West is Among the Best for Culture and Shopping-and-Dining Delights
A
by Michael H. Price
As long as we’re “out where the West begins,” as an iconic figure in Fort Worth’s history described this Cowtown, then we might as well look even further westward within the city itself. Pioneering publisher and civic booster Amon Carter may have intended to give Dallas the razz when he coined that phrase — but the West hardly could have picked a keener starting point than Fort Worth. And Fort Worth, in turn, hardly could have picked a site more right for its burgeoning west side Cultural District. Rippling with heavy-duty commercial, artistic and residential growth since the dawn of the 21st century, the west side overall has seen its very skyline change with the transformation of a busy West Seventh Street into a streamlined conduit connecting the downtown area’s Sundance Square development with the Cultural District. Heading west (naturally) from downtown Fort Worth, one finds the Cultural District radiating from the intersection where Seventh Street crosses University Drive and, in the process, morphs into the historic, brick-paved Camp Bowie Boulevard. Visitors in search of western-style discoveries — from plain-and-fancy dining to fine art and varied entertainment — will find such delights in volume on the west side. Cultural attractions, restaurants, mainstream and special-interest shopping, and lavish natural gardens flourish as a reminder of how Fort Worth has built upon its frontier origins. Several of the world’s finer museums, playhouses and galleries anchor a vast Cultural District. The hand-laid red-brick pavement of Camp Bowie Boulevard is an attraction in itself, lined with an everexpanding array of art galleries, stage-andscreen auditoriums, boutiques, scholarly museums, restaurants and lounges, and shopping malls. 6
KEY MAGAZINE
June 2017
The Cultural District The Fort Worth Museum of Science & History, commands the westward view of the district from Montgomery Street and just northward are additional cultural touchstones: Designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, houses a definitive collection of American paintings, photography, and sculpture. The collection spans early nineteenth-century art to mid-twentieth century modernism. It is also home to nearly 400 works by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Near by is the Kimbell Art Museum still living up to Newsweek’s description as “arguably the most beautiful museum in America” including its new Renzo Piano Pavilion addition. The neighboring Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is the oldest such museum in Texas — housed in a workof-art 2002 building designed by worldrenowned Japanese architect, Tadao Ando, and featuring bold gallery exhibitions, concert attractions and, every weekend, leading-edge independent-studio films. The Museum of Science & History, anchoring a campus within the Cultural District, has been designed by similarly renowned architects Ricardo and Victor Legorreta. Inside the Museum of Science & History, one finds vast galleries of Texas-bred dinosaur specimens and the state’s oil-and-gas heritage, in addition to the Cattle Raisers Museum, the Fort Worth Children’s Museum, Stars Café, and a new digital Noble Planetarium. The Omni Theater, an IMAX® superscreen dome, links with the Museum of Science & History and boasts a new digital sound system and enhanced lighting.The National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame is next door to the FMS&H. The NCM&HF honors women of the American West from