Two attendees throw balloons at one another inside Martin Creed’s “Sightings” insallation at the Nasher Sculpture Center. (Photo Courtesy of The Nasher Sculpture Center)
As Preschool Teacher Eva McKee stepped out of her car into the heat of the Dallas Museum of Art’s basement parking garage, she questioned her decision to attend an outdoor event.
However, when McKee walked into the garden at the Nasher Sculpture Center, she was handed a personal mister and directed down a fan-lined path to a snow cone stand. That, combined with the shade of the garden’s trees, McKee said it did not feel like she was outside in 107-degree weather.
Friday’s “Til Midnight at the Nasher,” sponsored by Reliant Energy, began with a concert by the Roof Raisers. The band is a premiere party and reception band in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area. On Friday they played a variety of today’s best hits and some hits from the past.
Sabrina Skeldon, a member of the audience, thought they were a perfect band for dancing.
“I love how they come down into audience to play,” Skeldon said.
From lead singers, to saxophone players, different members of the band played on the dance floor, creating a fun, interactive atmosphere for guests, Skeldon said.
But the attendees on the dance floor most frequently were those who have yet to finish grade school. Among the couples and groups of adults dancing, children spun around the dance floor all evening while parents took pictures and videos from the sidelines.
One-year-old Ella Cummings, didn’t make it to the dance floor; she bobbed to the beat of the music while eating goldfish on her family’s picnic blanket.
Her mother, SMU-Alumnae Elizabeth Cummings, said “Til Midnight at the Nasher” is a great family-oriented event.
“Even in August, it is a family event in Dallas,” she said.
Following the concert, the film “Up” was shown on a large inflatable screen in the garden where couches and bean bags were available for attendees to sit on.
Picnic baskets and beverages were also available for purchase throughout the garden.
Inside, the line for the interactive exhibit “Sightings” by Martin Creed, wound around the musical staircase. The interactive art installation featured a glass room full of 9,000 gold balloons.
Attendees had the chance to “swim” through the room of balloons playing hide and seek and pose for picture in the sea of gold. Inside the exhibit, many attendees wrote encouraging messages on the balloons.
Balloons were written on with the words “You are bold and beautiful” to “Will you marry me.” The exhibit ended Sunday.
“Til Midnight at the Nasher” is held on the third Friday of the month. The next event will be held on Friday, September 16; Live80 will begin with a concert at 7 p.m., with the movie “Footloose” following at 9 p.m.
