This year's hottest headlines

Top 10 arts stories Fort Worth applauded most in 2022 — from Cliburn winners to Big Bugs

Cliburn gold medalist Yunchan Lim (center), silver medalist Anna Geniushene, and bronze medalist Dmytro Choni.

Photo by Ralph Lauer The Cliburn

Editor's note: It was a blockbuster year for the arts in Fort Worth. The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition made history; the Fort Worth Symphony began a new era with a new conductor; Fort Worth Opera saw the end of one leader's tenure and the start of another; both Main Street Arts Festival and Concerts in the Garden came back from their COVID-time cancellations; and - oh yes - there were some pretty memorable exhibits, shows, and performances, too. Here were our most-read arts stories of 2022.

1. These are the 13 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for December. December is the best time of the year to go see a show, our theater critic Lindsey Wilson says. There are so many family-friendly offerings just begging to become traditions, and lots of new interpretations of holiday classics. These are the 13 local shows that she said were must-sees.

$Casa Ma\u00f1ana presents A Christmas Carol: A New Musical Comedy$ Casa Mañana presents A Christmas Carol: A New Musical Comedy through December 23. Photo courtesy of Agency Habitat

2. Concerts in the Garden 2022 sprouts up on Fort Worth Symphony's new season. The Music of the Eagles finally landed again. After two years without Fort Worth's favorite outdoor music series, Concerts in the Garden came back this year. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra unveiled its hot summer lineup, along with the entire 2022-23 season, on Wednesday, January 12.

3. Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival unveils colorful return with modern twist after 2-year hiatus. Fort Worth's most cherished downtown festival happily sprung back from dark COVID times: Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival announced in March it was planning a grand return with a blockbuster lineup of artists, musicians, and food — all happening April 7-10.

The Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival came back this year. Photo courtesy of Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival

4. 18-year-old South Korean pianist triumphs at 2022 Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth. Yunchan Lim, an 18-year-old pianist from South Korea, won the Sixteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition on June 18 in Fort Worth. Second place went to Anna Geniushene, 31, of Russia; and third place went to Dmytro Choni, 28, of Urkraine. Lim, who had a powerhouse run through the competition, became the youngest ever Cliburn gold medalist.

5. Fort Worth's Casa Mañana in conflict with 3 unions over Matilda musical. In February, a longtime Fort Worth theater was embroiled in a union dustup, with not one but three unions. Casa Mañana Theatre was already in the hot seat for violating its contract with the local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians, for using pre-recorded music for Matilda: the Musical. Another change caused the theater to be in violation with Actors' Equity Association and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, as well.

6. Gigantic bugs will invade Fort Worth in buzzy new Botanic Garden display. In Texas, we're used to creepy crawlies of considerable size, but special sculptures invading the Fort Worth Botanic Garden were sure to leave visitors bug-eyed. "David Rogers’ Big Bugs," an exhibit of insect sculptures on a gigantic scale, landed at the city's premier garden on March 11.

David Rogers Big Bugs, Fort Worth Botanic Garden The Preying Mantis towered over the garden below. Photo courtesy David Rogers

7. Fort Worth Opera names TCU professor Angela Turner Wilson new general and artistic director. In late October, Afton Battle announced she was resigning as Fort Worth Opera general and artistic director after two years. Less than a month later, the company named Angela Turner Wilson its new leader. Wilson is a Fort Worth-based opera singer and TCU professor. Her tenure with FWO began December 12.

8. Renowned maestro Robert Spano picks up baton as new Fort Worth Symphony music director. With new maestro Robert Spano, the Fort Worth Symphony began a new era — a new music director with new vision that includes new musicians, new-to-Fort Worth composers and guest artists, and even the launch of a new series. We chatted with Spano about his move to Fort Worth and aspirations for FWSO ahead of his debut on September 9.

Robert Spano, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra music director Robert Spano is just the 10th music director in FWSO's 110-year history. Photo by Karen Almond

9. New weekend festival makes Fort Worth the epicenter of fine art & craft in North Texas. Fort Worth's newest festival, Art Worth, was set to showcase hundreds of works by dozens of fine artists and crafters. Yes, craft — a word that makes some art snobbies bristle. The inaugural juried festival took over the lawn of the Will Rogers Memorial Center complex for one weekend, October 21-23. It displayed fine craft and fine art that spotlights skillfully executed works of art in glass, metal, wood, clay, and more.

10. Renowned Ukrainian ballet dancer who fled war stars in Dallas-Fort Worth 'Nutcracker'. Ten months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian-born dancer Vsevolod "Seva" Maevsky shared his harrowing story ahead of his unlikely appearance as a guest principal artist in the Tuzer Ballet’s Nutcracker performance. Seva gave up his career with the famous Mariinsky Ballet in Russia to help his family escape Kyiv.

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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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