In the Saturday spotlight, we’re getting to know some local artists. During the annual Cedars Open Studios tour, you can tour the artist studios in this Dallas neighborhood. The event culminates with the Corinth Park Party, featuring live music, a group art exhibition and the "art as fashion/fashion as art extravaganza." Click here for the event's Web site. And if you plan on going, here's a map of participating studios.

You can also hear This Week in Texas Music History on Friday on KXT and Saturday on KERA radio. But subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss an episode. And our thanks to KUT public radio in Austin for helping us bring this segment to you.

And if you’re a music lover, be sure to check out Track by Track, the bi-weekly podcast from Paul Slavens, host of KERA radio’s 90.1 at Night.

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Ernesto “Ernie” Caceres was born in Rockport, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1911. As a young man, he performed in San Antonio and throughout South Texas with his brother, Emilio Caceres, and his cousin, Johnny Gomez. The trio’s popularity earned the group an appearance on the Benny Goodman radio show in 1937. Soon, Ernie Caceres began playing the saxophone with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Jack Teagarden, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman. Following a stint in the U.S. Army during World War II, Caceres went on to play with Louis Armstrong’s All-Stars. Drawing from a broad range of musical influences, including Mexican-American, African-American and Anglo-American, Ernesto Caceres joined the many other talented artists from the Lone Star State who helped shape jazz music during the 20th century.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll celebrate a Texan who was born the son of a former slave but went on to become one of the most popular and influential songwriters in American history.

Two area museums celebrated important milestones this week. The Museum of Nature & Science on Wednesday broke ground on a new building at Victory Park. The new $80 million Fort Worth Museum of Science and History opens today. KERA’s Stephen Becker toured the new space.

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A sculpture called The Happy Family stands in the courtyard of the museum’s school. The piece features three cheerful blue figures, each balancing on one leg.

It’s an image that could serve as a metaphor for the whole institution.

With its dual science and history missions, the museum is by its very nature a balancing act.

Charlie Walter is responsible for finding the right interplay among the museum’s many purposes. He’s the executive vice president in charge of programming

WALTER:  “Some people love science, some people love history. Some people have small kids and want to go and have a hands-on experience. Other people want a more adult, aesthetic experience. So we think the building really strikes that balance. It was a balancing act, but the sweet spot is when you have different components that will appeal to different guests who walk through our door."

Skeletons of dinosaurs that lived in North Texas roam the DinoLabs downstairs. Another room details the Barnett Shale, the natural gas reserve that lies a mile beneath the museum’s floor.

Head upstairs, and you’ll find the Cattle Raisers Museum and the Fort Worth History Gallery. The latter space traces the city’s history through the development of the street car.

WALTER: “That’s what makes it so powerful. It’s a Fort Worth story, it’s Fort Worth-centric, it’s interpreting science and history right in your backyard. So any kiddo or adult can connect with it and then explore more right in your community. You can go down to Glen Rose and see the tracks right there in the river that these dinosaurs made. You see the energy production all around us.”

But that’s not to say the museum has limited itself to Fort Worth, or even Texas.

One of the highlights is CSI: The Experience, based on the hit TV show. It’s an interactive production created by the museum that travels the country.

Visitors observe one of three crime scenes involving a dead body. Through forensic science, good old fashioned detective work and the help of a few video-taped experts, you’ll gather clues to solve the case.

One of those experts teaches you to analyze blood spatter patterns.

EXPERT: “If an object has blood on it or is bleeding and is walking through a scene, drips will come off periodically, and when you look at the scene, what you’ll see is a trail. That indicates movement through that scene.”

Cool, yet kinda gross.

But just wait until you study your victim on the autopsy table.

EXPERT: “When cleaning and prepping the body, my assistant found more maggots."

Learning can be a dirty business.

Still, learning is the common thread that holds the museum together.

Sam Dean is a scientist based at one of Americas’ leading science museums, the  Exploratorium in San Francisco. He designed some of the children’s exhibits now on display in Fort Worth and says that the museum’s dedication to education is what sets it apart from other science museums.

