New “gay guard” paving way for Dallas arts scene

by Arnold Wayne Jones of Dallas Voice

For many arts patrons, the first time they believed that Dallas’ long-planned expanded Downtown Arts District was going to be a reality was in 2005: that moment when the wrecking ball swung into the Dallas Theater Center’s permanently-temporary downtown performance space. From that groundbreaking would arise the Winspear Opera House, the Wyly Theatre and tons more infrastructure that would turn the Woodall-Rodgers corridor into the country’s premier cultural destination.

Few at the time would have imagined that long before the district was up and running, many of Dallas’ most prominent arts leaders would step down. 2007 saw the departure of Richard Hamburger (artistic director, Dallas Theater Center), Tim Seelig (artistic director, the Turtle Creek Chorale) and Karen Stone (general director, the Dallas Opera). The Dallas Museum of Art’s director, John R. Lane, also announced his intention to retire in May of 2008. And following music director Andrew Litton’s departure, Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s president said earlier this month he will soon take a position with the St. Louis Orchestra.

All of which means, on the cusp of what can only be called an arts revolution of a size fitting Texas, those who had led the city to the precipice were moving on. And that means the arts community has looked to new blood to lead the way to the future.

“That makes us the old guard,” jokes Kevin Moriarty (who in September took over Hamburger’s position at the DTC), referring to himself and Jonathan Palant (the new artistic director for the chorale).

Moriarty is kidding, of course. Collectively, he and Palant have been on the job for less than nine months. The men they replaced had been at the reins for 35 years combined. It’s a realization that makes Palant and Moriarty both blink with astonishment. But it is not a fact that seems to daunt them.

In the short time that they’ve been in Dallas — both were newcomers to Texas until this summer — Palant and Moriarty have immersed themselves in the community. In a rehearsal room of the Kalita Humphreys Theater a few days before Christmas, they sat down to discuss the challenges they face and their hopes for the future of the North Texas arts scene.

Dallas Voice: What’s it like stepping into someone else’s shoes at the same time you learn your organization and the city itself?

Palant: For me it’s not been about stepping into someone’s shoes — Tim has left a legacy and is a city legend. It’s about putting my shoes next to his. The challenge is to make my shoes similar in shape but different in style.

What was exciting for me was when I was forced to compose a season, which we are now implementing — that’s a trial by fire. Kevin gets to learn about his organization and the needs of the community before doing anything.

Moriarty: Yes, I’m not only watching the Dallas Theater Center, but I get to see the opera, the symphony, the chorale, the DMA. And I can watch Dallas respond to the other artistic leaders.

DV: What’s your toughest duty?

Moriarty: The real challenging part of our jobs in running these amazing organizations is reaching out to the community. And in a city the size of Dallas, growing like it is and with the Arts District coming on line, that has to include a whole new generation. It’s a great opportunity but also an obligation to connect with many segments of the community, to let them know, “This is for everybody.”

DV: How important will the Arts District be in reaching out to the community?

Palant: In education, there is a philosophy that interdisciplinary learning provides the best education — the student gets well rounded if the science and math teachers work together with the English and civics teachers. To see Kevin and the opera get a new home, and for TITAS to be the number two resident at the opera house — that benefits the entire arts community.

Moriarty: Yes. If we were going to open a restaurant or a clothing store, it would be difficult if we were surrounded by a field with no other businesses in sight. But if we move into the West Village, that benefits not just us but the consumer — he can go get something to eat and shop and see a show in the same place. The Arts District will be like that. It has been a vision for a long, long time. It’s now the task of the new leaders to take that vision and connect with our audiences.

DV: Jonathan, you established your mission in your first concert here, “Generation 2 Generation.” Since you had to decide on your season before you moved to Dallas, is there anything you would have done differently now that you’re here?

Palant: No. These are the concerts always I would have done musically, to give back the city utilizing the city’s talents and resources. I think the season so far has been the right level of brains and heart — as opposed to head and heart.

Moriarty: The great art forms have always, at their best, been specific in trying to find something universal. A fresco on the wall of a 16th Century cathedral made when the Catholic Church controlled everything can still speak to a modern American atheist. And the role of Dallas’ arts leaders has to be to find that. Part of our lives are as gay men: If we tell those stories well, it supplies the connection between us all — the joys and pains of life and relationships, whether gay or straight, white or African-American...

DV: Despite their similarities, I wonder whether your organizations have different challenges in terms of attracting those audiences.

Moriarty: The world has changed — for the arts and for gay men.

Palant: Totally changed. What was progressive [when the Chorale started 28 years ago] meets what is progressive now. As gay men, we’ve come full circle. It was really a quiet subject back then; then it became a vocal subject during the AIDS crisis. Now, we’re a concept people are kind of used to. We’re here, but it’s not the same fight — it’s proving to your neighbor that we’re just like you.

DV: That sounds like the chorale is trying to attract the straight community to add to your gay base. The DTC must be doing the opposite.

Moriarty: I was told before I came here that Dallas’ gay community was great but the gay community and the arts community are different. The arts in Dallas are not consciously built on the shoulders of the gay community. For instance, we don’t currently have any gay members on our board of trustees. Arts on the East Coast — whether you’re talking about Broadway or the Metropolitan Opera or the New York City Ballet — is largely built around gay culture. So one of the many segments we are targeting to develop is the gay community. We want to point out that [the Wyly Theatre] is literally a glass building, completely transparent and permeable.

DV: What’s your greatest competition for reaching out to people — apathy, money, iPods?

Palant: It’s TV — really, the ease of staying home and ordering pizza and watching something familiar. We’re seeking out people who need their “fix” of the Turtle Creek Chorale.

Moriarty: We have two challenges. One, we need to be specific and clear and proud of who we are so that the audience can form a relationship with us. If we don’t know who we are, how can they? Two, we need, together, to create an opposition to the lethargy that can set in with urban sprawl. We need to build civic muscles. People need to be asking themselves, “What am I going to do tonight?” instead of the automatic assumption that at 7 they’ll be going home and will be in their pajamas by 8.

DV: How do you do that?

Palant: You have to grow with your audience. It’s the adage you can’t put the cart before the horse. [Arts leaders] have to be the horse, keeping the reins very short. But you never want to stray too far, or you’ll swerve and the cart will fall off the road.

DV: As Dallas newcomers, what’s your impression of the health of its arts community?

Moriarty: The most important thing is to keep your eye on the future with your feet in the present while letting the past gracefully fall behind you. One thing I think is fortunate for us is something that seems to be built into the city: The community is always looking ahead. People have said to me a lot since I arrived, “We’re excited to see where you want to go, and want you to find your voice.” The city has its eye on the future. In New England, where I spent the last six years, the weight of history is on you — I was expected to “carry on the traditions.” Here, it’s more, “What are you gonna do?”

Palant: We’re in the heyday of arts for Dallas. The foundations are in place, laid by Richard and Tim, and others. It’s up to us to build on them.