NASHER SCULPTURE CENTER PRESENTS LARRY MCMURTRY AND DIANA OSSANA AT JULY NASHERSALON
6/25/2008 12:00:00 AM
Tickets to July 17 Salon are available for purchase beginning Sunday, June 29
Dallas, Texas – The Nasher Sculpture Center and AFI Dallas are excited to welcome writing partners Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, as featured guests at the July 17th NasherSalon. Tickets for the Salon are $45 for adults ($40 for members) and will be available for purchase on-line at www.NasherSalonSeries.org or by calling 888.695.0888 beginning Sunday, June 29 at 10 am.
The Salon, presented by Museum Tower with media support by The Dallas Morning News, will take place at 8 pm in the intimate Nasher Auditorium. Salon ticket holders may purchase a pre-Salon buffet dinner at Nasher Cafe by Wolfgang Puck for $25 per person by calling 214.242.5144.
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana have mastered successful literary collaborations in fiction, film and television. In addition to writing the Academy Award-winning screenplay for Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee and adapted from Annie Proulx’s short story, the dynamic duo has written two novels, Pretty Boy Floyd and Zeke and Ned. Most recently McMurtry and Ossana co-wrote and co-executive produced a television miniseries, Comanche Moon, based on McMurtry’s novel of the same name.
The pair also co-wrote and co-executive produced four award-winning miniseries: Streets of Laredo and Comanche Moon for CBS; Dead Man’s Walk for ABC; and Johnson County War for Hallmark Entertainment. Current projects include Boone’s Lick, a novel by McMurtry that was published in 2000, and will be made into a movie in 2010 starring Tom Hanks and Julianne Moore.
Larry McMurtry
Internationally acclaimed novelist, screenwriter, and essayist, Larry McMurtry is best known for his 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove. The historical epic follows the journey of two former Texas Rangers on a cattle drive from the Rio Grande to the frontier of Montana. The novel was later adapted into a popular television miniseries starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones.
Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, Larry McMurtry earned degrees from North Texas State University and Rice University, and studied for one semester at Stanford University as a Wallace Stegner Fellow. He has held teaching positions at Texas Christian University, Rice University, George Mason College, and American University.
In 1962, McMurtry won the Texas Institute of Letters Jesse M. Jones Award for his first novel, Horseman, Pass By. McMurtry has since published a steady stream of essays, novels, teleplays, and screenplays and is considered to be one of America’s best known writers of 19th century Western fiction.
Larry McMurtry is well known for his adaptations including Hud (from the novel Horseman, Pass By), The Last Picture Show, and Terms of Endearment (which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture in 1984). Films produced from McMurtry’s works have garnered 18 Oscars and 34 Oscar nominations. In addition to teaching and writing, McMurtry is also the founder and owner of renowned bookshops by the name of “Booked Up.”
Diana Ossana
Diana Ossana was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended Eastern New Mexico University. After a successful law career, Ossana collaborated on writing screenplays, teleplays, and novels with Larry McMurtry. They first worked together on Pretty Boy Floyd in 1992.
Ossana first read Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain in an issue of The New Yorker Magazine in 1997. She and McMurtry wrote to Proulx for permssion to write the screenplay, and later won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay of 2006. Ossana served as the film’s producer, and earned a Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Feature.
About the NasherSalon:
The NasherSalon series began in 2005 as a monthly forum held at the Nasher Sculpture Center to engage in discussions on topics relating to art in its various forms – sculpture, painting, music, and the culinary arts. In 2006, The Dallas Morning News signed on as the Salon’s primary media partner, providing generous media support. The 2008 NasherSalon features the addition of presenting sponsor Museum Tower, and brings to Dallas the cultural luminaries and legends of our day.
