ARTS HALL TAKES NEW DIRECTION: Thursday night, the board of the troubled Arts Center of North Texas (formerly the Arts of Collin County) voted to spin itself off into an independent nonprofit. Basically, that means the vision of the project will remain the same, but there is a hope that the move will help with fundraising efforts. This decision comes on the heels of the resignation of the project’s executive director, Mike Simpson, late last week. Administrative director Mary Vail-Grube was voted in last night as the interim director.

THE FARM TEAM: On Monday night, Ailey II performs at Bass Performance Hall. That’s the younger arm of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The group has been run for 40 years by Sylvia Waters, who says that groups like hers are important, even if young dancers are itching for the big time. “I think the expectation is, you know, ‘I want it now,’ she tells theaterjones.com. “And there is a lot that has to go into it and a lot of time so there is a certain impatience. And there is a certain ‘I want it yesterday.’ There’s no shortcut.”

ANIMATING THE ARTIST: Shepard Fairey has been around town this month creating a series of murals in West Dallas. And if his Obama posters weren’t iconic enough, he’s about to really be permanently etched into the cultural landscape as he guest stars in the March 4 episode of The Simpsons.