Dallas’ Art Supporters Keep the Parties Coming

For The Arts Community Alliance (TACA), fall has become the busiest of seasons — filled with events and celebrations lauding its tip-top supporters and the numerous performing arts groups it serves throughout the year.

This year, the organization shook up its events calendar, kicking off the fall with the private, invitation-only TACA Appreciation Dinner at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek.

The dinner, which replaced the annual ticketed fundraising gala, was launched as a way to luxuriously thank 200 of its mightiest, most stalwart patrons.

There were no asks for financial contributions, no high-profile auction items up for bid. Rather, the evening unfolded as all good dinner parties do: A beautiful, mix of attendees, paired with lively entertainment (the Turtle Creek Chorale garnered a pre-dinner standing ovation), and a divine dinner that took place throughout the entirety of The Mansion Restaurant.

Another noteworthy moment came when TACA surprised the group by using the dinner party as an opportune time to announce this year’s Silver Cup honorees: Margot Perot and J. Davis Hamlin. The duo will be lauded at the TACA Silver Cup Luncheon on March 18.

A few weeks following TACA’s exclusive donor dinner, it was time for Party on the Green — another calendar switch, having moved the event from spring to fall.

The annual foodie festival, chaired by Ann Mahowald and Ann Whitley Wood with honorary chairs Mickey and Bill Lively, drew 750 hungry partygoers to Sammons Park at AT&T Performing Arts Center.

The casual to-do was the TACA version of Top Chef, with 21 culinary gurus whipping up bites at various tasting stations.

This year, TACA made another debut: in conjunction with chef Dean Fearing, TACA gave the inaugural Taste of TACA Award to chef Jeffrey Kollinger.