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A local art enthusiast takes a close-up look at Andy Warhol's Self Portrait, part of the collection at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
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A bowlegged buckaroo, wearing skintight, dark Wranglers and a wide-brimmed Stetson, cranes his neck to study Andy Warhol's 1986 Self Portrait, which is edgy and neon green. Sound like a Hollywood movie scene? It's not. It's the new Fort Worth.
Known as the city "Where the West Begins," Fort Worth has long mastered bovine bartering and rodeo roping. In recent years, though, this Texas Cowtown has added fine arts to its repertoire. Today, it's freshwater pearls and suede chaps. Here a John Deere knocks rearview mirrors with a shiny new Mercedes-Benz as cowboys and high culture join.
You can still see evidence of the city's historic origins in the Stockyards, an intersection of 19th-century stock pens. That legacy endures at the Stockyards Championship Rodeo, hosted by the Cowtown Coliseum every Friday and Saturday night. And at Billy Bob's Texas, "the world's largest honky-tonk," people daily celebrate the fact that it's okay for your babies to grow up to be cowboys.
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Emilie and Tim Love, owners of Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, serve up everything from vegetarian dishes to hand-cut steaks.
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But something else, something fresh, is blowing in the air. Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, around the corner from the Stockyards, offers dolled up Western vittles. Chef Tim Love adds decidedly uptown touches to his dishes of buffalo, beef, lamb, and even kangaroo. And nowadays even a nonconforming vegetarian can survive in the town that once centered around carnivorous dining.
Yep, in the past decade or so, Cowtown has exploded into a cultural phenomenon. Much of the credit for the area's change goes to the Bass family, prominent Texans who spearheaded the development of Sundance Square, currently a 20-block stretch of restored 19th-century structures that first opened in the early eighties.
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Sculptor Marton Varo's two trumpet-playing angels grace the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall.
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Named for Butch Cassidy's famous sidekick, Sundance Square is the hub of downtown Fort Worth, where folks go to shop, dine, and be entertained. Much of the entertainment takes place in the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall, an opera, symphony, ballet, and music house of stunning beauty. Drawn by a healthy offering of loft apartments surrounding Sundance Square, plenty of locals live in this hip, walkable, friendly area.
The other spark for the city's transformation? Fort Worth's museums--all 14 of them. Among those, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth just reopened in a 153,000-square-foot structure. From the granite
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Friends meet after work on the top balcony of Fort Worth's Reata restaurant.
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staircase and the concrete walls to the outdoor pond that reflects Zenlike shadows, the structure is a powerful example of Japanese architecture. It is, frankly, a work of art that happens to house other works of art.
The winds of change also blew in the new National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, where you can learn all about female pioneers. Not a bit stuffy, this place is a fun addition to the mélange of local museums.
"The revitalization of Fort Worth has been a slow and steady process, but one that has been exciting for all involved," says Mayor Mike Moncrief. "And sure, you'll see a longhorn being led through the streets, but you'll also view the world's finest art here. We really are a city of both cowboys and culture."
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For additional information, visit an Insiders' Guide to the Urban South for each city.
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