees at One Arts Plaza, the presenting sponsor of this special series. It took place on a breezy, sunny summer evening on the edge of the Downtown Arts District and, from the extraordinary perspective of a balcony adjoining the elegant residence where the event took place, we were able to look straight down upon the site of the new Dallas Center for the Performing Arts: The already gorgeous Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, the exciting Wyly Theater which will house the Dallas Theater Center, and the spaces that will become the sites of plazas, squares and smaller venues – each speaking to different needs of the community and the artists who call Dallas home.
The sound of the wind muffled the strains of the lovely Steinway Grand playing inside. I felt very small and insignificant gazing down at these monumental structures stretching past Cathedral Guadalupe and the Nasher Sculpture Center to the DMA. Yet, in the next moment, I was moved by the thought that in a world with many uncertainties and troubles, the people of North Texas continue to believe in the future; a future for ourselves and our children and grandchildren made brighter and better by the inclusion of music, theater and art.
Perhaps “saving civilization” is a task best practiced close to home, by making a genuine effort to support, appreciate, and understand the messages and meaning of the arts in our own lives. If we can manage to do this, we won’t have to bend over backwards to sell our ideas to others….They’ll sell themselves.
Suzanne Calvin, Assoc. Dir. of Marketing, The Dallas Opera
