Return to the Lubbock, Texas homepageFor 25 years Ballet Lubbock has offered summer workshops and year-round classes for area students. Hazal Sabas, originally from the Philippines, is the school's director. Mark Lopez of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the principal guest artist.
The ballet's annual spring performance features local dancers and guest artists. The highlight of performances by Ballet Lubbock comes in early December with the presentation of The Nutcracker. The traditional Christmas story delights the child in everyone.
Buddy Holly and the Walk of Fame
In the mid-1950s, Buddy Holly and the Crickets burst onto the national music scene. The Lubbock native was a major influence on American music, introducing an originality and freshness that would change the sound of rock and roll for generations. Holly's meteoric career was cut short, however, by a plane crash in 1959, but his memory and music live in the hearts and minds of fans worldwide.
The Buddy Holly Recreation Area in Lubbock is dedicated to his legacy, and a larger-than-life statue of Holly welcomes visitors to the Civic Center Complex. The music legend is also honored when, each year, the Lubbock music community recognizes the talents of area performers by inducting them into the Walk of Fame and placing a plaque in the fountain surrounding the Buddy Holly statue. Waylon Jennings, Mac Davis, Jimmy Dean, G.W. Bailey, Barry Corbin, and Roy Orbison are among those honored.
Library at Texas Tech University
The university library system houses the largest research collection of microfilms, periodicals, and volumes in West Texas. Holdings are accessed through a computer catalog that links the university library, the law school library, and the southwest Collection - a regional depository with more than 16.5 million manuscripts and materials about the southwestern United States. The library is one of two U. S. government depositories in Texas and is the only one on a university campus. Government documents at the library provide statistics that support research, business, and education. In addition, the library at the Health Sciences Center is part of a national computer network that provides access to comprehensive medical and allied health care information.
Lubbock Arts Alliance
The Lubbock Arts Alliance is an independent, nonprofit organization which promotes the arts in Lubbock and supports the activities of individual arts groups. The Arts Alliance sponsors the annual Lubbock Arts Festival and provides grants to local groups for program development.
Lubbock Fine Arts Center
The Lubbock Fine Arts Center provides a showcase for area artists. Supporting the Art in Public Places program, the center selects southwestern artists and places their sculpture in public parks. Illuminance, a national photography exhibit held at the center, draws more than 1,500 entries from artists nationwide. Visual Vanguards, initiated in 1992, is a continuing series of exhibits that encourages an appreciation of the cultural diversity of American artists.
Lubbock Heritage Society, Inc.
While the city of Lubbock's history spans only 100 years, the Lubbock Heritage Society is active in preserving the history, cultural heritage, and architecture of the city and surrounding area.
Society members are dedicated to maintaining the viability of older buildings and encouraging their preservation for future use. Evidence of the society's commitment to historic preservation is seen in the renovation and restoration of two houses near downtown Lubbock.
The society is also active in nominating buildings to the National Register of Historic Places and initiating landmark designations for historic structures in Lubbock.
Lubbock Symphony Orchestra
The Lubbock Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1946 with 35 volunteer musicians. Since 1967, orchestra members have been paid for their performances, and today, 80 professionally trained musicians present a full season of classical music for the Lubbock community, including six to eight concerts starring internationally acclaimed guest artists.
Since 1946, the orchestra has had only three conductors - a measure of the success of the Lubbock Symphony and its artistic contribution to the community. Albert-George Schram began his tenure as the fourth symphony conductor in August 1994.
In 1988, the Lubbock Symphony organized the Lubbock youth Orchestra. Today, more than 50 junior high and high school musicians from throughout the area are part of the next generation of classical musicians in Lubbock.
Lubbock Theater
Theater patrons find variety in the offerings of local performing arts groups. The Lubbock Community Theater and the Phoenix Theater consistently offer outstanding productions with local amateur talent. The Texas Tech Theater schedules performances throughout the year with students and local performers working together.
Municipal Garden and Arts Center and Arboretum
The Municipal Garden and Arts Center and Arboretum in K. N. Clapp Park is a gathering place for Lubbockites interested in visual and performing arts. Local artist groups schedule public programs as well as organizational meetings to introduce the latest techniques in painting, drawing, sculpting, weaving, and other media. These events, as well as the recitals and exhibits held here, help enrich the lives of visitors to the center.
Museum of Texas Tech University
The Museum of Texas Tech University includes the main museum building, a planetarium, the Ranching Heritage Center, the Natural Science Research Laboratory, the Cotton Heritage Center, the Lubbock Lake Landmark, and a 92-acre, natural science and archaeological site in Val Verde County.
The mission of the museum is to collect, preserve, interpret, and disseminate knowledge about natural and cultural material from the Southwest and other related regions. The main building includes more than 120,000 square feet of exhibit and work space. The Ranching Heritage Center, an outdoor exhibit adjacent to the museum, is a living memorial to the development of ranching and the western frontier. Thirty-three structures, which have been completely restored and moved to the site, include authentic furnishings that mirror life on the frontier - from the earliest, half-dugout to the richness of the grand Barton House.
The museum and Ranching Heritage Center play host each year to the National Cowboy Symposium, which brings ranchers and cowboys from throughout the country to celebrate the heritage of the "Old West."
South Plains Mural
The South Plains Mural, a fresco by Peter Hurd, is a permanent monument to the pioneer spirit of West Texas. The mural, located in the rotunda of Holden Hall on the campus of Texas Tech University, features 16 separate panels, each honoring a Lubbock pioneer who contributed talent and skill to the development of the South Plains of Texas.
West Texas Music Alliance
The West Texas Music Alliance heightens awareness to the musical arts through performances and music-related events. Along with a slew of national rock, country, and jazz acts performing at the Lubbock Municipal Auditorium , the West Texas Music Alliance and the Lubbock Arts Alliance together ensure that the city is never at a loss for musical entertainment.