Coronavirus on Canvas

Poignant Sundance Square art display recalls what 'the new normal' looked like one year ago

Jay Wilkinson, “PPE,” 2020, acrylic on canvas

PPE by Jay Wilkinson, acrylic on canvas.

Photo courtesy of Fine Line Group

In late April 2020 — with COVID-19 cases skyrocketing, businesses and arts venues shut down, and no vaccine in sight — Fort Worth benefactors Edward and Sasha Bass and their partners launched a groundbreaking $100,000 initiative to support struggling Fort Worth artists. Called "The New Normal: An Artist's Response to COVID-19," the funding's aim was to help local visual artists "get back to work and support community healing" by creating works that reflect their experience living through the pandemic.

Exactly one year later, the results of those efforts are now on display to the public in Sundance Square.

“Strolling Sundance,” a pop-up, walkable outdoor gallery in downtown Fort Worth, is showcasing the works of the Fort Worth artists who collectively won $100,000 in grants, now through May 28.

There were 43 recipients of stipends in the amount of $5,000 or $2,000. Winners of the top award, $5,000, included some familiar names in Fort Worth art and photography circles: painter Ariel Davis, photographer Tony Drewry, painter DJ Perera, sculptor Bernardo Vallarino, painter Jay Wilkinson, and photographer Donnie Williams.

The exhibit includes more than 50 artistic works of sculpture, painting, drawing, mixed media, photography, and video.

The pieces are poignant reminders of the collective human experience at the height of the pandemic — with some social and political commentary sprinkled in. There's Sarah Ayala's "cake" that reads, "Let them eat $1,200;" Marshall Harris' portrait in which eyes are replaced by pencils in the familiar shape of COVID-19 particles; Maryann Brummer's painting of an absolutely desolate city street.

“The Sundance Stroll is a public invitation for all ages to visit downtown and enjoy the creativity of our extremely talented local artist community,” said Bill Boecker, president of Sundance Square Management, in a statement. “Of course, we are not out of the COVID-19 woods yet, but strolling this outdoor gallery of art is safe for families."

The Alice L. Walton Foundation, the Donny Wiley Memorial Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation, and Kit and Charlie Moncrief were the Basses' partners on the program. It was administered by Gallery of Dreams, a Fort Worth nonprofit arts organization established by Lauren Childs of Fort Works Art.

Fort Worth applicants aged 21 and up submitted written proposals, including a statement of need demonstrating loss of income due to the COVID-19 crisis. A panel of eight influential leaders from Fort Worth's most prestigious museums then managed the selection process.

A survey commissioned by Americans for the Arts early in the pandemic found that as many as two-thirds of artists in the U.S. were without income due to COVID-19 (a figure that no doubt grew substantially in the ensuing months), making it one of the hardest-hit professions in the country. "The New Normal" initiative proclaimed to be the first of its kind in the U.S.

"We believe this is a powerful antidote to the isolation, fear, and uncertainty communities may be experiencing during this time," Sasha Bass said at the time it was announced. "Through the lens of the artist's eye, we can heal together as one."

The walking tour can be found on sidewalks along Houston and Third streets. Background information on the displaying artists, as well as parking information, can be found on Sundance Square’s website.

For a complete list of grant recipients and samples of the winning works, visit www.newnormalfw.com.

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Ancient Sculpture News

Fort Worth museum one of only 3 in U.S. to get rare sculpture exhibit

Lorenzo di Masi/Torlonia Collection

The Torlonia Nile

A major exhibition of ancient Roman masterworks is coming to the U.S. for the first time to be viewed at only three museums — including the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

Called Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection, it's an assemblage of works stewarded by the Torlonia Family beginning in the early-19th century, and will be installed at the Kimbell from September 14, 2025 – January 25, 2026.

As part of the Foundation’s mission to showcase these historical works to the public, the exhibition will premiere at the Art Institute of Chicago on March 15 through June 29, before traveling to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. Its third stop will be at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, from March 14 - July 19, 2026.

The Torlonia Collection was established during the course of the 19th century by the Franco-Italian banker Prince Giovanni Torlonia and his son Alessandro, then handed down over generations, eventually growing into the largest private collection of ancient Roman sculptures.

Today, the Torlonia Foundation represents the culmination of the Family’s continued passion for art. Created at the behest of Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1925–2017), the Foundation’s mission is to preserve and promote the Torlonia Collection and Villa Albani Torlonia.

In 1876, Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1800-1886) created a museum to house and exhibit the Family’s holdings, which was open to small groups until its closure at the onset of World War II. The sculptures remained unseen by the public from that time until the Foundation’s first exhibition at the Musei Capitolini in Rome in 2020. That was followed by a stint at the Louvre, the first presentation of the collection outside of Rome, where it has drawn more than 600,000 visitors to date, an unprecedented feat.

The exhibit
The curators of Myth & Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection are Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff of the Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition is co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, in collaboration with the Kimbell Art Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and The Museum Box. All of the sculptures in the exhibition have been restored by the Foundation with the support of Bvlgari.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue co-published by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, edited by Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff, with essays by Silvia Beltrametti and Salvatore Settis.

The North American presentation will feature 58 highlights from the Torlonia Collection, including 24 newly restored works that have not been on view in nearly a century. The sculptures date from approximately the 5th century BCE to the early 4th century CE, with the majority of the works dating to the High Imperial period (1st–2nd centuries CE). Highlights include examples of the most emblematic genres of ancient marble sculpture, acquired by the Torlonia Family from the most prominent collections of Rome’s patrician families, as well as from excavations made on the Family’s own estates throughout Italy.

“The Foundation is excited to be sharing the Torlonia Collection with audiences in North America for the first time. This exceptional group of ancient sculptures is a testament to the enduring cultural legacy of ancient Rome, as well as the vision and passion of multiple generations of the Torlonia Family,” said Alessandro Poma Murialdo, President of the Torlonia Foundation.

The presentation is organized thematically in six sections, featuring sculptures found on the Torlonia Family’s properties in Rome and the surrounding suburbs and their estate in Porto, Portugal, as well as a number of exceptional sarcophagi (stone coffins), among the largest sculpted works in marble to survive from ancient Rome.

The tour reinforces the work of the Foundation to advance the appreciation and understanding of this unparalleled collection and the rich cultural heritage it represents. The Foundation’s mission is carried out through a continuous joint effort between the public and private sectors, including with the cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The Foundation is supported by a longstanding collaboration with Bvlgari as the principal sponsor of the restoration project since its inception in Rome and throughout the global tour, and Chiomenti, who has lent invaluable support to the Foundation’s core activities.

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