Events from: 05/31/2012

  May 2012 LECTURE  Thursday, May 31, 2012, 7:00 PM Texas, My Texas: Musings of the Rambling Boy Please call 940-340-2852 to pre-order your copy Presented by: Lonn Taylor Denton County is pleased to welcome back to Denton noted author and former Smithsonian Institution Curator, Lonn Taylor.  Mr. Taylor will speak and sign copies of his latest book, Texas, My Texas: Musings of the Rambling Boy, on Thursday, May 31st, from 7:00 until 8:00 in the evening at the Courthouse-on-the-Square Commissioners Courtroom. In a collection of essays about Texas gathered from his West Texas newspaper column, Lonn Taylor traverses the very best of Texas geography, Texas history, and Texas personalities. In a state so famous for its pride, Taylor manages to write a very honest, witty, and wise book about Texas past and Texas present. Texas, My Texas: is a story of legacies, of men and women, times, and places that have made this state what it is today. From a history of Taylor’s hometown, Fort Davis, to stories about the first man wounded in the Texas Revolution, who was an African American, to accounts of outlaw Sam Bass and an explanation of Hill Country Christmases, Taylor has searched every corner of the state for untold histories. Taylor’s background as a former curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History becomes apparent in his attention to detail: Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, artists, architects, criminals, the founder of Neiman Marcus, and the famous horned frog “Old Rip” all make appearances as quintessential Texans. Lonn Taylor’s unique narrative voice is personal. As he points out in the foreword, “it is the stories of Texans themselves, of their grit and eccentricities that have “brought the past into the present… the two seem to me to be bound together by stories.” Lonn Taylor retired to Fort Davis, Texas with his wife, Dedie, after a twenty-year career as a historian at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. He received a BA in history and government from Texas Christian University in 1961 and did graduate work at New York University before returning to Texas to enter the museum field. He has served as curator at the University of Texas at Austin’s Winedale Historical Center, the Dallas Historical Society, and the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe. Taylor’s books include Texas Furniture: The Cabinetmakers and Their Work, 1840-1880 (with David Warren, University of Texas Press, 1975); The American Cowboy (with Ingrid Marr, Library of Congress, 1983); New Mexican Furniture, 1600-1940 (with Dessa Bokides, Museum of New Mexico Press, 1987); The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag That Inspired the National Anthem (with Harry N. Abrams, 2000), and The Star-Spangled Banner: The Making of a National Icon (with Kathleen Kendrick and Jeffrey Brodie, Smithsonian Books, 2008). He writes a weekly column about Texas called “The Rambling Boy” for Marfa Big Bend Sentinel. All Courthouse Museum exhibits and lectures are free and open to the public.  The courthouse has handicapped parking and accessibility through the north entrance. The Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum is located in the historic Denton County Courthouse at 110 W. Hickory in Denton, TX.

The Denton Main Street Association invites you to spend every Thursday night from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in May and June at the Courthouse-on-the-Square lawn to enjoy these FREE concerts.  The 2012 series features an eclectic assortment of music for all listeners. Bring your friends or the family, get a meal-to-go from one of the many downtown eateries, bring a blanket or chairs, and enjoy an evening of great live music as the sun sets over downtown Denton. Thursday Twilight Tunes is held on the Denton County Courthouse-on-the-Square lawn, 110 W. Hickory, near the corner of Oak and Elm Streets.  Admission is FREE.  For more information or to check the rain location, visit www.dentonmainstreet.org or call (940) 349-8529. *ATTENTION* June 14th Band has changed to The Fun Addix:  70s & 80s Classic Rock.

Now take part in our amazing food and wine tasting every Thursday night! Reservations are required.  $19.95 for four tasting glasses of wine.  Free appetizers served from 6pm to 8pm with your wine tasting purchase.  The Wine bar is open from 6pm to 9pm.

The Watercolor Concentration at UNT became an independent area of study in 2007.  Since its inception, nine painters have gone... on to work on or receive their MFA Degrees.  Four graduates are now teaching on a university level. In 2010, 15 painters took part in the "Niigata International Watercolor Exhibition" in Japan. Students in the program are encouraged to find their own direction, whether that be as a traditional painter or someone who  takes the medium of watercolor into new and exciting territory. This exhibition is dedicated to graduate watercolor painter,  Lisa Tseng (1983 –2012).  Gallery Hours Monday-Friday: 9 am-Noon, 1-5 pm, with extended hours until 8 pm on Thursdays Saturday: 11-3 Sunday: CLOSED    

DCT is hosting a playwriting competition for new one-act plays.  In conjunction with Mental Health Month, plays will focus on imagination, the human condition, and/or mental health issues.  Prizes will be awarded to the top 5 plays.  First place will receive $2000, second place will receive $1000, third place will receive $500, fourth place will receive $300 and fifth place will receive $200. In addition to pize money , the winning plays will be produced as staged readings at the festival May 31 - June 2, 2012 at the POINTBank Black Box Theatre. The Festival will also feature workshops and discussion panels after each production.  Experts from the mental health and theatre fields will participate Festival registration limited - book early! This festival is made possible with thegenerous support of The Texas Commission on the Arts, MillwoodPsychiatric Hospital, and a specialfriend of Denton Community Theatre!Thursday, May 31, 2012 The festival, focusing on Imagination and the Human Condition, will be held in conjunction with Mental Health Month. SCHEDULE: 3-5:30 pm: Registration and Check-in at the Campus Theatre 6-7 pm: Opening reception at the Courthouse Lawn on the Denton square 7:30 pm--Staged reading of Captive Minds with panel talkback after at the DCT POINTBank Black Box Theatre 9 pm--Staged reading of The Night We Bombed Lincoln Towing with panel talkback after at the DCT POINTBank Black Box Theatre Friday, June 1 All events at the DCT POINTBank Black Box Theatre 9-9:30 am: Registration and Continental Breakfast 9:30-11 am: Panel discussion with Dr. Dan Creson and Julie Brinker, MFA: "Hamlet on the Couch: Method and Madness in Shakespeare's Characters" 11 am-1 pm: Lunch on your own 1-2:30: Talk/ Q& A with Michael Serrecchia, Professional Actor, Director, Choreographer, and original cast member of A Chorus Line 3:00 pm: TBA 7:30 pm: Staged reading of Samaritans, or, Where is Sylvia? with panel talkback after 9 pm: Staged reading of Clipped with panel talkback after Saturday, June 2 All events at the POINTBank Black Box Theatre 9-9:30 am: Registration and Continental Breakfast 9:30-11 am: Panel discussion with Dr. Linda Rubin  and Susanne Coffey on "Slings and Arrows, or, Why Theatre Gets Such a Bad Rap" 11 am-1 pm: Lunch on your own 1pm-2:30 pm: Panel discussion with Donna Trammell, Donna Fielder, Randy Schmidt, and John Evarts on the path to publishing: "The End. Now What?" 3 pm:  Workshop: "Play Therapy!" 7 pm: Staged reading of Family Matters with panel/talkback after 8:30 pm: Awards Ceremony and Closing Rece