Arts and Culture Texas magazine • June 2 2026

New and Now: Jaime Castañeda’s inaugural Dallas Theater Center season is packed with premieres

Jaime Castañeda is on the phone again. It’s early, but the new artistic director of Dallas Theater Center has been up since before dawn, already deep in conversation with playwrights, reading literally hundreds of scripts, and fine-tuning the details of his inaugural season. This is how he’s spent his days since taking the job in early 2026: chasing stories and shaping a lineup that entertains, yes, but also encourages conversation.
For Castañeda, the season also represents a homecoming of sorts...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • May 26 2026

From Beethoven to Batman: Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra plans a season of innovation

The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra has long been a cornerstone of North Texas’ cultural landscape, but under the leadership of music director Robert Spano and principal guest conductor Dame Jane Glover, the ensemble has transformed into one of the most innovative orchestras in the country. The 2026-27 season doubles down on this vision with a symphonic series that’s as intellectually stimulating as it is entertaining, bolstered by programs designed to welcome new audiences and engage all the sens...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • May 19 2026

The Art of Movement: TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND’s new season journeys through time and across continents

With more than 615 performances, featuring artists from over 42 countries, and 180 debut events since its founding in the 1980s, TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND continues to redefine what it means to experience dance in North Texas.
“Artistic excellence is the deciding factor for who we bring to Dallas,” says executive and artistic director Charles Santos. “Every company in the coming season is so exciting and different, and there is something so uniquely powerful about sharing a live moment. It can be cath...

Iconic Life magazine • May 12 2026

Quiet Luxury in Southampton: Inside a Sanctuary by LTA Interiors

The owners of this 10,000-square-foot Southampton, New York, new-build came to LTA Interiors with a clear vision: they wanted a home that reflected the relaxed elegance of its beach setting without ever feeling themed or overly formal. No nautical stripes, no seashell décor, no “beach house” vibes, just a serene, almost spa-like retreat that also functioned as a comfortable family home. “The owners wanted the home to feel unique and reflective of its beach setting while still being striking an...

Iconic Life magazine • April 29 2026

Atelier Noir in Scottsdale | This Desert Modern Home Redefines Luxury Living

When architect Erik Peterson of PHX ARCHITECTURE first encountered the vacant lot at the base of the McDowell Mountains, he saw something others had missed. The cul-de-sac parcel, long dismissed as unbuildable due to its tight confines and surrounding homes, presented a puzzle: How could a residence claim both privacy and panoramic views, all while embracing the desert’s stark, sculptural allure?The answer is Atelier Noir, a custom home that redefines modern desert living in Scottsdale’s exclusi...

Iconic Life magazine • April 23 2026

Casa Bajada: A Study in Texture, Light and Desert Luxury

Casa Bajada is a study in contrast. The 4,845-square-foot desert residence in Indian Wells, Calif., is where the raw beauty of the surrounding landscape meets the refined boldness of Aimee Meisgeier’s design vision. The founder of AM Interior Design approached the complete renovation of this modern Spanish-style home and casita with a singular ambition: to create a retreat for guests that feels deeply personal and effortlessly sophisticated, a place where every space is imbued with intention and...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • April 16 2026

Living in the Sacred Moment: Austin Opera’s 2026-27 season honors heritage, innovation, and empathy

With the world premiere of a locally nurtured opera, the debut of a new performance center, and a season that weaves together tradition and contemporary storytelling, Austin Opera is redefining what it means to be a cultural force in Texas.
For Annie Burridge, Austin Opera’s general director & CEO, Ofrenda represents the culmination of years of intentional partnership with Austin’s Latine community. “It began with a friendship — our relationship with the Mexican Consulate in Austin,” Burridge sa...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • April 16 2026

Your Move, Partner: Bombshell Dance Project whisks audiences to the Wild West and Flower Mound Arts Festival

Step into Sons of Hermann Hall this April 24 and 25, and you won’t just watch a dance performance — you’ll dodge bullets, outrun outlaws, and untangle a Wild West mystery as Bombshell Dance Project turns Dallas’s oldest saloon into a living, breathing frontier town.
WEST is Bombshell’s latest foray into immersive performance, a genre the company has been exploring since their popular 2022 production of In the Conservatory with the Knife, which was produced as part of AT&T Performing Arts Center’...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • February 4 2026

A Prayer in Gold: Holy treasures make the pilgrimage to Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum

If there’s one thing Louis XIV was known for, it was opulence. The Sun King transformed Versailles into a gilded palace, adorning it inside and out in gold leaf and filling the rooms with silver furnishings. So when he and other 17th and 18th century European Catholic monarchs decided to send offerings to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, it’s no surprise that these treasures were masterfully crafted from gold and silver, woven with rare silks and damask, and encrusted with precious...

