03-04-2025
'Landman' co-creator to speak at WT, and Bob Dylan to be focus of AC events
CANYON — Screenwriter and journalist Christian Wallace, whose podcast series 'Boomtown' inspired Sheridan's hit series 'Landman,' will drill into the art of telling stories at an upcoming event at West Texas A&M University.
'From Boomtown to Landman: Storytelling in the West Texas Oil Patch' will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 10 in Legacy Hall in the JBK Student Center in a co-presentation between the Center for the Study of the American West's Garry L. Nall endowed lecture series and WT's Distinguished Lecture Series. Admission is free.
'I think his example makes the case that wherever you are from, you have a story to tell, and if you tell it well, people will want to read — or watch — it,' said Dr. Alex Hunt, CSAW director, Regents Professor of English and Vincent-Haley Professor of Western Studies. 'I'm excited to hear Wallace's account of how he came to collaborate with Sheridan, for sure.'
The series was created to honor Nall's exceptional service to WT and his scholastic accomplishments. The lecture series supports CSAW's mission to promote the study of the American West.
Wallace, an Andrews native, was a writer for Texas Monthly when he wrote and hosted 'Boomtown.' He then co-created 'Landman' with Sheridan. An immediate hit for streaming service Paramount+, the series was renewed for a second season March 25.
'CSAW is pleased to bring a speaker who is west Texan himself,' Hunt said. 'He is a terrific writer for Texas Monthly, but of course it's his recent work as a writer on 'Landman,' produced by Taylor Sheridan, that is primarily what drives our interest right now.'
With a renewed interest in Bob Dylan, this year's Amarillo College Creative Mind Lecture Series will include live music, a lecture, and rare film footage Wednesday through Friday, April 9-11 at AC's Washington Street campus.
All events, sponsored by the AC Foundation, are free and open to the public.
The event will kick off with live musical tributes to Dylan and food trucks at noon Wednesday at the Oeschger Family Mall, hosted by AC's FM-90.
'Last year we worked with WTAMU to bring Amarillo-born and internationally known author George Saunders to town,' said Chris Hudson, professor of English and director of AC's Creative Mind Lecture Series. 'This year we wanted the events to be more AC-centric and attract more AC students and faculty.'
Dr. Tom Palaima, University of Texas MacArthur Fellow and Armstrong Centennial Professor Emeritus, will headline the event at 7 p.m. Thursday in AC's Concert Hall Theatre. Palaima earned numerous academic accolades including a Fulbright and later MacArthur for his research on Aegean scripts. He serves on the editorial board of The Dylan Review and was a prime mover in the decision of TDR to publish Dylan-inspired poetry and to emphasize inspiring the upcoming generation to explore and feel Dylan's music and express themselves about how his songs and performances affect them. His UT course 'Bob Dylan: History and Imagination' received the Undergraduate Studies Holleran Steiker Award for Creative Student Engagement in Spring 2022.
'AC and the Amarillo environs are fortunate to have Prof. Thomas G. Palaima come to town to share his seemingly infinite reservoir of wisdom on Bob Dylan,' said Robert Fulton, AC associate professor of humanities. 'I have known Tom for 30 years, and he is the epitome of a humanist as he combines the integrity of a world-class academic with a common-sense vision of life that he shares in numerous ways to the community, breaking down any distinctions between town and gown.'
The three-day event will conclude with Steve Jenkins, director of the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Okla., presenting 'Stepping Into the Unknown from the Bob Dylan Archive' at 7 p.m. Friday in AC's Concert Hall Theatre. Spanning decades and musical styles, this program of short films and videos from the Bob Dylan Archive features rare and previously unreleased clips of Dylan on stage and in the studio.
Film selections include Dylan's first film soundtrack for 1961's 'Autopsy on Operation Abolition;' a devastating solo rendition of 'Ballad of Hollis Brown' from the 1963 TV special 'Folk Songs and More Folk Songs;' a rollicking 1976 take on 'I Pity the Poor Immigrant' with Joan Baez; a gospel-infused 'Blowin' in the Wind;' an apocalyptically rocking 'When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky' with Dylan backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; loving tributes to Johnny Cash and Tony Bennett; a glimpse into the Archive's film restoration project with never-before-seen footage of 'It's All Over Now, Baby Blue' from 1966; and many more treasures from the archive.
Jenkins and Palaima will engage in a post-screening discussion with the Friday audience.
