SPECIAL HOTEL RATES FOR 2024 AURORA BIENNIAL VISITORS 

The 6th AURORA Biennial takes place on November 16, 2024 from 7pm to 1am at Dallas City Hall and surrounding areas. On this occassion, AURORA is proudly partnering with some of Downtown Dallas' leading hotels. Visitors can plan their overnight stay at these hotels with special rates for bookings on the days before, during, and after AURORA Biennial:

Aloft Dallas Downtown - book a group rate by October 24
Fairfield Inn & Suites Dallas Downtown - book a group rate by October 16
Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas Downtown - book here by October 14
Holiday Inn Express Dallas Downtown - book a group rate here
The Adolphus, Autograph Collection - book here by October 24
The Joule - book here
TownePlace Suites Dallas Downtown - book a group rate by October 16

JOIN ART QUEST—PUBLIC ART SCAVENGER HUNT & COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS

This summer, AURORA is launching Art Quest⁠—a month-long, public art discovery and workshop program with an exciting game element. It will take place every Saturday from July 9th to August 6th, 2022 in five Dallas neighborhoods: Bonton Neighborhood, Vickery Meadow, Bachman Lake, Pleasant Grove, and Jubilee Park.

AURORA has commissioned five valuable art objects developed with 3D printing technologies—by Victor Enam, Heather Gorham, Brooks Oliver, Andrew Scott, and Eric Trich—which will be placed weekly at a new secret outdoor location. The first finder will be able to collect the artwork on the spot, along with a certificate of authenticity, and meet the artist who created it.

Click here to learn more.

Video Art Nights Coming to Dallas Outdoor Public Spaces in April

Video Art Nights⁠—AURORA's five-night video projection program, developed together with Downtown Dallas, Inc. in celebration of Dallas Arts Month—kicks off on Friday, April 1st at 8 pm at West End Square. It will continue each Friday evening in April at parks and outdoor surfaces in Downtown Dallas, with projection programs curated by the New Media Cooperative, Bart Weiss, and Andrew F. Scott. 

Click here to learn more.

Watch the Full Program of LIGHT YEAR 79: Momentary

AURORA has teamed up with LIGHT YEAR to present an exciting program of video artworks projected onto the Manhattan Bridge in New York City, screened at SCOPE BLN in Berlin, and streamed on LIGHT YEAR’s Facebook page on November 4th, 2021. The exhibition line-up, curated by Leslie Moody Castro, included artworks by six North Texas-based multimedia artists: Kelsey Baker, Jeremy Biggers, Melanie Clemmons, Hector Ramirez, Tramaine Townsend, and Jennifer Wester.

Watch the full program online here.

Click here to learn more.

Watch New Stories: New Futures Regional Artist Talk

On August 21, the Kimbell Art Museum hosted the second artist talk at their Piano Pavilion Auditorium with ten artists who took part in the supporting group exhibition of New Stories: New Futures. The talk was split into two blocks and moderated by the exhibition curator Dr. Lauren Cross.

The two-part talk, which was livestreamed on the Arts Council of Fort Worth’s Facebook page, can be watched online here. 

Click here to learn more.

Watch New Stories: New Futures Artist Talk With Quayola and Refik Anadol

On August 26, the Arts Council of Fort Worth hosted an online artist talk with Refik Anadol and Quayola, moderated by the New Stories: New Futures exhibition curator DooEun Choi. Watch the recording of the talk here to learn more about the artistic processes of the two artists whose large-scale public art installations were projected onto the iconic Pioneer Tower on August 20 and 21. 

Click here to learn more!

Save the Date: New Stories: New Futures in Fort Worth on August 20-21!

In partnership with Fort Worth Public Art, AURORA proudly presents the groundbreaking public art exhibition New Stories: New Futures on August 20 and 21. It will include large-scale projections on the historic Pioneer Tower by esteemed international artists Refik Anadol and Quayola, curated by DooEun Choi.

The adjacent group exhibition at the base of the tower, curated by Dr. Lauren Cross, will feature new media artworks by an impressive roster of North Texas artists, including Nick Bontrager, Ciara Elle Bryant, Angela Faz, Jessica Fuentes, Jeff Gibbons, Jin-Ya Huang, Sedrick and Letitia Huckaby, Raul Rodrigues, and Bernardo Vallarino.

Click here to reserve your free tickets!