Inspired Intermedia • January 24 2026

Masters of Landscape Lighting (editing only)

Witness an inspiring array of amazing outdoor environments—all imagined and lit by the nation's leading outdoor lighting designers.

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • January 19 2026

Homecoming: Jaime Castañeda returns to lead Dallas Theater Center

Since its founding in 1959, Dallas Theater Center has been led by only five artistic directors: Paul Baker, Adrian Hall, Ken Bryant, Richard Hamburger, and Kevin Moriarty. Now the Tony Award-winning regional theater can add one more name to the list: Jaime Castañeda, who officially assumes the position in July 2026.
“It’s been a whirlwind, but right now my mind’s on the art,” he says. “In the midst of all these interviews, we only have a short window to confirm the upcoming season.”
Castañeda ca...

Iconic Life magazine • December 23 2025

Modern Desert Home Design: A Stone-Clad Arizona Retreat Blending Architecture, Warmth & Timeless Style

The first thing you notice is the stone wall. It begins at the entry, extending uninterrupted through the dining room and into the kitchen, transforming seamlessly into the backsplash. In the primary suite, it reappears as a backdrop, grounding the interiors with organic permanence.  For interior designer Kristin Hazen, of Kristin Hazen Design, this single architectural gesture is the heart of this custom-built Arizona retreat. “It’s one of my favorite parts of this home,” she says. “It was th...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • December 11 2025

Head West: Contemporary artists reimagine the American West at the Amon Carter

When visitors step into New Horizons: The Western Landscape at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, they won’t find sagebrush clichés, cowboys in silhouette, or sweeping vistas painted to satisfy nostalgia. Instead, the Fort Worth museum invites audiences into a far more complicated, contemporary, and kaleidoscopic vision of the American West, one shaped by 14 living artists who approach the region as a place of memory, change, identity, and contradiction.
“This exhibition really comes from a...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • December 11 2025

All The World’s Their Stage: Teatro Dallas celebrates 40 years

In 1985, Jeff Hurst and Cora Cardona founded Teatro Dallas, the city’s first Latinx stage company. It debuted with two shows co-produced with ACAL de Mexico, and across the next four decades the married duo broadened their mission to embrace global theater. Works by literary giants—Molière, García Lorca, Cervantes, and Kafka—found their way onto Teatro Dallas’ stages, as did early career performances from some of DFW’s most notable artists: Christie Vela, associate artistic director at Theatre T...

CultureMap Dallas • November 20 2025

All the holiday pop-up bars keeping Dallas' spirits bright in 2025

The holiday pop-up season has arrived, and Dallas-Fort Worth is absolutely frosted in festive takeovers. From immersive elf villages to British ski lodges 48 stories in the sky, the region is sparkling with over-the-top decor, special-edition cocktails, and more photo ops than Santa’s workshop.Whether you love your holidays kitschy, classy, tropical, or with a Texas twist, this list has your perfect jolly pop-up. Raise a Christmaspolitan at Miracle.Photo by Melissa...

Inspired Intermedia • October 27 2025

Dream Homes (editing only)

Dream Homes takes you on a journey around the country to share the flavors and possibilities of what a dream home might be. Whether it be a suburban single-family home, an urban high-rise, or a vacation home, you will find them therein.