The event also extends the visual aspect beyond the screen: 10 Dylan-song inspired prints designed by Morten Erhorn, a Danish artist, will be displayed in the Common Lobby outside of AC's Concert Hall Theatre before the Thursday and Friday events. The signed and numbered prints will be sold to support the Creative Mind Lecture Series.
The Tascosa Drive-In shared its upcoming lineup of movie screenings planned for spring and summer. , it's all about making memories that last a lifetime. "Whether it's introducing your kids to a classic or experiencing something new together, we've got a magical lineup under the stars," the drive-in said on social media.
The drive-in kicked off the month with "Minecraft: The Movie" April 4. Upcoming movies and dates include "The Goonies" special fundraiser night on Thursday, April 10, "Thunderbolts" on May 2, "Lilo & Stitch" on May 23, and "How To Train Your Dragon" on June 13.
The drive-in said each movie typically plays for two to three weeks, and second features will be announced closer to showtime. "Bring the blankets, load up the car, and come share the laughs, the snacks, and the stories your family will remember forever," the drive-in said.
CANYON — West Texas A&M University's Great Books Series will continue in April with one of the iconic American novels, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
Daniel Klaehn, instructor of English and director of the University Writing Center in WT's Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages, will lead the discussion of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby.'
The Great Books discussion will take place at 7 p.m. April 8 at Burrowing Owl Books's new Amarillo location, 2461 W. Interstate 40 in Wolflin Square.
'What does Gatsby teach us, 100 years later? Try as we may, we cannot relive our past. Yet, so many try. Instead, we should learn from our past, doing our best to move forward, evolve, grow, and live,' said Klaehn, who said the book was the first one that he truly appreciated as a student. 'Gatsby serves as a cautionary tale of what happens when we compromise ourselves to become someone else's happiness.' The discussion series—sponsored by the Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities—is open to those who either have or haven't read the story, said organizer Dr. Daniel Bloom.
WT professors and guest lecturers lead the monthly Great Books discussions. For information, email Bloom at dbloom@
The Arts in the Sunset will host a Signs of Spring Market shopping extravaganza from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 19 at its venue located at 3701 Plains Blvd. in Amarillo.
The event will feature dozens of local vendors, including EW! Creations, OTD Woodworking, Fuku Farm, Triple C Flower Farm, Yellow Sky T-Shirt Company, Mamies Backyard Farm, Fairly Wild Art, Blind Bird Designs, Eyel's Kitchen, Fen Wicks, MyHeartsBliss, Foster Sourdough Co, Back to the Garden, Frankenstein's Daughter, The Busy Baker, Low Prairie Gallery, DC's Flakes, Stacks Cookie Co., Drawings by David, Deena's Nail Bar, Twisted Shoe Creations, The Centered Pot Studio, Laurie Dellis Pottery and Fused Glass, Tammy Phillips, Brie&Bread, Divine Designs, Jack's Bees, Captivated Creatives, She is Divine 222, Amarillo College Dental Hygiene, Rain's Crafts and Crochets, Wood Burning Designs by Mark, Texas Panhandle Made, The Backyard Apothecary, The Social Pariah, Danielle Tanksley Art, The Savvy Sewist, Lemon and Honey Design Co, Katie Billstrom Photography, KB Scent Co, Wakpa Leather Works, Made By Denise Marie, The Soap Box, R and K Pie Shop, The 806 Cookie Momster, Hatice's Kitchen, LBJ Leather, Generations of Love- Impact Project, Victoriasvarieties, Diamond Star Halo, Sam and Becky's Eclectic Chair, Bella Bonded, Braxton Bjork, Tory Brooks Taylor, Tiffany LaFleur, Mike LaFleur, Margie Wright, Ndini Accessories and Mother Mettle's Facepainting/Design.
For more details, visit the Arts in the Sunset page on Facebook or see their website.
Kick off the spring season at the Amarillo Botanical Gardens, 1400 Streit Dr. with its GardenFest on Saturday, April 26, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The event features a day full of flower sales, shopping, crafts and more. Kick off spring in the Gardens, with more than 30 local vendors all throughout the gardens, as well as food trucks, and their annual geranium flower sale.
General admission at the day of the event is $5, or free for members and children ages 5 and younger. For more information on the gardens, visit their website or page on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: 'Landman' co-creator Christian Wallace to give WT Nall Lecture