We’re thrilled to announce the five winners of our Artist Relief Fund grants!

Our heartfelt congratulations go out to Jer’Lisa Devezin, Gerald L. Leavell II, Austin Johnson (aka Anansiboi), Ruben Carrazana and Christian Cruz, the five recipients of our Artist Relief Grant awarded in partnership with the PNC Foundation! Each of these North Texas artists has received a $4,000 grant to help support their artistic practice and they also have the opportunity to participate in a business wellness program with workshops and mentorships.
 
Learn more about the artists here.

Join Jess Garland and Marsha Jackson in Conversation on June 29 at 5pm CDT

On June 29th at 5pm CDT, join us for a special live stream of the experimental film Harp & Sol followed by a talk with artist Jess Garland and activist Marsha Jackson. During a Q&A, Garland and Jackson will discuss their collaboration for the film and the history of environmental racism in Dallas. Stay tuned for details and click here to learn more about Harp & Sol, as well as the activist non-profit Southern Sector Rising, which Jackson founded.

AURORA proudly presents an Artist Talk with Christopher Blay and Annette Lawrence

Within the framework of AURORA’s Artist Relief Fund grants, recently awarded to five North Texas BIPOC artists and made possible by PNC Foundation, we are pleased to present an Artist Talk with Annette Lawrence and Christopher Blay. On June 23 at 6pm CST, join them online for a conversation about intersections in their artistic practices and how they’ve connected with other BIPOC artists in North Texas over the years. Click here to register!

You can learn more about the Artist Relief Fund grants and PNC’s efforts to end systemic racism by clicking here.

Watch Jess Garland’s new film Harp and Sol exclusively on DallasAurora.com

Starting on May 29, 2021, you’ll be able to watch Jess Garland’s new experimental film Harp and Sol exclusively on our website! Harp and Sol traces the history of environmental racism in Dallas from the Joppee neighborhood to the recently dismantled illegal trash dump Shingle Mountain. Pairing footage of these areas with an original score by Garland, the film pays homage to the land and lives affected by zoning laws and local policy.

Garland, a Dallas-based singer-songwriter and performing artist, was inspired to make this project through her involvement with Southern Sector Rising, an activist non-profit that seeks to offer marginalized Dallas residents health equity by ending decades of racist zoning. Harp and Solspeaks to Dallas’s environmental racism and also honors the lives and work of Black women.

Learn more about the project here.

New Stories: New Futures will debut in Fort Worth in summer 2021

AURORA is partnering with the Arts Council of Fort Worth to present the two-part project New Stories: New Futures around Pioneer Tower at Will Rogers Memorial Center this August! One part of the project will be two major installations on Pioneer Tower by international artists Refik Anadol and Quayola, curated by DooEun Choi and commissioned by Fort Worth Public Art. The second part of the project will be a supporting exhibition curated by Dr. Lauren Cross and featuring works by a diverse array of North Texas new media artists.

The event will be held on the night of August 20th from 9pm to 1am. It is free to attend but tickets must be booked in order to control the flow of people and maintain distancing. You can learn more about New Stories: New Futures and will be able to book your tickets via fwpublicart.org.

AURORA and Parks for Downtown Dallas are bringing an interactive sculpture to Dallas’s newest green space!

From March 28 to April 4, 2020, AURORA will present ANTIBODIES, a new interactive installation by Montreal-based artist Daniel Iregui at Dallas’s newest park along with a corresponding online experience.

The work, presented in partnership with Parks for Downtown Dallas, takes the form of a double-sided larger-than-life LED wall and will be presented in West End Square, the very first green space in the city’s West End Historic District. ANTIBODIES tracks the faces of participants and elicits them to make facial expressions. Activated by motion sensors as visitors walk by and interact with the piece, the installation reflects on the monotony of video calls—today’s imposed form of social gatherings.

Iregui’s digital sculpture will be the first project showcased within West End Square’s Innovation Arcade, a section of the park designed to showcase a rotation of temporary digital installations. Masks and social distancing will be required when interacting with ANTIBODIES.

Save the date and see you soon!

AURORA and PNC Foundation launch Artist Relief grants

AURORA is pleased to award a second round of Artist Relief Fund grants with support from the PNC Foundation. This round of grants will distribute $20,000 to five self-identifying BIPOC artists in North Texas who have suffered from the devastating economic impacts of the pandemic. Each grantee will receive $4,000 along with the opportunity to participate in a business wellness program with workshops and mentorships on best business practices.

