EDITOR’S NOTE

We launched Patron 15 years ago to champion the arts ecosystem of North Texas. Back then, there was a conspicuous void in the market—too little attention was being paid to a region whose cultural ambitions were beginning to outpace its coverage. We believed the arts scene here was not merely promising, but consequential, deserving to be seen, discussed, and taken seriously. This issue plumbs the depths of what is happening here and in our world today while demonstrating how the arts are resilient, fostering community and spurring growth.

We begin our coverage with Petrit Halilaj, the final Nasher Prize laureate, who will be celebrated at the prize’s first-ever public reception—an inclusive moment honoring the Kosovar artist. His joyful approach is welcoming to even the art timid and offers a sense of safety and refuge to those affected by war. Danielle Avram shares his happy work in Drawing from the Ruins .

Near Fair Park, Passage Arts proves that the art landscape is still evolving with a new art venue in an expansive warehouse. Founder Kirk Hopper has made room here for monumental sculptures by James Surls in his survey From the Old Growth, explored by Andrew Walker in The Wilderness Within.

In The Long View, Temple Shipley considers the gift of 538 artworks—with special attention to works on paper—bequeathed to the Dallas Museum of Art by her client and friend, the late Charles Dee Mitchell.

On the cover, Gate, 2025, by Marcin Dudek signals the return of Chambre d’Amis, Jon Hoet’s historical 1986 exhibition in Ghent, Belgium, reimagined by Harlen Levey Projects in collaboration with Marguerite Steed Hoffman, who collects Dudek’s work. Jennifer Klos curated a companion exhibition of artists in the program at Park House.

Humanity emerges in Ben Lima’s discourse on Ivan Argoté’s How to Move a Monument on a Tuesday Morning at Dallas Contemporary in Tender Mercies. Transitioning from the monument to the grand theater of belief, Nancy Cohen Israel examines Spectacles of Power and Faith: Colonial Art From South America from the Thoma Foundation at the Meadows Museum—a vivid look at how art gives form to faith, family, and creativity.

Porschla and Jason Kidd opened their comely home to Patron for this issue. What’s striking about the family is how naturally sports and art coexist in their story. They’ve built a collection around that, and Rob Brinkley explores it all in A Champion Collection.

The Power Station launched the same year as Patron, when Janelle and Alden Pinnell embarked on an experiment inside the historic Dallas Power & Light Building. Openings sees An Unlikely Experiment Comes of Age, where we look at what the Pinnells have built: a space where artists take risks, incubate ideas, and present ambitious work. The same appetite for risk and scale is on view at the Green Family Art Foundation, where Painters/Sculptors: Nicole Eisenmann, Tracey Emin, Dana Schutz, curated by Jeremy Strick, opens this month.

Coinciding with our 15th anniversary, Darryl Ratcliff sums up the people, architecture, and institutions that have shaped the arts. Embracing the new, Chris Byrne speaks with New Museum director Massimiliano Gioni about the kunsthalle’s expanded 60,000-square-foot space and what lies ahead.

If your calendar is crowded with fall and winter galas, take in Heirlooms in Technicolor. Chris Plavidal’s lens discovers fine jewelry crafted by local jewelers and international names, all chosen for color and unapologetic sparkle. Speaking of sparkle, we welcome new style editor Max Trowbridge to Patron’s pages in Dressing the Part. And Max shares her first story, Ardent Ascent, detailing Khanh Nguyen’s return to couture on her own terms.

Finally, James Cope is taking his Invitational art fair to London, the city he called home before Southern charm lured him to North Texas. We applaud yet another opportunity to put North Texas on the international stage.
We are immensely grateful to our readers, contributors, advertisers, and the entire arts community. Fifteen years down. Stay tuned for the next 15!