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The Cultural District
The State of Texas, through the Texas Commission on the Arts designates cultural districts special zones in cities and communities that harness the power of cultural resources to stimulate economic development and community vitality.
In Fort Worth's celebrated Cultural District, just a few miles west of downtown, visitors can explore modern and historic buildings that are acclaimed for their architecture and the programs they offer. Three world-class art museums whose collections span the entire history of art across many cultures, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Kimbell Art Museum, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Visitors and locals alike can also explore the history and science at Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Will Rogers Memorial Complex, Dickies Arena, and Casa Manana, and the Fort Worth Community Arts Center keep the Cultural District alive with ever-present performances, concerts, exhibitions, and special events, like the annual Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. Learn more.
Explore the Cultural District's many public artworks through Arts Fort Worth's self-guided walking tour.
Image courtesy of Visit Fort Worth.
After Dallas was selected to be the site of the official Texas Centennial Celebration in 1936, Amon G. Carter began making plans for a celebration in Fort Worth that would rival it. At the center was to be a large, outdoor amphitheater and restaurant called Casa Mañana, “The House of Tomorrow.” Casa Mañana strives to create, nurture, and advance live professional theater unparalleled in artistic excellence for the enrichment and education of our diverse community and its future generations of artists and patrons.
Located in the heart of Fort Worth’s Cultural District, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art explores the breadth and complexity of American creativity. Through an expansive collection, and by presenting world-class exhibitions, sharing dynamic events, sparking cutting-edge research, and more, the Amon Carter Museum offer visitors new ways to encounter and understand American art.
BRIT supports botanical solutions to address globally challenging problems ranging from pollution clean-up to sustainable food sources. By serving as a think tank and catalyst, BRIT inspires learning and forms interdisciplinary collaborations for critical research within scientific, educational, social, cultural, and business communities.
Their work impacts our community and the world in a number of functional areas including, the environment, by giving people a local sense of stewardship; society, by training a new generation of thinkers and problem solvers; and conservation, by offering methods for better stewardship of the land.
Arts Fort Worth is committed to providing a quality event, visual, and performing arts venue for the community. The striking modern Herbert Bayer building (with a later O’Neil Ford addition) opened to the public in 1954 as home to one of the most prestigious and oldest collecting organizations in the state of Texas, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. In 2002, the Modern moved locations, and the building was renamed the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, becoming a home for the arts in Fort Worth with nine galleries and two theaters. Now known as Arts Fort Worth, we continue to build on this legacy into the future.
The Cattle Raisers Museum is located on the second floor of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. The Cattle Raisers Museum is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the vital history and science of the cattle industry. The experience tells the story of the cattle industry from its origins among the West’s early Spanish settlers, through the heyday of the legendary drovers, all the way to today’s modern range technology. The exhibits show the important role Texas and Southwestern cattle raisers play in protecting natural resources as frontline stewards of land, livestock, and wildlife.
The Fort Worth Science and History Museum faces the Will Rogers Memorial Center to the east and opens onto a broad plaza that connects the museum to its neighbors, both the Will Rogers Center and, in particular, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. The museum, designed by famed architects Legoretta + Legoretta of Mexico City, is 166,000 sq. ft. of engaging gallery space. The Museum holds DinoLabs and DinoDig, Innovation Studios, the Children’s Museum, Energy Blast, and the CattleRaiser’s Museum. The Havener Gallery provides a space for changing exhibits.
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is a leader in collecting, showing, and interpreting art from the 1940s to the present. Situated in the heart of the Cultural District, the creative center of the city, the Modern has been housed since 2002 in an elegant concrete, glass, and steel building designed by the renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando. In addition to 53,000 square feet of soaring, light-filled gallery space and landscaped grounds with outdoor sculptures, the museum features a reflecting pond, theater, education center, gift shop, and café, creating a thriving hub for our community and beyond.
The Kimbell Art Museum’s original building, designed by Louis I. Kahn, opened in 1972 and has become a mecca of modern architecture. The Penzo Piano colonnaded pavilion stands as an expression of simplicity and lightness sixty-five yards to the west of the original museum. The Kimbell has pursued quality over quantity in its acquisitions. Its holdings range from the third millennium B.C. to the mid-20th century and is comprised of Asian and non-Western as well as European art, and extends to the mid-20th century.
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is the only museum in the world dedicated to honoring women of the West and from around the world who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneer spirit in their trailblazing efforts. It includes interactive exhibit galleries that feature artifacts of the permanent collection, a traveling exhibit gallery, two theaters, a gift shop, a research library, and archives. Currently, the museum’s archives house more than 4000 artifacts and information about more than 750 remarkable women.
This 120-acre, renowned equestrian and event facility plays host to a variety of corporate, educational, agricultural and sporting events, including many international and grand-scale shows. Home to the historic Will Rogers Coliseum, Will Rogers Auditorium, Amon G. Carter, Jr. Exhibit Halls, and equestrian facilities, and crowned by the historic 208-foot Pioneer Tower, this venue attracts more than two million visitors each year to the Cultural District.
When most people think of public art, they think of statues of historic figures, but public art can take many forms, such as a free-standing sculpture, a mosaic integrated into a building’s architecture, or sculpture ensembles.
This digital map has 45 attractions, including the Amon Carter Museum of American Arts, the Fort Worth Community Art Center, the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, the Kimbell Art Museum, the Modern Art Museum, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, Will Rogers Memorial Complex and other exciting places to visit!
Explore the Cultural District by bike, foot, or car with our walking tour app- no download required! Using this web-based app from your phone, you can explore the Cultural District's publicly accessible artwork from the collections of each of the institutions listed.
Languages: English, Spanish, and Vietnamese with text-to-voice options