In 1979, two forward-looking women teamed up to create a benefactor program for the Dallas Theater Center, which at the time had existed for 20 years.
Nearly a half-century later, the DTC — which received a 2017 Tony Award — remains one of the country’s strongest regional theater companies, known for innovative programming like the recent production Shane, a critically acclaimed play that recasts the classic Western cowboy story with Black and Mexican leads.
And those two forward-looking women, Linda Custard and Bess Enloe — who for decades have continued to serve Dallas-Fort Worth’s arts and culture scene — have earned this year’s Linz Award, one of Dallas’ most prestigious civic honors.
The award is given annually by The Dallas Morning News, and is also presented by the Communities Foundation of Texas and The Dallas Foundation. Created in 1924 by Simon Linz, a founder of Linz Jewelers, the prize has been presented annually for the past century, except for several years during the Great Depression.
“It’s kind of overwhelming,” said Enloe. “I was stunned, and even more surprised that there were two of us, who have been such good friends and worked together for so long.”
“It’s just like a wonderful gift,” added Custard. “An unexpected gift.”
Of the two eminent arts philanthropists, Custard’s connection to the Dallas theater dates back slightly longer. As a girl attending Dallas public schools, she regularly attended the local symphony and summer musicals at Fair Park. Then, in December of 1959, she was a theater major in college and back in town over the holiday break when she and her future husband attended a production of Of Time and the River, an adaptation of a Thomas Wolfe novel.
Tickets cost $2.50, and it was opening night for both the Dallas Theater Center and the new Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Kalita Humphreys Theater.
“I so well: One of the lines that kept being repeated over and over in this three and a half hour production — you can imagine it, we were a little weary at the end of it — it was, ‘And we were young and 20 and would never die,’” she said. “And of course I was 20 at that point, so I related to that very well.”
Custard met Enloe, then a young SMU alumna, in the late 1970s, when both women were active with The Junior League of Dallas, the longstanding women’s leadership nonprofit. Soon, through a connection with Custard’s husband, who was serving as a DTC board member, the pair worked together to create the theater’s first sustainable budget program.
“The arts are always in need of funding. It comes with the territory,” said Custard. “So we just wanted to do something that would really have an impact for the Dallas Theater Center and would offer a vehicle to involve people in interesting ways. And we did.”
Together, they went on to co-chair various events and galas, including one of Neiman Marcus’ famed annual Fortnight culture celebrations. They also collaborated on opening events for the SMU’s Greer Garson Theatre and Meadows Museum, which houses one of the largest collections of Spanish art outside of Spain.
Enloe, a former Dallas public schools history teacher, has since held leadership roles at the Theater Center, Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and the women’s civic organization Charter 100.
In the mid-1990s, when plans for a new centerpiece Dallas performing arts center were just taking shape, she also helped organize an initial board for what would eventually become the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
The intention, Enloe said, was to create a world-class cultural facility — for the benefit of both the performers and the city that hosted them.
“I love good stories. I love good books. I love good music, and that’s the lifeblood of that part of culture,” she said. “And if you like those things and value them, you want to do what you can to them and keep them around for your children and your grandchildren.”
She’s continued to work with the center for decades, occupying a host of roles that ranged from vice chairman of the board to member of the construction management committee.
“I have always been impressed with her vision and tenacity,” wrote Charles Santos, the executive director of the local performing arts group TITAS — another group Enloe has worked with — in a recommendation letter. “She leads by example.”
Custard has also been active with the AT&T Center and the Dallas Opera, among other civic groups. In 2001, when the Meadows Museum was completed, she chaired the acclaimed museum’s opening ceremony, which also received a visit from Spain’s King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. Years later, she helped land an educational agreement between the Dallas museum and the Prado.
“Personally, I think of Linda as the guardian of the Meadows Museum,” wrote R. Gerald Turner, the president of SMU, “someone who loves it with her whole heart and soul.”
Last year, the Linz prize was won by Dallas businessman and philanthropist Roland Parrish.
This year’s prize marked a rare time when it was awarded tly, something both recipients were pleased about.
“She’s terrific,” Enloe said of Custard. “She’s one of my dearest friends.”
“I love her dearly,” Custard said of Enloe. “And I ire her so much.”
