Articulations

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Changing of the Bard

The end of the year will see one of the city's most gifted dramatists leave for New York City, which leaves a gap in not just our lineup of stellar local playwrights, but a huge vacancy in the organization that serves the folks who write the plays. When John Walch, author of The Dinosaur Play and Craving Gravy: Love in the Time of Cannibalism, leaves town at the end of December, he'll also be leaving his position as executive artistic director of Austin Script Works, which he's led since January 1998, following the death of ASW's founding Artistic Director David Mark Cohen. His four years at the helm have seen substantial growth in the organization, expanding from 43 member writers to 148 and adding programs such as the "Weekend Fling" 10-minute playwriting retreat and festival, "Script Works Ahead" staged-reading series, and ASW's "Dramatis Personae" workshop series. Walch's shoes won't be easy to fill, but ASW has certainly tapped another prodigiously talented writer to take his place. As of Jan. 1, 2003, Dan Dietz, author of Tilt Angel and Dirigible, will serve as the organization's executive artistic director. To mark the change, ASW will host a benefit party, "The Changing of the Bard," on Dec. 15, 6:30-9:30pm, at the new Austin Playhouse at Penn Field, 3601 S. Congress, building C. The event will feature scenes from both writers' plays, food and drink, and a silent auction. Tickets will be on a sliding scale from $10-$50. For more info, call 454-9727.

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Austin Got Culture

In case you needed official confirmation that our town is a capital of culture, here it is: Austin has been selected as one of two American Capitals of Culture for 2004 as part of an ongoing program by the Organization of American States. The initiative, started in 2000, aims to promote inter-American integration, highlight both national diversity and the common cultural heritage among countries in the Americas, and build new bridges of cooperation with other continents that have established the initiative of cultural capitals. Austin and Santiago, Chile, were chosen from a list of 10 cities, drawn from six different countries. (The others were Belem, Brazil; Concepción, Paraguay; La Serena, Chile; Natal, Brazil; Río Cuarto, Argentina; Santa Ana, El Salvador; Santos, Brazil; and Sorocaba, Brazil.) During its tenure as cultural capital in 2004, Austin will develop a significant quantity of events about all aspects of culture, whether local, state, national, or pan-American. For more info, visit www.cac-acc.org.

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TFAA Is in the (Art)House

After 91 years of sitting near the back of everyone's Rolodex, the Texas Fine Arts Association has made a leap to the front. On Saturday, Nov. 9, the Lone Star State's only contemporary art organization rechristened itself Arthouse. Executive Director Sue Graze says the new name, which comes with the tag line "Contemporary Art for Texas," "expresses our renewed vision to be a conduit between artists and audiences for exploring, presenting and discussing contemporary art and ideas." Arthouse will still promote the growth and appreciation of contemporary art and artists throughout the state, but it also plans to make itself a house of knowledge for contemporary art in Texas -- an artistic "home" for artists and the public to see, experience, and appreciate contemporary art. To find Arthouse's physical home, go to Seventh and Congress, where the Jones Center for Contemporary Art is located. To find Molly Beth Brenner's review of a piece in the latest Arthouse exhibition, "Glow," look elsewhere on this page.