Fort Worth: Caravan of Dreams

On September 29, 1983, Fort Worth’s Caravan of Dreams opened — a venue unlike any other in Texas, or anywhere else.

The club sat at 312 Houston Street in the heart of downtown. It featured a nightclub, a theater, and a rooftop garden topped by a glass geodesic dome. The opening celebration centered on local son Ornette Coleman — by then the father of free jazz to the whole world. Coleman performed with his electric ensemble Prime Time in the nightclub. Then he performed with the Fort Worth Symphony at the nearby Convention Center. The mayor proclaimed September 29 “Ornette Coleman Day” and handed him the keys to the city. Even William S. Burroughs and Beat artist Brion Gysin attended the opening. So did a few hundred people who probably still talk about it.

A Dome Over Cowtown

The geodesic dome was no accident. Caravan of Dreams drew inspiration from Buckminster Fuller — architect, inventor, and Ornette Coleman’s personal hero. Fuller’s philosophy of doing more with less, of finding harmony in structure, ran directly through Coleman’s harmolodic theory. The dome was a monument to that shared vision. And several individuals connected to Caravan of Dreams later worked on Biosphere 2, which also used geodesic principles.

Inside, the venue booked jazz, blues, world music, and theater with genuine ambition. Fort Worth’s downtown wasn’t Greenwich Village. But Caravan of Dreams made a strong argument that it could be.

The club ran from 1983 to 2001 — nearly two decades of adventurous programming in a city that deserved it. It didn’t survive the turn of the millennium. But for eighteen years, it was the most interesting room in North Texas.

Fort Worth’s Ornette Coleman opened it. That’s still the most Fort Worth thing about it.

After the iconic performing arts center closed in 2001, the space housed Reata Restaurant before becoming “The Spotlight,” a live music venue. Additionally, a Caravan of Dreams Gallery operates nearby.