Dallas Contemporary has had a rough go of late. There were the problems with postponing the opening due to little thing like a city permit. Then there was the air conditioning. Or, rather the lack of an air-conditioning system. And finally there was the stepping aside of its leader Joan Davidow that had many wondering, “What the heck is going on there?” and, “Is it going to survive?”
Well, Thursday night all the problems of the past seemed to be history and the question of DC’s future was looking more promising than Jackson Pollock of the 1940’s. The occasion was the Contemporary Legends 2010 Grand Event honoring Joan Davidow, who had mother-henned the venture through various stages for decades.
One skeptic called a few days ahead and was reassured that the AC was in place and blowing. If you don’t understand the concern, you haven’t been to the former gargantuan space sans artificial air. But, yes, the AC was going full steam ahead for the hundreds that arrived on the scene and what a scene it was.
All the be’s and wannabe’s of the Dallas art community were there. Joyce Goss in a great raspberry top was front and center assuring friends that the opening of the relocated Goss-Michael Foundation was on schedule for a November opening. . . . Billie Leigh Rippey just barely made it to the party having just returned from the planning launch of the Red Cross Tiffany Circle in Houston. She had been comparing notes with Houston to-be-counterpart Bobbie Nau. The name of Joanne Herring as honorary chair of the chapter was part of the mix, too. . . . Michael “Mike” Thompson opted to get in the swing of things by wearing a tail. Why, oh why, does the expression, “Don’t ask, don’t tell” seem to apply to this situation?. . . Jeanne Marie Clossey (pictured left with, from the left, Allen Questrom and David Nichols) looking younger than ever (perhaps it’s the tan and freckles. Boy, can she wear those freckles!) admitted that since chairing the Performing Arts Center launch, she had gone under the radar. When confronted that she needed to roll up her couture sleeves and fundraise again, she admitted that she was worn out from fundraising and was seriously thinking about getting back to the grassroots of teaching. Lucky students!!. . . Veletta Forsythe Lill reported that she had just held her first public hearing on mobile food trucks and “was very encouraged.”
After eyeballing some of the works by Kit Reisch (pictured) and chowing down on food from around the world, the program took place with the likes of chair Laura Boekman, past Legend recipient Kelli Questrom and sculptor Frances Bagley. Joan’s husband Stuart Glass stole the show with a love fest and a slight twist of the tongue. He told the crowd that their loss was his gain. Now under normal circumstances, that would be perfectly normal. Duh. But at one point in the evening a speaker asked the 450 to applaud if they loved Joan. It was noted that a uncomfortable number of hands stayed in their laps. They must have been newcomers to the art world and guests of the old-timers.
Rawlins says
Ouch.