Spread over 20 square blocks and encompassing 68 acres, the walkable downtown hub of creativity features art for all the senses with award-winning museums, performing arts venues, restaurants and bars, while an arts magnet high school, Booker T. Washington, inspires tomorrow's brilliant artists.
Use our guide to the neighborhood to plan your next outing! While we've mentioned a few spots here, there are so many more to explore! Head out and find your new favorites - and tag @VisitDallas on Instagram when you make it there.
Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas is one of only a handful of museums in the country dedicated solely to the arts and cultures of Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. Experience a peaceful world of beauty and spirituality in the heart of the city with pieces dating from 3500 B.C. to the early 20th century. Don't miss a glimpse at precious jade ornaments from China, delicate Japanese scrolls and a rarely seen 2-by-28 foot sandstone façade of an 18th century Indian residence.
Klyde Warren Park opened in 2012 and introduced a central green space in the middle of a bustling downtown scene. The 5.2-acre park delivers a comprehensive activities calendar for locals and visitors, including daily food trucks and fitness classes, a dog park, a children's center, games and live music. Connectivity was key in picking the spot above Woodall Rogers Freeway for the park; visitors can get to Klyde Warren via foot, trolley or bicycle from multiple neighborhoods.
Explore light-filled galleries and a serene outdoor sculpture garden at the Nasher Sculpture Center. The museum is home to one of the finest collections of modern and contemporary sculptures in the world, featuring more than 500 masterpieces by Calder, de Kooning, di Suvero, Giacometti, Hepworth, Kelly, Matisse, Miró, Moore, Picasso, Rodin, Serra and more. Designed by world-renowned architect Renzo Piano with landscape architect Peter Walker, the Nasher Sculpture Center presents rotating exhibitions of works and guided tours focusing on the ever-evolving field of sculpture.
Nestled in the heart of the Dallas Arts District, the AT&T Performing Arts Center is hailed as the most significant performing arts center built since Lincoln Center in New York City. The center is home to the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, which follows a traditional horseshoe shape, engineered specifically for opera and musical theater performances. The Winspear is home to the Dallas Opera and Texas Ballet Theater.
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science, home to 11 permanent exhibit halls and various traveling exhibitions throughout the year, delivers hours of fun for children, adults and lifelong learners alike. Catch a view of Downtown Dallas from the museum's glass-encased elevator as you work your way up to the top floor and back down.
Sammons Park embraces and unifies all venues of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Weaving together the Winspear Opera House, Wyly Theatre, Strauss Square, and City Performance Hall, the ten-acre park stretches from Woodall Rodgers Freeway to Ross Avenue and is the first public park in the Dallas Arts District.
The compact, vertical orientation of the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, climbing 12 stories into the Dallas skyline, was designed by Joshua Prince-Ramus of REX and Rem Koolhaas of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. The theater, home to the Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Black Dance Theatre and the Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folkorico, is a prime destination for music and theatre enthusiasts.
