Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Commissions Guillermo Kuitca to Design Curtain for Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House

The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts has commissioned Argentine artist Guillermo Kuitca to design the curtain for its new Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House. The $354-million Center, which opens with a week-long celebration October 12 ¿ 18, 2009, is the most significant new performing arts complex to be built since Lincoln Center. Kuitca, who will the subject of a major traveling exhibition that premieres at the Miami Art Museum beginning October 9th, is internationally acclaimed for his paintings and works on paper inspired by cartography, architecture, and theatre. This commission will be his first stage curtain. The design takes direct inspiration from the structure of the Winspear Opera House, designed by Foster + Partners, using an abstracted image of the Winspear¿s Margaret McDermott Performance Hall seating plan. The Center has also acquired 16 of Kuitca¿s mixed-media works on paper exploring the same concept, which will be displayed at box level during the Center¿s opening. The Center completes a 25-year vision for the Dallas Arts District, a 19-block neighborhood in the heart of the city that was created as an oasis for the arts. Already home to the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Dallas Museum of Art, among other notable institutions, the District encourages cross-pollination between the performing and visual arts. In celebration of the Center¿s opening, the Dallas Museum of Art has organized Performance/Art, an exhibition of several artists who have taken inspiration from the theater and opera, including Kuitca (opens October 10).