The goal of this funding is to support BIPOC artists in North Texas financially and through mentorships designed to enhance the entrepreneurism of individual artist to help them flourish in a post-pandemic world.

Grantees will be selected by an independent panel of artists and other art professionals who represent the BIPOC artist community in North Texas.

You can learn more about the grants and application process here.

See Jan Tichy’s projection onto Dallas City Hall and visit young artists’ work at Oak Cliff Cultural Center

Within the framework of the AURORA Biennial 2020-21, the Chicago-based artist and educator Jan Tichy created a three-part collaborative project, Remote Pyramids. As part of this project, he projected a public artwork onto Dallas City Hall on January 23. We documented the projection in this video.

And don’t forget: The artworks by young artists who were part of Remote Pyramids can be viewed in the windows and storefront of Oak Cliff Cultural Center through March 6 and the project’s digital component can be explored via remotepyramids.org.

Announcing Jan Tichy’s three-part collaborative artwork Remote Pyramids, part of the AURORA Biennial 2020-21

The AURORA Biennial 2020-21 will continue in January 2021 with a new three-part collaborative project, Remote Pyramids, led by the Chicago-based artist and educator Jan Tichy. Through creative dialogue, Tichy connected a group of resettled refugee teenagers from the Vickery Meadow neighborhood in Dallas with a group of teenagers with their own migration experiences from the Oak Cliff neighborhood. The project’s digital space, remotepyramids.org, will launch on January 12 and on January 23 a public artwork by Tichy will be projected onto the Dallas City Hall. Additionally, from January 23–March 6, artworks created by six participating young artists will be on view in the windows and storefront of Oak Cliff Cultural Center.

Virtually drive through Marina Rosenfeld’s Ssalute and learn more about the project from the artist herself

From November 6–15, AURORA held the world premiere of Ssalute, a newly commissioned sound installation and performance by internationally renowned artist Marina Rosenfeld, as part of the AURORA Biennial 2020-21. We also held an online artist talk with Rosenfeld, hosted by the biennial curator Noam Segal, in which they discussed the artist’s practice and her new work. Both can now be re-lived in two videos on our YouTube channel.


Watch a drive-through of Marina Rosenfeld’s Ssalute.
Watch the artist talk with Marina Rosenfeld.

Re-watch the AURORA Biennial 2020-21 opening presentation

Want to learn more about the AURORA Biennial 2020–21 and its theme, ‘Afterwards was already before’? You’re in luck: The opening presentation with insights from AURORA Executive Director Joshua King, Curator Noam Segal, Associate Curators Tamara Johnson and Trey Burns, artist Jan Tichy, Tichy’s local collaborators, and artist Jess Garland can now be viewed on AURORA’s YouTube channel!

Watch AURORA Biennial 2020-21 Opening Presentation.

AURORA kicks off its 2020-21 Biennial with a project by Marina Rosenfeld

AURORA is pleased to announce the program and details for its fifth biennial edition led by Curator Noam Segal and Associate Curators Tamara Johnson and Trey Burns. Titled ‘Afterwards was already before,’ AURORA’s 2020-21 Biennial will unfold over the next year in a new decentralized program format, kicking off a project by artist Marina Rosenfeld.

Created in response to worldwide changes induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the format of AURORA’s Biennial will include socially distanced and digital projects. A digital opening presentation for the 2020–21 Biennial will take place on October 28, 2020, followed by the launch of the program on November 6 with the world premiere of Marina Rosenfeld’s newly commissioned sound installation and performance Ssalute. There will also be an artist talk with Marina Rosenfeld and Noam Segal on November 6, 2020 at 2pm CST. Ssalute will be hosted until November 15  at Laz Parking Garage, 1200 Ross Ave, Dallas 75202 and while it will be free to the public, reservations must be booked ahead of time.

Announcing the second round of Artist Relief Fund grants

AURORA is pleased to announce a second round of Artist Relief Fund grants specifically for self-identifying BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) artists in North Texas who have suffered from the devastating economic impacts of COVID-19.

Supported by PNC Foundation, the AURORA Artist Relief Fund will distribute $20,000 to five grantees ($4,000 each) and will also establish a business wellness program with workshops and mentorship on best business practices. 