SAM DEAN: “Learning comes to the forefront. And so the design of your building and exhibits all flow from that being the number one thing that’s important – learning and exploration, discovery, joy and whimsy. Those things are not easy to find in a lot of places.”

Beginning today, you can hunt for them in Fort Worth.

Stephanie "Tefi" Hindall is a Dallas-based jewelry designer who runs her own design studio, Tefi Designs. Not only does Stephanie create some really unusual and creative jewelry and accessories, she is also the founder of EtsyDallas.com, a cooperative craft collective of artists and designers living and working in Dallas. These folks sell their merchandise on the Etsy Web site, as well as at local and regional craft fairs and events, one of which is taking place on Saturday at Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas. The 2nd Annual Jingle Bash will feature 50-plus Dallas Etsy artists exhibiting and selling fabulous creations, perfectly timed for the upcoming gift giving holiday season, or for your own personal pleasure.

In an e-mail exchange, we took a peek inside Stephanie's creative and inventive mind as a part of this week's Art&Seek Q&A:

Art&Seek: You are quite the crafty gal. When did you know that you had a knack for creating such wonderful jewelry and accessories?

Stephanie Hindall: It’s a pretty unremarkable story, really: Girl graduates with English degree and no job prospects, girl meets beads, girl starts making necklaces. It was a creative outlet for me at the time (1998) and just blossomed from there into a full-fledged business.

A&S: What sorts of materials inspire your designs?

S.H.: I use top quality beads and findings of all kinds: gemstones, Czech glass, pearls, sterling silver. I also make my own needle felted beads using 100 percent naturally-, ethically-raised wool. For my fabric items (brooches, hair clips) I use designer and vintage fabric.

A&S: I don't particularly like the term "craft." However, when I hear it phrased as "handmade," I want to break open my piggy-bank and shop 'til I drop. What is your take on the world of crafts now, versus, say, 20-years ago?

S.H.: Honestly, I didn’t think there was a world of crafts 20 years ago. That would have been 1989, when I was 14 and starting high school. Back then, “crafts” to me meant lanyards and plastic pony bead stretchy bracelets – you know, the things reserved for summer camp and vacation Bible school. The artists of Etsy Dallas, who I am proud to be associated with, are professional, talented artists who take the term “crafts” to a completely new level – one that is emulated by successful retailers like Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Fossil.

A&E: When you are creating something, do you have the story in your head as to how you’ll describe it? Or is it the other way around?

S.H.: For the most part I make a piece, photograph it, then name it right there on the spot as I add it to my online shop. I draw from my insanely useless knowledge of pop culture as well as all the schooling I got in the English department at UT Austin. You can’t go wrong referencing Heathers or quoting e.e. cummings. People in the art/craft world often take themselves way too seriously. I like to mix it up with a bit of humor and self-depracation from time to time. I’m not curing cancer or rocketing to the moon. I’m just a girl making pretty things that I hope people will like (and buy!).

A&S: You work full-time as a grant writer for a local non-profit serving homeless children, and you are an adviser for La Reunion, a member of the North Oak Cliff Conservation District, a board member of the Oak Cliff Artisans, a wife, a mother and the founder of Etsy Dallas. When do you find time to sleep, much less create these works of art?

S.H.: This word you use: “sleep.” Yeah, I’m not sure what that means.

A&S: Share with me some of the history of Etsy Dallas and what you hope to accomplish (or continue accomplishing). Also, what sorts of artisans can be found among the Etsy Dallas crew?

S.H.: I founded Etsy Dallas back in September 2007 as a response to the lack of inclusive craft groups in Dallas and the need for a leader to step forward and start a cohesive and active craft collective. So I rolled up my sleeves and took the lead. Today, Etsy Dallas is made up of a group of local artists and designers who have been juried into the group for both the quality of their work and their level of commitment to the team.

A&S: Of all the goodies you have for sale, which is your favorite and why?

S.H.: Boy, that’s like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. The newest pieces I am working on are my fabric brooches, which sold very well at this past weekend’s Cliff Fest. But my staple is my original design Peapod pendant necklace, which is a customer favorite.

