Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts Records

When the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts (DMCA) opened at 5966 Northwest Highway on November 19, 1957, for many it was the realization of a dream as well as a sign of artistic growth for the city of Dallas. "Abstract by Choice," the premier exhibition, exposed the citizens of Dallas to modern art that they had seldom seen except on occasional visits to New York.

The DMCA was preceded by the Dallas Society for Contemporary Arts, which was organized in June 1956, and was comprised of 15 members, with sculptor Heri Bert Bartscht serving as founder and director. Exhibitions were presented at various locations such as the Courtyard Theater, 2918 Oak Lawn Avenue. The purpose of the museum was "extending and heightening the exposure of the public of Dallas to the best in living art."

From the beginning, standards of excellence for exhibitions and programs were established for this newly organized museum, and the Board of Directors, along with volunteers, organized, scheduled, and executed all activities. Edward Marcus was the first president of the DMCA.

Major DMCA exhibitions for the first two years of its existence included "Action Painting," with works by artists such as Jackson Pollock; "Laughter in Art," which introduced Saul Steinberg, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg to the community; and "Les Fauves," with paintings by Matisse, Vlaminck, and Derain. Due to space limitations at the Northwest Highway location, two exhibitions were shown in the garden at the Meadows Building on Greenville Avenue and on the lobby floor of the Sheraton-Dallas Hotel.

With great fanfare, the DMCA opened its new, larger quarters on October 27, 1959 at 3415 Cedar Springs Road. Katherine Kuh, art editor of the Saturday Review, curated the opening exhibition, "Signposts of Twentieth Century Art. Douglas MacAgy, the museum's first and only professional director, was hired in 1959. His vision led him to organize exhibitions that presented many artists not only unfamiliar to Dallas audiences but often undiscovered on the national art scene.

"American Genius in Review: 1" (May 11-June 19, 1960) included the work of Gerald Murphy, a rediscovered artist who was to be featured in a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1974. "Rene Magritte in America," (December 8, 1960-January 8, 1961) was the first major museum exhibition of this artist's work ever in the United States.

"The Art that Broke the Looking Glass" was the first in a series of proposed shows that offered a means of investigating current artistic concerns within a relevant historical context. In the "1961" exhibition (April 3-May 13, 1962) works that were current and yet to be labeled as "Pop" were on view. Along with many now familiar artists such as Rosenquist, Lichtenstein, and Rauschenberg, the exhibition included a version of Store by Claes Oldenburg.

In addition to its exhibition programs, the DMCA offered active educational programming. Children's education at the DMCA was supervised by Paul Rogers Harris, whose "Saturday Mornings at Children's House" were initiated in 1960 as an experiment in creative learning. Other types of educational programs offered by the DMCA included reputable lecturers and a lively film series, which presented classics along with avant-garde and experimental films. The children's programs, the film and lecture series, and the exhibition programs of the DMCA were innovative for their time, and the short period during which the DMCA existed has been characterized as a unique period in the development of the arts in Dallas.

Highlights of the DMCA's collection include a Paul Gauguin painting given by the Adele R. Levy Fund of New York, a large Henri Matisse collage from Mary Lasker, an anonymous gift of an Odilon Redon painting, two Gerald Murphy paintings donated by the artist, and a work of Francis Bacon, given by Mr. and Mrs. J.O. Lambert, Jr., of Dallas.

When the Museum for Contemporary Arts lost its rent-free quarters in 1962, Director MacAgy indicated that he was returning to the East. Some trustees, including those who also served as trustees for the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (DMFA), questioned the advisability and practicality of trying to support two art museums in Dallas. Several months of indecision ensued, filled with meetings by committees from both museums to explore a possible merger. In April 1963, the DMCA and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts merged into one museum under the name "Dallas Museum of Fine Arts." As part of this agreement, the boards and resources of both institutions were merged, with the DMCA's permanent collection of paintings, sculpture and other works, valued at that time at one million dollars, to be housed at the DMFA but administered by a separate body, the Foundation for the Arts. Juanita Bromberg served as the first president of this holding agency for the DMCA collection. The DMCA officially ceased operations as of 31 May 1963.

The merger of the DMCA and the DMFA resulted in one strong art museum for Dallas. The larger Board of Trustees brought about a more active interest in raising private funds, pressed for more financial support from the City, enlarged membership, and encouraged direct gifts of art or memorial funds. Former staff members of the DMCA, including David McManaway, Roger Winter, Paul Rogers Harris, Janet Kleinman Kutner, and Herb and Jett Rogalla continued to play active roles in the local art community after the merger of the two museums.

By Sammie Morris