The application period will open on February 19 and close on March 15, 2021. Those interested can learn more about eligibility requirements and the submission process here. 

‘Area 3’: A drive-through exhibition in support of artist relief and local vendors

Coming October 1

We're excited to announce Area 3, an immersive exhibition which will transform over 100,000 square feet of a parking garage in downtown Dallas. Separate from Dallas AURORA’s biennial program—which will be announced soon—Area 3 will function on a shared profit model in an experiment to support local artists and vendors whose income has been affected in the wake of COVID-19.

Featuring works by sixteen regional artists, the exhibition will include large-scale light, video and sound installations as well as performances which will be viewable from the safety of attendees’ own cars. Area 3 will take place in the DalPark Parking Garage (1600 Commerce St, Dallas, TX 75201) from October 1, 2020 – January 1, 2021. Timed tickets, which are $30 per car, must be purchased online before arrival. Purchase tickets at area3.site.

Artist List

Eric Trich & Taylor Cleveland
Alicia Eggert
Danielle Georgiou
Hal Samples & Favian Herrera
Melanie Clemmons & Zak Loyd
Zuyva Sevilla
David Stout
Francine Thirteen
Tramaine Townsend
Blake Weld
Brandy Michele Adams + Michael Moore + Robert Anthony

Area 3 is made possible by the  generous support from: Downtown Dallas Inc., The Sapphire Foundation,  Preciate,  The Dallas Office of Art and Culture, Tractorbeam,  Ruibal’s,  Inlight-Gobo’s and 900 Lbs.

Founding Media Sponsor: The Dallas Morning News

AURORA would like to thank the following Foundations and individuals for their continued support:
Lydia and Bill Addy, Beth and Peter Beck, Nancy and Randy Best,  Barbara and Mason Brown, Christie and Trey Brown, Lucilo Pena and Lee Cobb,  Emily and David Corrigan, Catherine Corrigan, David B. Deniger, Claire Dewar, Bill and Rusty Duvall, TurningPoint Foundation, Hartland & Mackie Family Foundation, Fanchon and Howard Hallam, Cinda and Thomas Hicks,  Mary Jalonick, Nancy and Mike Kerr, Carol and John Levy, Sarah and Alan Losinger, Vicki and Brian Miller,  Susan and Bill Montgomery, Jay and Ruthie Pack, Cindy and Howard Rachofsky, Cynthia and Charley Redden, Stacey and Gerald Ridgeley, Deedie Rose, Catherine and Will Rose, Stephanie and Mark Ruibal, and Nicole and Justin Small.

Join AURORA on North Texas Giving Day this Thursday, Sept 17th!

Thursday, September 17th is North Texas Giving Day—the day to make a direct difference in the North Texas arts community. AURORA is participating with the aim to bring our region's artists the support they deserve and to continue developing our programming.

We kindly ask for our community’s support so we can continue providing financial assistance to North Texas artists through our Artist Relief Fund as well as continue our impactful, educational, public art programming. 70% of funds raised on NTxGD will be allocated to our Artist Relief Fund, with the remaining 30% going towards our ongoing educational and public programming.

Set a calendar reminder for Thursday and help AURORA continue its community-oriented mission and supporting the arts of the future by making a donation. Donations can also be made early and don't forget: Every contribution makes a difference, no matter the size!

INAUGURAL ARTIST RELIEF GRANT RECIPIENTS: OSHAY GREEN & HAILEY SUMMERS

AURORA is excited to announce Oshay Green and Hailey Summers as the first recipients of the organization’s inaugural Artist Relief Fund grants. Green and Summers, both of whom are North Texas natives, will each receive a $4,000 grant, enabling them to continue their artistic practice and community engagement.

Oshay Green, a self-taught, interdisciplinary artist, frequently works with sound, wood, concrete and found objects to explore the ritualistic functions of objects found throughout various mythological histories and religions with object-based ontologies. He is currently preparing a project, slated for 2021, focused on obsidian objects inspired by Aztec mythology.

Hailey Summers is a movement artist, educator, choreographer and event curator whose work is dedicated to fostering new understandings of expression through movement. In the coming months, she plans to create accessible dance spaces for her students in the Dallas Independent School District, including those at Booker T. Washington—a close partner of AURORA as well as Hailey's alma mater—and even younger students at South Dallas elementary schools.