NasherSalon Sponsors:
Presenting Sponsor: Museum Tower
Museum Tower is a 42-story luxury residential high-rise located in the heart of the Dallas Arts District between the Nasher Sculpture Center and Meyerson Symphony Center, among the works of four Pritzker Prize-winning architects. Museum Tower is designed by architect Scott Johnson. The contemporary tower will offer 122 residences in nine floorplans, ranging from an intimate 1,450-square-foot pied-à-terre to an 8,700-square-foot penthouse. The dramatic two- and three-bedroom interiors—created by Bodron+Fruit and Booziotis & Company Architects—will feature floor-to-ceiling glass, direct-access elevators, and outdoor terraces. Museum Tower will provide exceptional amenities, including outdoor pool, gallery, private gardens, concierge, and wellness services. Groundbreaking is scheduled for early 2008, with completion in late 2010. Museum Tower is being developed by Brook Partners, Inc. and Turtle Creek Holdings, Inc.
www.museumtowerdallas.com
Media Sponsor: The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News began publishing on Oct. 1, 1885. It is published by the oldest business institution in Texas, Belo Corp., which has chronicled Texas history for more than 160 years. The newspaper's daily circulation, which stood at 163,000 in 1950, grew to 368,000 in 1985, when it celebrated its Centennial. Circulation increased to nearly 515,000 in 1992 after the Dallas Times Herald ceased publication and Belo purchased its assets. Ten years later, those gains had been maintained and readership remained strong.
Sponsor: AFI Dallas
AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. AFI trains the next generation of filmmakers at its world-renowned Conservatory, maintains America's film heritage through the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and explores new digital technologies in entertainment and education through the AFI Digital Content Lab and K-12 Screen Education Center. As the largest nonprofit exhibitor in the US, AFI ON SCREEN encompasses the annual AFI FEST presented by Audi: AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival—as well as year-round programming at ArcLight Hollywood and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, including SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival. AFI AWARDS, the annual almanac for the 21st century, honors the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year, while AFI's 100 Years . . . series has ignited extraordinary public interest in classic American movies. And, during the past 34 years, AFI’s Life Achievement Award has become the highest honor for a career in film. Additional information about AFI is available at AFI.com.
Airline Sponsor: American Airlines
American Airlines is the world's largest airline. American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection® airlines serve 250 cities in over 40 countries with more than 4,000 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 1,000 aircraft.
Hotel Sponsor: Hotel Crescent Court
As culturally vibrant as the neighborhood in which it sits, Hotel Crescent Court, A Rosewood Hotel, is a refreshing experience of contrasts. Located within walking distance of the art, culture and energy of Dallas, the hotel consistently wins hearts and accolades as one of the best hotels in the United States. With a bold palette of colors, chic, newly renovated guestrooms, innovative New American cuisine at The Crescent Club, award winning Asian-fusion dishes from Nobu and the serenity of The Spa, Hotel Crescent Court offers discreet and professional service with Texas charm.
About the Nasher Sculpture Center:
Open since October 2003, the Nasher Sculpture Center is dedicated to the display and study of modern and contemporary sculpture. The Center is located on a 2.4 acre site adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art in the heart of the Dallas Arts District. Renzo Piano, a world-renowned architect and winner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 1998, is the architect of the Center’s 55,000 square foot building. Piano worked in collaboration with landscape architect Peter Walker on the design of the two-acre sculpture garden.
The Nasher Sculpture Center was the longtime dream of the late Raymond and Patsy Nasher, who together formed one of the finest collections of modern and contemporary sculpture in the world. The Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection includes masterpieces by Calder, de Kooning, di Suvero, Giacometti, Hepworth, Kelly, Matisse, Miró, Moore, Picasso, Rodin, and Serra, among others, and continues to grow and evolve.
The Nasher Sculpture Center presents rotating exhibitions of works from the Nasher Collection as well as special exhibitions drawn from other museums and private collections. In addition to indoor gallery space, the Center contains an auditorium, education and research facilities, a cafe, and a store.
The Nasher Sculpture Center is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am to 5 pm and Thursday from 11am to 9 pm. Please note: the Nasher Sculpture Center will be open to Salon ticket holders only the evening of the Salons. General Admission to the Center is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, $5 for students, and free for members and children 12 and under. For more information, visit www.NasherSculptureCenter.org
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For more information and photos, please contact:
Kristen Mills Gibbins
Communications Manager
214.242.5177
kgibbins@NasherSculptureCenter.org