Guest blogger Gail Sachson is Vice-Chair of the Cultural Affairs Commission and the Board Liaison to the Dallas Arts District Alliance. In this post, she describes an arts-filled day in Dallas:

Bill Lively, CEO of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, says it best: “It’s a great day to be in Dallas!”

8 a.m.: Take in Tut at the Dallas Museum of Art.”Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” features viewing times that expand beyond the museum’s regular hours.

11 a.m.: Tour the Nasher Sculpture Center and celebrate its fifth anniversary. The exhibition “In Pursuit of the Masters” presents a personalized and intimate view of the Nasher collection. Watch the just-released video, which makes you feel as if you are part of the family.

1 p.m.: Lunch at Dali at One Arts Plaza. You MUST have the butterscotch pudding. If you’re lucky, Booker T. graduate, Julliard trained and Yale degreed musician Richmond Punch will be playing in the plaza with his jazz band, as he was the afternoon I was there.

3 p.m.: Meander over to the the wall mural at the Catholic Foundation Plaza, across Flora Street from the Meyerson Symphony Center. This might be the Arts District’s best kept secret. The plaza is an urban retreat – a gathering place for a picnic lunch or an afternoon respite. Enjoy Magic Carpet, the scanned 28′ x 9’8″ vinyl mural by Dallas artist Pamela Nelson, winner of this year’s third annual mural competition. Magic Carpet offers a bird’s eye view of the map of the Arts District, embellished with streets of gold.

“I’m so happy to be part of this golden age of art and architecture in Dallas,” Nelson says.

8 p.m.: Do Dragon Street! Galleries offer the best free entertainment and education in the city. Paul Greenberg’s show of 60 mini black-and-white photographs at Photographs Do Not Bend shows off some of this Dallas photographer’s best work in tightly encapsulated 3×5 formats. They each vie for your attention, calling like sirens from the shores. “Come closer, and I will not let you go … until you choose one or more of us to take home.”

9 p.m.: Don’t go home yet! Every third Friday of the month, it’s LATE NIGHT ‘tll midnight at the Dallas Museum of Art. Try belly dancing to a hypnotic five-piece band. Now try that sipping a tall decaf latte offered free from Starbucks. If you’re not into belly dancing, belly up to the Art Bar in the Museum’s Center fro Creative Connections. Find a seat with 20 of your newest best friends and make art. It’s better than making time at that other bar down the street.

What a day! What a Dallas! What did you do today?