Again, we would like to extend our congratulations to Oshay and Hailey and also thank each and every artist who applied for our initial round of funding—we received hundreds of applications and the decision-making process was not easy.

To stay up to date with AURORA, including additional Artist Relief Fund open calls and upcoming programming, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

AURORA Announces Year-Round Program & Artist Relief Fund

 In light of the worldwide developments over the last few months, AURORA recently announced that it will be developing new initiatives to create more opportunities and resources for Dallas’s artistic community and general public. These plans include a transition from a large-scale biennial event—which was originally scheduled for November 7, 2020—to an organization with year-round, socially-distanced immersive experiences, digital initiatives and educational programming, as well as the launch of an emergency artist relief fund.

The emergency artist relief fund is targeted to support North Texas–based artists who are facing financial distress due to the Covid-19 pandemic with individual grants of $4,000. To learn more and to apply, click here.

In terms of the forthcoming programming, our previously announced curatorial team remains committed to the extended format and further details will be announced in the coming weeks. So continue checking back, sign up for our newsletter, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest news.

AURORA continues to expand with Tamara Johnson and Trey Burns joining us as our 2020 Associate Curators. Working together with 2020 Curator Noam Segal, they will support the realisation of our most exciting biennial exhibition to date, coming this November.

In 2018, Johnson and Burns co-founded Sweet Pass Sculpture Park, an outdoor exhibition space on a one-acre plot of land in West Dallas. Since opening, they have worked with over 100 local and international artists, students from universities in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, and various organizations and institutions, like the Dallas Boys & Girls Club, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Dallas Museum of Art, and North Park Center.

Johnson, who received her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, is currently a visiting lecturer in sculpture at the Southern Methodist University and Burns received his MFA from the Savannah College of Art & Design. Before moving to Dallas, they both lived and worked in New York. Most recently, they have been awarded a micro-grant from the Nasher Sculpture center and a National Endowment for the Arts grant in conjunction with Wassiac Projects to continue their work with Sweet Pass.

We're delighted to have these two esteemed Dallas artists and curators on our AURORA 2020 team and can't wait to see what they bring to the table

AURORA warmly welcomes former Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Micki Rawlings as new Honorary Chairs, along with philanthropists Susan Byrne Montgomery, Bill Montgomery and Molly Byrne as new Co-Chairs. We’re pleased to have such outstanding civic and philanthropic leaders of Dallas join the AURORA family.

The new Co-Chairs will work with our Host Committee in supporting AURORA's 10-year anniversary this fall, which will bring with it our most exciting and significant event to date.

AURORA is pleased to announce Noam Segal as the curator of the AURORA 2020 biennial exhibition, taking place in November 2020. Working with both local and international artists, Segal will realize AURORA’s expansive exhibition of technology-based public art in downtown Dallas. A Brooklyn-based independent curator and writer, Segal's practice focuses on contextualizing and supporting artists in producing new media art.

Segal received her Ph.D. in the Hermeneutics and Culture department at Bar Ilan University (Tel Aviv) and has collaborated with numerous international artists, museums and non-profits alike. She's presented the work of artists such as Neïl Beloufa, Pope.L, Sharon Hayes, Anri Sala, Ulla Von Brandenburg and Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz at prestigious international biennials and institutions, including Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), MOCO (Montepellier, France), Performa (NYC), Museum of Contemporary Photography Chicago and Tel Aviv Museum of Art, among others. 

Additionally, Segal has contributed written work to a range of journals, artist catalogues and essay compilations, published by the likes of Konrad Fischer Galerie, Routledge Press, Mousse Magazine, Castello di Rivoli and the Atlántica Journal for Art and Thought. She has given talks, curated symposiums and participated in residencies around the world, including at the School of Visual Art (NYC), Kunstverein Nüremberg (Germany), KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin), Mitchell-Innes & Nash (NYC) and Sotheby’s (NYC).

As of January 2020, she will be a visiting scholar in the department of performance studies at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Segal is also a faculty member of the MFA program at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (Jerusalem) and a visiting faculty member of the MFA program in the department of painting and printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University.

As AURORA proudly celebrates its tenth year, we warmly welcome Segal as the curator for our 2020 edition and look forward to working with her to realize our next large-scale outdoor, public exhibition.

Learn more about Noam Segal’s past work and practice on her website.