Mural News

Fort Worth reveals Texas artists for big Sundance Square mural project

A Fort Worth-themed mural in Fort Worth.

Photo courtesy of The Union at River East

Fort Worth has put out a call for Texas artists to contribute to a series of murals downtown.

According to a release, Sundance Square and Artspace 111, a Fort Worth gallery, are looking for 12 artists or artist teams to help create a mural that will cover two warehouses, covering three blocks in Sundance Square.

The initiative is called "The Temporal Integral Mural Exhibition" — abbreviated, it spells out T.I.M.E. — and would require that the artists design murals that will connect into one, giant piece of art.

Artists will have one month to complete their mural and will receive $2,000. Each artist would be assigned a mural section, each varying slightly in size.

However, the T.I.M.E. project will be constantly evolving. The works will be visible for at least six months, but murals could be partially or completely painted over at some point in the future. Nothing lasts forever, not even art.

Ed Bass, Chairman of Sundance Square, recalls in a statement Sundance Square's longtime commitment to the arts, saying that "45 years ago, Sundance Square was conceived as a heart transplant to bring life back to downtown Fort Worth, a project infused with great respect and love for architecture, art, music and entrepreneurship."

Sundance Square CEO Sasha Bass says that the mural represents an opportunity for Texas artists to collaborate.

"This project is a continuation of our commitment to make downtown a welcoming and vibrant place for families, for artists, for musicians, for ideas and for beauty," she says. "I am most excited about this mural collaboration because it will grant Texas artists the freedom to create something together. It will be beautiful; it will be relevant. In Sundance Square there is something for everyone."

The call for artists is an ongoing project; artists can apply at any time. But the deadline to be considered for the first six murals is Friday, October 15.

Painting on the first round will begin November 15 and will end on March 1.

A second-round deadline will be announced in the future, but artists can apply any time.

And here's a perk: Artists selected who need to travel more than 30 miles get free lodging in Fort Worth for up to one month, provided by Sundance Square.

To apply, go to: artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=9502

UPDATE 10-27-2021: Sundance Square and Artspace 111 announced the names of eight chosen Texas artists who will help to create a three block long mural on the outside walls of two warehouses in downtown Fort Worth, as follows:

Anne Allen from Fort Worth
Sarah Ayala from Fort Worth
Haley Bass from Melissa
Armando Castelan from Houston
Brenda Ciardiello from Fort Worth
Anna Galluzzi from Denton
Amy Jones Jenkins from Fort Worth
Christopher Najera from Fort Worth

These artists represent the first round. Additional artists can apply for the second round to make their contributions to the ever-changing public art exhibit starting on November 2.

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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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