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How Moody Fuqua Helps Pull the Dallas Music Scene Together

To call Moody Fuqua a talent buyer is correct but also seems to miss the point. Fuqua, who has been putting together music lineups at Dallas bars for the better part of a decade, is something of a visionary with a knack for thrusting hot up-and-comers into public awareness and creating community among diverse musicians. After building a solid reputation at Bryan Street Tavern and The Crown and Harp, he turned RBC (formerly known as Red Blood Club) from a flailing dive into a cultural hot spot in less than four months. Now he’s moved to Club Dada—and its sister venue, Off the Record—to help fill out its already robust calendar with more local music. Fuqua is known for making memorable nights, but he’s also partly responsible for making the Dallas music scene an actual “scene” and something worth watching.

Karen Blessen’s 29 Pieces Helps Students Bring Peace, Love, Art to Oak Cliff

It would be impossible to quantify the physical, emotional, and financial toll of a violent crime on a family, a community, and a nation, yet Pulitzer Prize-winning illustrator Karen Blessen set out to do that after a 26-year-old man was murdered in front of her home in Lakewood more than 15 years ago.

Denton Violinist Leoncarlo Canlas Is a One-Man Orchestra

A symphony reverberated down East Hickory Street in Denton on a recent Sunday evening. The acoustics created by the buildings on this narrow street framed the sound perfectly, bouncing it evenly from one façade to another so it wasn’t clear where the music was coming from. It was as if a movie soundtrack was being piped in from some hidden location. Tracing the sound to its source eventually led to Harvest House, and the orchestra creating it was, in fact, one musician: Leoncarlo Canlas.

The Many Shades of Sam Lao’s SPCTRM

Sam Lao is a vision of flowing hair as she stands outside Club Dada on a Friday night. The rapper-singer wears a baseball cap that trains her curly mane away from her face. She’s quick to smile, exposing gleaming teeth from behind her trademark coif. On stage, her set makes short work of her hat. It quickly becomes collateral damage to her bouncing, boisterous stage presence.

Dallas Mural Part of International Campaign Against Religious Persecution in Iran

Harassed, arrested, jailed, tortured, killed…These are just a few of the options facing people of the Baha’i faith in Iran. Since its inception in 1844, the religion has been effectively criminalized in its home country, its hundreds of thousands of adherents persecuted. It’s a religion that promotes the spiritual unity of humanity–asserting that we are derived from the same God, irrespective of religion. They believe that all people are worthy of acceptance, and that diversity should be appreciated. Unfortunately, the Islamic government in Iran doesn’t agree.

The Gospel According to Francine Thirteen

If Francine Thirteen ever decides to start a religion, it would not be entirely surprising. Her music is steeped in the occult, she hails from a line of mystics, and she performs rituals at her shows. She refers to her album as a “sonic book of shadows” – an audio book of spells that she hopes will heal her audiences.

From Aurora Dallas to Aurora Australis: The Marriage of Art and Tech

As technology continues to saturate more of our daily lives, as it spreads in innovative and unexpected ways, it’s also being used by artists in pursuit of experiential work that transcends what could be accomplished with mediums of yore.

Artist Finds ‘We Are All Homeless’ With Sign-Buying Project

Willie Baronet began buying signs in 1993 as a way of confronting his conflicted feelings about homelessness and whether he should give panhandlers money. Having spent most of his career on the creative side of advertising, he was moved by the lettering and the patina of the signs. Early on, he knew he would use the signs for art, although he wasn’t totally sure how.

Where Are Dallas’ Artists of Color?

A high-end looking building in the Design District could have been the setting for your garden-variety gallery party. But behind the white-paneled façade in late July was a different kind of get-together. Francine Thirteen belted out dark, soulful lyrics to a backdrop of electronic beats, while b-boys popped and locked in slow motion. Howler Jr, a Ben-Kweller-esque indie band, rocked the gallery’s inner cavern. Dezi 5, ever the entertainer, vogued and pelvic-thrusted his way through the crowd during his set.

Fresh Air: Barry Whistler Moves to the Design District

Barry Whistler Gallery was a fixture in Deep Ellum for nearly 30 years so it may have come as a surprise when Whistler decided to move his gallery to the Design District during the first week of May. Now, a white-washed minimalist building off Dragon Street is the new home of Barry Whistler Gallery. It’s an upscale yet unpretentious space, anchored by no-nonsense basalt-colored concrete floors. It’s larger than his previous building, 4,500 square feet, and the scale is refreshing. Its size, paired with ample lighting from the windowed façade, allows the place to breathe – the visual equivalent of open-air.