A&S: I actually shot some video footage of your jewelry at Cliff Fest this past weekend and was really kicking myself for not acquiring some of the treasures I saw. So, I’m very excited to attend Jingle Bash this coming Saturday. Tell me about the event and what visitors can expect.

S.H.: This is the second year we’re putting on the Jingle Bash and have been planning it since April. It’s going to be amazing – a sort of collective community party that happens to have incredibly talented artists selling their handmade wares. Aside from a variety of locally crafted clothing, jewelry, body care, art and more, the Bash will also have two full bars, great home-cooked food, pool and shuffleboard, DJ tunes and live music. And if you’re one of the first 50 shoppers, count yourself lucky because you’ll be handed a free collectible canvas Goody Bag chock full of handmade items.

The Art&Seek Q&A is a weekly discussion with a person involved in the arts in North Texas. Check back next Thursday for another installment.

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More than 20 donations of a million dollars or more have been made to build the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Victory Park.

But with an estimated cost of $185 million, even million-dollar donations don’t take a huge chunk out of the bill.

Enter Ross Perot Jr.

At Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new building, he recalled a conversation he had with the museum’s chief fundraiser, Forrest Hoglund. Hoglund suggested that Perot and his sisters take their mother, Margot, a former teacher, to see the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

PEROT: “And I think before mom even went into the building, just the school buses alone lined up with the school kids to go in that day, she was convinced this was something she wanted to do. And if you want to know how things work in our family, probably like yours, if your mother is on board, pretty much the rest of us are gonna follow.”

The trip ultimately netted a $50 million donation and the naming rights to the museum in honor of their parents, H. Ross and Margot Perot.

The museum isn’t scheduled to open until 2013. Fundraising continues, and they’re still about $60 million away from their goal.

But on Wednesday, several dozen kids saw demonstrations on gravity, wind power, light and other concepts they may learn about one day on field trips to the museum.

And Perot saw a vision of the future.

“We know that millions of children will go through the building every year … and I hope that with their dreams and aspirations, they will stay in Dallas, they will build their business in Dallas, and continue to build this fabulous economy that we call home.”

Congratulations to Masako Fujinami of Dallas, the winner of the Flickr Photo of the Week contest! A few weeks back, we asked our regular submitters to the contest to go out and shoot their best photo of the Arts District, and Masako took us up on the assignment. The above picture is part of an excellent series of photos she took of the Wyly Theatre and the Winspear Opera House; some more of them are below.  Masako follows last week's winner, Neff Conner.

If you would like to participate in the Flickr Photo of the Week contest, all you need to do is upload your photo to to our Flickr group page. It's fine to submit a photo you took previous to the current week, but we are hoping that the contest will inspire you to go out and shoot something fantastic this week to share with Art&Seek users. If the picture you take involves another facet of the arts, even better. The contest week will run from Monday to Sunday, and the Art&Seek staff will pick a winner on Monday afternoon. We'll notify the winner through FlickrMail (so be sure to check those inboxes) and ask you to fill out a short survey to tell us a little more about yourself and the photo you took. We'll post the winners' photo on Wednesday.

Now, here's more from Masako:

Masako Fujinami

Title of photo: Dee & Charles Wyly Theater by REX | OMA

Equipment Used: Nikon d200

Tell us more about your photo:

The Wyly Theatre appears monolithic when compared with the Winspear Opera House across the street at the new AT&T Performing Arts Center. Four hundred and sixty-six aluminum tubes drape down the sides of the building like a giant metal curtain. The surface appears to ripple due to the aluminum tubes varying in diameter from three inches to 10 inches. However, I just love how the building's skin changes colors to reflect the surrounding environment and time of day.

I also appreciate the very thoughtful design – the true uniqueness of the Wyly is the structure and flexibility. It is the building’s basic functions which have led to this design. The walls retract, the stage moves and the tiers of seats can be hoisted away. Truly designed to be one of the world’s most innovative theater facilities, here in Dallas, Texas. I am so proud to see that.