CultureMap Dallas • October 23 2025

Where to drink in Dallas right now: 5 diverse happy hours for October

The busy — and expensive — holiday season is just around the corner, so do your finances a favor now and seek out a new favorite happy hour (or two).This edition of Where to Drink, our monthly roundup of the best bar specials, spotlights five Dallas-area restaurants and bars that encompass a wide range of experiences, but with all of them serving drinks and deals worth toasting.Here’s where to drink in Dallas this month:Columbian Country ClubPremier cocktail lounge on Ross Avenue is now making w...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • October 19 2025

Texas Studio: Ballet Artist Silas Farley Makes the Joyful Leap to Dallas

Silas Farley likes to joke that he’s the “ultimate ballet nerd.” He says it with warmth and a hint of reverence, as if confessing a lifelong devotion to a beloved friend. From the time he was seven years old, Farley immersed himself in the history and evolution of ballet, reading voraciously and studying old performances while most kids his age were still figuring out what they liked. That sense of calling has never left him. He has lived many lives inside the art form—dancer, teacher, choreogra...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • September 30 2025

Etched in Eternity: Mythical Torlonia Collection makes its historic debut at the Kimbell

In the Kimbell Art Museum’s Renzo Piano Pavilion, 58 ancient marble sculptures—some gods, others emperors, still others ordinary Romans—stand in commanding silence, carrying with them the weight of centuries.
“It’s difficult to overstate how rare this is,” says Jennifer Casler Price, the Kimbell’s senior curator of Asian, African, and ancient American art and curator of the exhibition. “Even if you traveled to Rome, you would not see this collection. It has been largely inaccessible for decades....

CultureMap Dallas • September 19 2025

16 Dallas restaurants face off in CultureMap's Top Taco Tournament

As part of this year’s Tailgate, CultureMap’s celebration of everyone’s favorite way to get in the game-day spirit, we’re asking readers to determine the best taco spot in Dallas in our Top Taco Tournament.Picking one best taco joint out of hundreds of qualified restaurants is virtually impossible. Instead, we’ve chosen 16 favorites across a few categories.The nominees are paired up, bracket-style, to compete against each other. Readers can vote for their favorite restaurant in each matchup. The...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • September 18 2025

Texas Studio: Amanda Reyes is Working through It Onstage

On a warm Texas night, the cicadas buzz in harmony with the actors at Hip Pocket Theatre in Fort Worth. The wooden stage, tucked beneath a blanket of stars, feels more like a secret hideaway than a performance venue. It was here—surrounded by nature, magic, and community—that Amanda Reyes rediscovered her love for acting.
That sense of homecoming is something Reyes has been chasing her entire career. Born in Denton and raised in Lewisville (“home of the fighting farmers,” she laughs), Reyes grew...

Iconic Life magazine • September 16 2025

Santiago Oakes: A Luxury Orange County Ranch Home Blending Modern Design, Tradition, and Nature

At the heart of the remarkable Orange County residence known as Santiago Oakes lies something unexpected: a garage. But not just any garage — this “man cave,” built before the rest of the new home even existed, was so loved by the homeowners that it became the design touchstone for everything that followed. As principal architect Amat Tajudin of EBTA Architects explains, “The site already had a particular style started a few years ago: a barn that houses bedrooms, an automotive display, a bar...

Arts and Culture Texas magazine • September 11 2025

Sharing the Same Rhythms: Cara Mía Theatre’s Latinidades Festival Returns to Dallas

This fall, Dallas once again becomes a crossroads of Latinx voices as Cara Mía Theatre launches its 2025–26 season with the sixth-annual Latinidades Festival & Symposium. Running Sept. 27 through Oct. 12, 2025 at the Latino Cultural Center, the festival has grown into the largest international Latino theater gathering in Dallas. As Cara Mía enters its 29th season, executive artistic director David Lozano frames the festival as a vehicle for expanding Dallas’ cultural imagination, rather than onl...

CultureMap Dallas • September 4 2025

Where to drink in Dallas right now: 5 sweet happy hours for September

Wallet feeling a little empty after all that back-to-school shopping? Happy hour to the rescue. This edition of Where to Drink, our monthly roundup of the best bar specials, is here to provide you with five spots where your drinking dollars stretch a little further, especially during that magic time known as happy hour.Here's where to drink in Dallas this month:At Fault Family-owned sports bar with indoor pickleball court has a serious food program overseen by chef John Franke (Sixty Vines, Whis...