This week marks the start of Dallas Arts Month,  and there will be plenty of big goings-on – from SOLUNA to Dallas Art Fair, to the Dallas Festival of Books and Ideas and much, much more.

Truth is, though, there’s always a lot going on in the arts, all over North Texas, and it’s always a good time to challenge yourself to experience something new– a gallery or theater you’ve never visited, or a style of music or movie you’ve never seen.  We can help. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Wednesday

From 1942 to 1964 about four-and-a-half million manual laborers, known as braceros, became guest workers in the U.S. Photographs taken by Los Hermanos Mayo, a photographic collective active in Mexico during the middle of the twentieth-century documented their experiences. See the exhibit “Braceros” in the Jonsson/Founders walkway on the UT Dallas campus through March 30.

The Fort Worth Community Arts Center has a show featuring small-scale artworks by North Texas artists. The show is on view at Art7 Gallery in Fort Worth through March 31.

Thursday

James Surls is known as the founder of the Houston contemporary art scene. In conjunction with the special exhibitions, “A New American Sculpture, 1914—1945: Lachaise, Laurent, Nadelman, and Zorach” and “Commanding Space: Women Sculptors of Texas,” the famous Texas sculptor speaks about his work and artists who’ve inspired him tonight at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth.

The Patterson-Appleton Arts Center opens its doors tonight for the Denton Art Forum. Hosted by the Greater Denton Arts Council, the event gives creatives a chance to collaborate and network.

Friday

Dallas’ Ochre House Theater hosts a vinyl record release party for their cast recording of “Original Man.” The musical is about a young man fighting to be free from an abusive father through an imaginary world he creates.

Paul Beatty is the recipient of the 2016 Man Booker Prize for his most recent novel, “The Sellout,” a satire about race, income, and segregation. He’ll be doing a reading and book signing tonight at the University Union on the campus of the University of North Texas in Denton.

Saturday/Sunday

On Saturday, celebrate South Asian culture and traditions at the Irving Arts Center with a traveling exhibition of Indian Folk Art.

Musicians from Motorcade have collaborated with such acts as Grammy winners St. Vincent and The War on Drugs. On Saturday, the Dallas rock band is celebrating their debut album at the Texas Theater in Dallas.

Head to the Tyler Museum of Art to see Texas contemporary artist Helen Altman’s “Sticks and Stones.” The exhibition focuses on her fascination with flora and fauna.

Examine the complicated relationship between traditional non-Western art and Western Modernism at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. They have a new exhibition titled, “Focus” with works by Iranian-born artist Kamrooz Aram.

Monday

For a time, Etta Hulme was the only female editorial cartoonist working for a major metropolitan newspaper. She worked for the Fort Worth Start-Telegram for 36 years. When Hulme passed, her family gifted her archives to the UTA. Head to the central library on the Arlington campus to see examples of her witty and edgy work.

Multi-media artist Iris Bechtol creates narratives through image, object, and place. See her show”Carry” at The Safe Room Gallery at The Texas Theatre in Dallas.

Tuesday

For 15 years, the Video Association of Dallas has hosted a video production contest – the 24 Hour Video Race. Tonight, they’re screening all of this year’s entries from each category at the Angelika Film Center in Dallas.  Then be sure to sure to make plans to go back to the Angelika on April 9, for the winners’ announcements.

TCU’s 2018 French Film Festival is coming to a close. Head to the Sid Richardson Lecture Hall tonight to see “Fatima.” The 2015 film centers around a Moroccan mom having difficulty connecting with her teenage daughters she is raising in France.

For more on these and other events, explore the Art&Seek calendar.