Photo: brokenspokeaustintx.com

Art&Seek presents This Week in Texas Music History. Every week, we’ll spotlight a different moment and the musician who made it. This week, Texas music scholar Gary Hartman looks at one of the state's most famous dance halls.

You can also hear This Week in Texas Music History on Friday on KXT and Saturday on KERA radio. But subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss an episode. And our thanks to KUT public radio in Austin for helping us bring this segment to you.

And if you’re a music lover, be sure to check out Track by Track, the bi-weekly podcast from Paul Slavens, host of KERA radio’s 90.1 at Night.

• Click the player to listen to the podcast:

• Expanded online version:

This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll look at a classic Texas dance hall that has become a world famous tourist destination.

On November 10, 1964, James White opened the Broken Spoke on South Lamar Blvd. in Austin. Originally, the Broken Spoke was just a café, but when customers began dancing to the music playing on the jukebox, White decided to expand the building to include a dance hall and stage. A number of legendary country musicians performed at the Broken Spoke in the early years, including Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb, Tex Ritter and Ray Price. During the progressive country music movement of the 1970s, a new generation of Texas artists played the hall, including Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Jerry Jeff Walker. More recently, Alvin Crow, George Strait, the Dixie Chicks, Asleep at the Wheel and countless others have graced the stage. The Broken Spoke has been featured in National Geographic, on PBS and in several major motion pictures. It continues to offer live music nightly, attracting crowds of local music fans, as well as busloads of tourists from all over the world.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll learn about a Texan who drew from Hispanic, Anglo and African-American influences to become one of the most well-respected jazz musicians of the 1940s and 1950s.

Alec Jhangiani has one of the more enviable jobs in the North Texas arts scene. As Artistic Director of the Lone Star Film Festival – which runs through Sunday – he’s charged with watching the films that get submitted and picking the best ones to show. He discusses the process of programming the festival and its role in promoting film culture in his home town as part of this week’s Art&Seek Q&A:

Art&Seek: How many films do you think you watched in deciding on programming for the festival?

Alec Jhangiani: Let’s see. I started watching two or three features a day back in mid-August. And we locked everything by about mid-October. So what would that be … definitely between 100-200 films that I watched from start to finish, and then another big bunch that I laid eyes on. We had a big screening committee that would vet the film before it got to us.

A&S: This will be the third Lone Star International Film Festival. What do you think you’ve learned from the first two?

A.J.: No. 1 is how far out the films need to be in place and just how much marketing needs to be done to get people to see these films. You can program really great films, but if they don’t have certain elements in them – like big name actors, or stuff like that – people aren’t necessarily going to go see them unless you can communicate to everybody why these films are playing. That process can take a while.

A&S: How would you describe your approach to programming the festival?

A.J.: For a smaller, newer festival, some of that is taken care of. We’re definitely limited by the films we have access to. We don’t have the access to every premiere that’s going to be out there like a Sundance does. … For the narrative features, we try and limit it to first and second time directors. In the past couple of years we’ve been able to do that. The thread that really presented itself, which I was very pleased about, for the narrative features is that they all focused in some way on relationships – on modern day relationships between men and women. They all had very different perspectives on that. … One thing we’re looking for across the board are films that are taking a genre or a direction or a certain issue and probing deeper into it, rather than a broad approach. We’re not necessarily looking for films with huge scopes. I think that’s one of the things that differentiates Hollywood from independent film.

A&S: A lot of festivals generate some buzz by offering a sneak peek at buzzy films that will eventually come to town. Lone Star seems to be focused on making sure that we see some smaller features that may not make it to a national release.

A.J.: To us, it’s kind of the natural role of a festival. I certainly understand why festivals [show sneak peeks of big films], but a lot of the times, it’s really sort of playing off the novelty of, “Oh, I got to see that film before everyone else did.” But in the end, it may not necessarily do much for the film. When you go back to look at the history of Sundance, that premise of showing films that people might not get to see is what the whole festival was based on. In developing [Lone Star] and coming up with a reason for doing a festival, that came up. There’s always going to be room there as other festivals grow and focus on higher-level stuff and stuff that’s going to get more attention anyway, like a Sundance – those festivals still remain very important, but they are showcasing a different part of the industry. There’s always going to be room for festivals like ours that are a little smaller that showcase films that people aren’t going to get to see otherwise.

