With the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK finally here, it seems like all of Dallas is commemorating the president in some way.
Between preparations for Thanksgiving next week and honoring President John F. Kennedy, there’s much happening in Dallas this weekend.
While The Sixth Floor Museum has been an established commemoration of JFK, the rest of the art community is making efforts to honor the late president.
From theater to art exhibitions to concerts, there will be plenty of artistic dedication to honor JFK this weekend.
One of the events that I’m most looking forward to takes a look at the first lady. El Centro College is presenting “Jackie and Main Street,” a gallery art show examining the influence of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy on fashion retail during the early 1960s.
Ken Weber and Greg Kelly, the owners of the Vintage Martini boutique, are supplying the historically accurate garments. Vintage Martini is the go-to vintage shop for many films and television shows, including AMC’s “Mad Men.” The exhibition will feature examples of women’s garments from the period juxtaposed against historic photographs of the Kennedy assassination that have been provided by the Dallas Municipal Archives.
If you are downtown this Saturday, you may hear music coming from the Dallas Arts District. The tunes are being played in honor of JFK. The Nasher Sculpture center is presenting the exhibition, “Soundings: JFK Memorial Concert” featuring the Brentano String Quartet at Dallas City Performance Hall.
Another interesting option to check out this weekend is “Hotel Texas: An Art Exhibition for the President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy” at the Dallas Museum of Art. This exhibit features the works of art that were installed in the president’s suite at the Hotel Texas during his ill-fated trip to Texas in 1963.
The works were originally installed in honor of the president and first lady and feature artists like Thomas Eakins, Franz Kline, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and others.
The Texas Theatre is infamously remembered as the location where Lee Harvey Oswald was captured following the assassination. Oswald snuck into the theater during a showing of “War is Hell” and was captured by the police after being recognized.
Fifty years later, the same theater is showing a partial screening of “War is Hell.” There will also be a theatrical re-creation of the interviews conducted with theater employees by The Warren Commission and a 35mm screening of Oliver Stone’s “JFK.”
Certainly one of the most widespread commemoration efforts is the Dallas Love Project, a citywide exhibition in honor of the memory of President Kennedy.
The Dallas Love Project is an effort to create and redefine Dallas as a city of love rather than a city of hate.
The project started on Sept. 21, the International Day of Peace, and is ending Friday.
For the past several weeks, 18-inch-by-18-inch art pieces created have been on display throughout Dallas, including along the Kennedy motorcade route. The works were created by students, people in the business world and senior citizens.
Spalten is a senior majoring in journalism.
