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Don Stone, a Dallas civic leader and strong supporter of the arts, died on Sunday. He was 96.
Angela Stone, Don’s youngest child, said her father was one of a kind, a rare mix of sweet and tough.
“He was just the most wonderful man I ever knew, just generous to a fault, smart, charming. He influenced so many people,” she said.
Stone gave widely across North Texas, including $500,000 to endow college scholarships for musically gifted Dallas ISD students. Stone also held leadership positions at several North Texas arts organizations, including the Dallas Public Library, Voices of Change, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Fine Arts Chamber Players, Orchestra of New Spain, the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Shakespeare Dallas and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
“He just believed that all of our lives would be so much poorer without music, art and theater. He said in our country we have the freedom to support whatever we want and that we needed to support the arts so that they would continue to exist,” Stone said.
Stone, a businessman who lived in Turtle Creek, worked for Sanger Harris, which later became Macy’s. He was a 2018 TACA Silver Cup Award honoree for his arts and culture advocacy in North Texas.
Maura Sheffler, president and executive director of The Arts Community Alliance (TACA), said in a statement that Stone’s legacy will continue to inspire the local arts community.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Don Stone, a devoted champion of the arts whose leadership and generosity,” she wrote.
Stone’s wife of over 72 years, Norma, died in June. She was the one who first got her husband involved in the arts, according to their daughter Angela.
Michelle Miller Burns, the DSO’s president and CEO, said the Stones had a profound impact on the DSO.
“It is with such a heavy heart that I received news of Don Stone’s passing earlier this week. Don was a devoted patron, a donor and a board member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and his leadership and generosity really have helped shape the Dallas symphony across five decades,” she said.
In 1980, Stone served as DSO’s chairman of the Board of Governors and helped launch efforts to raise $80 million for Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and secure architect I.M. Pei.
In 1997, the Stones launched the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund and committed $1 million to continuously support new works. Some of the works supported through the fund include this year’s world premiere of Angélica Negrón’s requiem For Everything You Keep Losing. The fund also supported a Grammy award-winning violin concerto by Aaron Jay Kernis co-commissioned with the Seattle Symphony, Toronto Symphony and Melbourne Symphony.
“I think it is rare for a couple who so firmly believes in the future of classical music and creating opportunities for new musical voices to be heard to really put support behind that in a meaningful way to fuel that process, to ensure that it can come to fruition,” Burns said.
She said the DSO will continue the Stones’ legacy by commissioning new works through the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund.
Stone is survived by his children Michael, Lisa and Angela, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The family will have a private funeral.
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
FC Dallas announced today that forward Logan Farrington signed a contract extension through the 2027-28 season, with club options for the 2028-29 and 2029-30 seasons.
Farrington was previously under contract through the 2027 season. This new deal updates his contract options through the 2029-30 season.
Farrington has appeared in 14 matches this season, scoring a career-high six goals and recording a team-leading four assists. He was named to the MLS Team of the Matchweek Starting XI for Week 5 after scoring a brace and one assist in the Texas Derby against Houston on March 21.
For the first time in his professional career, Farrington scored in back-to-back matches from March 21 to April 4, finding the net in the Texas Derby victory and the road win at D.C. United.
The Racine, Wisconsin, native was drafted No. 3 overall in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft and signed a new contract on Jan. 22, 2025. Farrington has recorded 15 goals and 16 assists in 75 appearances since joining Dallas, the most by any 2024 MLS SuperDraftee across the league. He won the MLS NEXT Pro Cup with North Texas SC on Nov. 9, 2024, scoring a goal in the final. He also became one of six players in MLS history to record multiple games with both a goal and an assist off the bench in a single season in 2024.
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There is no doubt in my mind that we’re going to see more of these types of announcements over the next few weeks as the club begins to reposition itself for the upcoming calendar change in MLS. There are still a lot of players on deals that run through 2027, so addressing what part of 2027 has to be done here.
Either way, I am all for adding more years to Farrington’s contract. He’s been one of the more underrated strikers in MLS and his partnership with Petar Musa has really been fun to watch over the last three seasons.
His numbers alone this year show that he’s been improving year over year with the club, too.
The Stewpot, a Dallas-based homeless services organization, is helping people who have experienced homelessness be seen in a new light.
During a special art exhibit Thursday night, paintings filled the walls, but it was artists like Darrell Plunkett who were the real focus.
When Plunkett first discovered The Stewpot’s art program more than a decade ago, he was at one of the lowest points in his life. He was struggling with alcoholism.
“I was staying in a shelter and I was waiting for them to take us back downtown, and I saw a gentleman with sketches and a bag full of art supplies,” he said.
Immediately, he wanted to learn more.
“He told me about the program, and back then, there was an interview process to get in, and so I went through that,” he said.
Plunkett was accepted and quickly discovered a love for painting, especially sunflowers and roosters. More importantly, he found an escape from the struggles he was facing.
“It kept me out of trouble and give me a safe place to come and create instead of running the streets,” he said.
He said many artists in the program have found that same sense of purpose.
“It gives me peace and quiet and comfort,” Luis Arispe said. “People who buy my work love the way I talk to them and speak to them.”
Every painting sold directly benefits the artists. They receive 90% of each sale, while the remaining 10% goes back into the program to help pay for art supplies.”
“It’s a nice little boost if you get a little more pocket change.. to get paid for your work and to be acknowledged as an artist,” The Stewpot Director of Enrichment Programs, Betty Heckman, said.
“The recognition that someone actually likes what I created it just gives me joy,” Plunkett said.
Since joining the program, Plunkett has remained sober. He now has his own apartment and works at the Dallas Arboretum, where he finds constant inspiration.
“I’ll just stop and take a quick snapshot and go home and create,” he said.
He estimates he’s created hundreds of paintings over the years, and some of his work has even been featured in murals across Dallas.
Looking back, he says he’s forever grateful for this program that changed the course of his life.
“I don’t know what I would do without it,” he said. “It’s been a blessing.”
Editor’s note: Follow LIVE World Cup quarterfinal coverage today
France and its dynamic duo of Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé appear practically unstoppable.
France is advancing to the World Cup semifinals after a 2-0 victory over Morocco on Thursday afternoon thanks to goals from both players in the second half as Mbappé has tied Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot lead with hist eighth goals of the tournament.
SHOP: France semifinal World Cup tickets
Now, France will await the winner of Friday’s Spain vs. Belgium match. The semifinal will be held on Tuesday, July 14 in Dallas, when the team will look to secure its third-consecutive World Cup Final.
With the electrifying play of Mbappé and Dembélé, it’s hard to pass up the opportunity to buy tickets to the team’s next match at AT&T Stadium.
Here’s everything you need to know to buy France semifinal World Cup tickets:
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As of publication, get-in ticket prices for France’s semifinals match in Dallas start at $2,066.
If you’re looking to see Mbappé and the entire France team up close, the cheapest lower level Hall of Fame ticket starts at $3,571 in Section 121.
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The semifinals will take place on Tuesday, July 14 and Wednesday, July 15. The two games will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
We don’t know which teams will face off in the semifinals just yet, but the bracket is set so once the quarterfinal matchups are set, we will have a clearer picture. Until then, you can shop the semifinal game tickets below:
The final match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place on Sunday, July 19 at MetLife Stadium just outside of New York City.
As of publication, the cheapest available tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final start at $8,404. If you want to get closer to the action, lower-level (category 1) tickets are starting at $21,783.
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