A&S: Last year you showed a selection of Russian films. This year you are showing a trio of German films. Do you think you will continue to pick a country to spotlight like that going forward?

A.J.: Yes, that’s definitely the plan for now. … Last year we had some relationships through a board member with Russian film organizations, and at that point it kind of crystallized, and we thought we should have an international focus every year. Germany was one that I had been hearing about a lot and seemed like a natural choice. We discussed it with a couple of organizations around town that just kind of confirmed that inclination. So yeah, we hope to continue that. I think it’s something important that the festival can do.

A&S: Do you have a film that you are particularly excited about that you want to make sure people know about?

A.J.: Modern Love is Automatic is a really great performance. Easier with Practice is a very interesting, but in a way unrealistic, take on the modern day relationship, where Modern Love is Automatic will resonate with people a little more and does a really good job of investigating the apathy that a lot of people have toward relationships today. That’s one that people may not be inclined to see just by looking at stuff and reading the papers.

A&S: What’s the Lone Star Film Society’s role, and by extension, the festival’s role, in nurturing film culture in Fort Worth?

A.J.: I think if the film society continues to be the clearing house if possible to get people’s attention and to get people excited and then redirect their attention to wherever important films are playing in Fort Worth, what we’ve seen is that people respond. Once they get there and see the films, whether or not they were film people before, it really does open their eyes to this whole universe of films and film culture that is out there. At this point, we’ve proven a hypothesis in a way: Fort Worth audiences are sophisticated enough. They are curious and interested in new things and new art. The content hasn’t been here, but also all the work into getting them to show up hasn’t been here either, and that’s really where I think the film society can help out a lot.

The Art&Seek Q&A is a weekly discussion with a person involved in the arts in North Texas. Check back next Thursday for another installment.

Congratulations to Neff Conner of Bedford, the winner of the Flickr Photo of the Week contest! Neff previously won the contest in September with this photo of the Traveling Man sculpture in Deep Ellum. Neff follows last week's winner, Wade Griffith.

If you would like to participate in the Flickr Photo of the Week contest, all you need to do is upload your photo to to our Flickr group page. It's fine to submit a photo you took previous to the current week, but we are hoping that the contest will inspire you to go out and shoot something fantastic this week to share with Art&Seek users. If the picture you take involves another facet of the arts, even better. The contest week will run from Monday to Sunday, and the Art&Seek staff will pick a winner on Monday afternoon. We'll notify the winner through FlickrMail (so be sure to check those inboxes) and ask you to fill out a short survey to tell us a little more about yourself and the photo you took. We'll post the winners' photo on Wednesday.

Now, here's more from Wade:

Neff Conner

Title of photo: Window Washer

Equipment Used: Canon SD750, PhotoShop

Tell us more about your photo: November 6, 2009: A Friday like most other Fridays, except there were people dangling from ropes, casting unfamiliar shadows in the office where I work. Were they wannabe stuntmen climbing up to the roof? Or a S.W.A.T. team repelling down the face of the building in a daring rescue attempt or training exercise? No, they were window washers wielding squeegees, and they were practicing their trade and risking their lives so we can fully enjoy our view of the city and beyond.

I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pics as the worker quickly and skillfully serviced the pane directly in front of me. The outside of the glass is quite reflective, so I don't know if he saw me or not. I felt fortunate to have been able to catch this moment. We were physically 3 feet from one another but couldn't be farther apart, in some ways. I was safely inside a climate-controlled, high-rent office as he dangled dangerously in the bright midday sun. Two contrasting worlds separated by a thin pane of glass. Studying the photo more closely, I notice that the windowpane is halved – a clean side and an unfinished side – and the worker seems to be peaking around the defined line separting the two, further accentuating the dichotomy.