{"id":403818,"date":"2025-11-25T14:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T14:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/403818\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T14:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T14:58:12","slug":"dallas-curator-art-critic-charles-dee-mitchell-dies-at-74","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/403818\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas curator, art critic Charles Dee Mitchell dies at 74"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">With the passing of Charles Dee Mitchell, who died on Friday at the age of 74, the Dallas art world has lost one of its leading lights who helped shape the local artistic culture as a critic, curator, collector, patron and general all-around wise man of the arts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">After getting a theater degree from SMU, and a brief period teaching at Greenhill School and living in New York, Mitchell began working in 1972 at a small startup called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publishersweekly.com\/pw\/print\/20060925\/6178-better-than-full-price-any-day.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Half-Price Books<\/a>, eventually becoming chief buyer. Retiring early, he devoted his considerable talents and resources to the flourishing of the visual arts in Dallas. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">For many years, Mitchell had a major voice in representing the North Texas art scene to the broader art world, in sharp, penetrating reviews published in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artforum.com\/author\/charles-dee-mitchell\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Artforum<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/author\/charles-dee-mitchell\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Art in America<\/a>, among other magazines. (When I tried to educate myself about Dallas art before I moved here in 2009, reading Mitchell\u2019s impressive publications set my expectations at a high level.) <\/p>\n<ul class=\"dmnc_features-article-body-embeds-subject-tag-list-only-list-only-module__DAHnF list-disc\"><a class=\"dmnc_features-article-body-embeds-subject-tag-list-only-list-only-module__BZO7y link-blue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/arts-entertainment\/2025\/11\/25\/dallas-woman-keeps-zine-tradition-in-home\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">In Oak Cliff, this cultural advocate makes zines as a way to \u2018record our present\u2019 <\/a><a class=\"dmnc_features-article-body-embeds-subject-tag-list-only-list-only-module__BZO7y link-blue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/opinion\/letters-to-the-editor\/2025\/11\/22\/letters-to-the-editor-three-cheers-for-arts-educators-arboretum-program-bland-students\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Letters to the Editor &#8211; Three Cheers for arts educators, Arboretum program, Bland students<\/a><\/ul>\n<p>News Roundups<\/p>\n<p class=\"dmnc_features-cta-social-article-cta-social-module__3beff secondaryRoman secondaryRoman-20 text-center text-gray-dark\">Catch up on the day&#8217;s news you need to know.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dmnc_features-cta-social-article-cta-social-module__8MgJa flex flex-wrap text-gray-dark secondaryRoman secondaryRoman-10 text-center justify-center\">By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0<a class=\"dmnc_features-cta-social-article-cta-social-module__lU9-l border-b border-gray-dark hover_border-0 focus_border-0 active_border-0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/help\/terms-of-service\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a class=\"dmnc_features-cta-social-article-cta-social-module__lU9-l border-b border-gray-dark hover_border-0 focus_border-0 active_border-0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/help\/privacy-policy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Unlike many who write about art, though, the breadth and depth of Mitchell\u2019s literary and cultural knowledge set his work apart. A glimpse at the index of his <a href=\"https:\/\/dmaarchives.libraryhost.com\/repositories\/2\/resources\/262\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">archive<\/a> at the Dallas Museum of Art, or even his eccentric <a href=\"https:\/\/potatoweather.blogspot.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">blog<\/a>, suggests the range of his thinking. Later he exercised this range as president of the literary and poetry organization <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wordspacedallas.com\/sponsors\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wordspace<\/a> from 2010 to 2018, which was credited with helping nurture a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmagazine.com\/arts-entertainment\/2017\/02\/how-dee-mitchell-helped-put-wordspace-at-the-heart-of-dallas-literary-renaissance\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cliterary renaissance\u201d<\/a> in Dallas.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:741 \/ 1024\"   class=\"dmnc_images-modern-image-module__QFaG- max-w-full h-auto text-white dmnc_images-modern-image-module__9Zlll bg-gray-light object-contain\" width=\"741\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PYPJI4CQIDBJJK4DA3CRGREYKU.jpg\" alt=\"Curator Charles Dee Mitchell (left) and artist Ludwig Schwarz (right) photographed at the...\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Curator Charles Dee Mitchell (left) and artist Ludwig Schwarz (right) photographed at the installation &#8220;Ludwig Schwarz: Some Twenty-Year-Old Works on Paper and Two New Sculptures&#8221; at The Box Co. in Dallas Texas on November 12, 2017.<\/p>\n<p>NAN COULTER \/ Special Contributor  <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">His <a href=\"https:\/\/magazine.texasarchitects.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TA11_03.04_Web-2.pdf#page=29\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bermuda Street home<\/a>, designed by the architect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ronwommack.com\/bermuda-residence\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ron Wommack<\/a>, was made to showcase his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/arts-entertainment\/lifestyle\/2012\/01\/27\/the-house-that-books-built\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">art collection<\/a>, which Mitchell developed with razor-sharp, unerring taste. Far from simply pursuing the blue-chip or fashionable, as so many collectors do, Mitchell thought deeply and committed whole-heartedly. Among his outside-the-box interests was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.truthinphotography.org\/collecting-conflict.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">conflict photography<\/a>, of which he was a significant collector, which brought together media, culture and politics. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">The work of the local artists he supported, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/arts-entertainment\/visual-arts\/2017\/12\/09\/it-s-laugh-out-loud-funny-and-sometimes-baffling-but-ludwig-schwarz-exhibition-engages-and-intrigues\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ludwig Schwarz<\/a> (whom Mitchell curated at The Box Company), or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmagazine.com\/arts-entertainment\/2014\/11\/why-has-an-artist-taken-over-a-house-in-east-dallas\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jesse Morgan Barnett<\/a> (to whom Mitchell turned over his <a href=\"https:\/\/glasstire.com\/2014\/11\/10\/jesse-morgan-barnetts-quiet-home-invasion\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">home<\/a> as an exhibition venue), was invariably among the most exacting creative work, demanding viewers\u2019 full attention \u2014 never something that could be viewed distractedly or lazily. Like all of Mitchell\u2019s projects, these curatorial projects brought together eye and mind at an elevated level, setting a high standard for those who follow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol &amp; Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, The University of Texas at Dallas, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James &amp; Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer &amp; Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access\u2019 journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the passing of Charles Dee Mitchell, who died on Friday at the age of 74, the Dallas&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":403819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,5548],"class_list":{"0":"post-403818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-texas","11":"tag-tx","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa","18":"tag-visual-arts"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115610931910040564","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}