Young Sons: Two Artists Create a Shared Identity

The old adage that “two heads are better than one” couldn’t be more true for Drew Liverman and Michael Ricioppo, a collaborative painting duo that makes maximalist abstract and figurative works that are saturated, bold, and frenetic. The duo, which calls their partnership “YOUNGSONS”, has been working together for almost 15 years. They met through mutual friends during college at Virginia Commonwealth University, went skateboarding together, became friends, formed a collective, and have been creating ever since.

In Your Face: 60 years of Frank Stella in Fort Worth

A nearly 80-year-old Frank Stella has lived life large:from his massive 20-foot-long paintings, to his sculptures that weigh several tons, to his gargantuan acre-sized studio in upstate New York, to the body of work he’s amassed over his 60-year-long career which amounts to more than 45 series, each with dozens of individual pieces.

A New Review of Feminist Art

Pornographic images taken from banned magazines in the 1970s were the source material for Betty Tompkin’s photorealistic “Fuck Paintings,” a body of work that was deemed unfit for public consumption and seized by French customs officials in 1973 en route to an exhibition. After the ensuing legal battles to bring them back to New York, Tompkins shelved the series and they didn’t see an exhibition space for nearly 30 years.

Is RBC Deep Ellum's Cursed Venue?

If you didn't know to look for it, you'd never know RBC was there. The club is tucked away at the end of a long walkway behind Twisted Root Burger Co. on Commerce Street, in Deep Ellum. But the unobtrusive location belies this venue's backstory, one full of ambition, failure, infighting and even violence.

Confessions of a Piano Bar Duelist

It’s Saturday night and there are six women sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the stage of Louie Louie's Piano Bar in Deep Ellum. They're celebrating a birthday, and beside them are two pianists playing “Dick in a Box.” A guy who looks very much like Jason Schwartzman circa 2007 gyrates on top of the pianos with a wrapped box attached to his pelvis, in imitation of the song's titular skit from Saturday Night Live. He does an abbreviated strip tease, throws his shirt on one of the women, and for the finishing touch, grabs one of the girls' hands, puts it in the box and pantomimes jacking off. The audience gets blessed with a shower of silly string semen.

Mere Mortals? Gormley's 'One and Other' Puts Regular People on a Pedestal

Fifteen minutes into his hour of fame, a skinny man in a panda costume hopped from one foot to the other atop the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Every couple of seconds he held up a 6-foot tall sign with a series of numbers written on it and then in the next instant, drew his cell phone to his ear and resumed chatting. One can surmise that Suren Seneviratne wanted people in the crowd to dial his mobile.

Getting through to him was impossible, believe me, I tried. I can only imagine how this disc jockey's phone bill will look at the end of the month.

The World's Top 10 Mega-Yachts

As the world's largest yacht glided out of Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, last week, crowds of onlookers watched the vessel and, perhaps, dreamed of who was onboard the mega-cruiser.

Polish Heiress Battered to Death, Boyfriend Arrested

The father of a Polish heiress whose dead body was found battered and left in a bathtub in a Paris hotel has finally spoken about his daughter's untimely death.

Michelle Obama and the First Daughters on British Holiday

President Obama may have dominated European diplomacy in recent days, but Michelle Obama and their two young daughters have captured the headlines with their stealthy trip to London.

Star-faced Liar: Belgian Girl Asked for 56 Tattoos

The Belgian 18-year-old who claimed she fell asleep while being tattooed only to wake up to find 56 stars permanently inked on her face has now admitted she lied about the incident.

Is it a Bird or a Plane? No, it's a Super Hotel

If you consider sleeping on an airplane to be uncomfortable, cramped and prone to temperature extremes, take a look at the conditions aboard this Ilyushin 18 airplane.

More from Alaena Hostetter on ABC News...

Can Green Energy Power the Antelope Valley Out of the Slump?

Hundreds of thousands of Joshua trees are about the only things dotting miles of vacant lots in the barren, desert landscape of the Antelope Valley. But soon many of these acres of emptiness may be covered with thousands of mirrors tracking the sun's progression through the sky and concentrating that solar energy to power surrounding homes and businesses.

A Pasadena-based renewable energy company, eSolar, is investing in the Antelope Valley as a prime location for many of its upcoming projects. The company cites the 300 days of sunshine per year and the huge amount of available land as the perfect setting to develop its green power technology.

One can think of this development as a symbiotic relationship—eSolar gets plentiful, sunny desert real estate for cheap and the Antelope Valley gets jobs and a boost to their local economy.

A fully-functioning eSolar plant in Lancaster is currently exporting energy for 4,000 homes through a power-purchase agreement with Southern California Edison.

Antelope Valley Schools Bleeding From Budget Cuts

Hundreds of Antelope Valley Union High School District employees took unpaid days off to save the district money as it was scrounging to fill an $11 million budget deficit.

Rio Tinto Lockout Rocks the Town of Boron

In Boron, California, workers have been locked out of a mine because they haven't reached agreement with Rio Tinto, the firm that owns the mine. If the lockout continues it could ruin the town.

Borax Miners Take Protest to British Consulate

The mining mega-company Rio Tinto made headlines when executives admitted accepting bribes and were sentenced to prison terms in China. Half a world away, in a tiny desert town in California, Borax miners are fighting Rio Tinto in a bitter contract dispute.

Lockout No More: Borax Miners Back at Work

Rio Tinto borax miners are returning to work after their union and the mining company finally agreed on a new labor contract on Friday, ending a three-and-a-half-month lockout.

New Labor Contract Causes Frustration Among Miners

Despite early optimism, both Rio Tinto and union workers are finding it hard to cope after miners return to work from a months' long lockout.

News21: High Desert Daze

Read more about the town of Boron's struggle to survive...

First Impressions Column: Playa del Rey's Local Restaurants are Hidden Gems

If you read my first column you know that one of the reasons I love Playa del Rey so much is that it feels small. It’s an enclave separated from Los Angeles’ other coastal communities by the marina on the north and LAX on the south. We’re lucky to have that separation because it’s preserved the quaintness of downtown Playa del Rey.

Del Rey Art Walk Offers Glimpse Into Artists' Homes

Artists in Del Rey held the community's first ever art walk on Saturday, but instead of showing their artwork in galleries around town, artists opened their homes to visitors.

Residents and Artists Get Together for Second Del Rey Art Walk

Artists opened their homes and studios Saturday for the second Del Rey Art Walk, and the only thing in common among the wildly varying types of artwork was the Del Rey neighborhood used as the backdrop for the event.

First Impressions Column: First Impressions of Playa del Rey

This is the kick off of the First Impressions column. A new Playa del Rey resident muses on her first impressions of moving to and living in Playa del Rey.

'Old Fashioned Day' Celebrated at Burton Chace Park

More than 50 vintage yachts and antique cars descended upon Burton W. Chace Park in Marina del Rey on Sunday for Old Fashioned Day in the Park, an event the Classic Yacht Association has been holding for the last 34 years.

Rod's Day Benefits Colon Cancer Research

Friends, family and neighbors packed the noisy, dimly lit dining room of Mo’s Place in Playa del Rey on Saturday to raise money for colon cancer research and to celebrate the life of Rod Fasone, a University of Indiana graduate and son of a Playa del Rey resident who died nearly 20 years ago from colon cancer at the age of 21.

First Impressions Column: Author Tied to Playa del Rey's Past in a Big Way

Arthur Bradley Fowler has written a book called T.O. McCoye's Playa del Rey which details the area in the 1920s and 30s. He's researched the historic Playa del Rey real estate developer for the past 20 years, but he also knew him personally.

City Unsure How Legalizing Pot Would Affect Residents

Even if Proposition 19 passes, local law enforcement officials could still make arrests under federal orders. City Manager Steve Burrell said it's "almost impossible to tell" how the measure would affect Hermosa Beach if passed.

City's Ban on Leaf Blowers Rarely Blown Off

An ordinance prohibits the noisy devices in Hermosa Beach, but gardening crews occasionally still use them.

Traffic Safety Innovations: The Scramble

As Hermosa Beach attempts to make its streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, a two-part Patch series looks at whether recent measures are working.

Traffic Safety Innovations:
The Sharrows

The shared lanes, designed to accommodate cyclists and motorists, could someday become part of a master bike plan for the area.

If You Want to Thank a Veteran for His Service, Thank This Guy

Robert Parry has sacrificed a lot in Iraq and Afghanistan, namely 11 of his friends and the past 11 years of his life. He just wants you to remember him and other veterans and why they do it.

Mother of Murdered Teen Speaks Out for Victims

Sammantha Salas was 16 when she became a victim of gang violence. Since her death, her mother has advocated tirelessly for victims' families in the county.

Delgado Brothers Latin-Blues Adds Flavor to Monrovia

The Delgado Brothers band, which practices and records music in Monrovia, was recently honored by the city at the Latino Heritage Festival. The Delgado Brothers have been playing music in Los Angeles for more than 30 years.