Dreams and Ideas celebrates the legacy of American theatrical designer John Winniford "Winn" Morton (1928-2022), a Texan who made his way to New York to begin a stellar career that lasted from when he was 18 until he finally retired at 90. More than 150 photographs and original color illustrations demonstrate how Morton paid careful attention to the look of every single performer, consciously conveying character through clothing.
Morton started in the early years of live television and then moved to the Roxy Theatre, where fanciful showgirl and skater costumes sprang wholly from his imagination. By 1960 he was appointed head designer for Jones Beach Theater, a key role at a unique, popular destination that he maintained for a remarkable seventeen seasons. Over the same period, he also designed costumes for select Broadway and off-Broadway productions, including Oklahoma!, industrial musicals, and Dick Button's Ice-Travaganza skating show at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair.
His prolific career in New York continued into the late 1970s, until the life-changing event of his mother's death prompted his return to Dallas County. He was quickly hired as artistic director of sets and costumes for Six Flags Over Texas Productions, dressing hundreds of actors in themed musicals performed in the brand's multiple amusement parks nationwide. He also styled lavish galas and private parties in Dallas in the 1980s and 1990s and designed all of the costumes for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus's 1985-1986 tour.
At age 54 Morton began the longest-running commission of his career: the Texas Rose Festival in Tyler. He first designed elaborate, bejeweled gowns, trains, crowns, hats, and children's attire for the glittering festival beginning in 1982, adding set designs to his duties ten years later. At his final Rose Festival presentation in 2019, the organization paid tribute to his extraordinary contributions. Dreams and Ideas is the first full-length account of Winn Morton's achievements in costume and set design.
About the Author :
MYRA WALKER is Professor Emerita of the College of Visual Arts + Design at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton. She is also the former UNT director and curator at the Texas Fashion Collection. In addition to presenting fashion exhibitions at Dallas and Fort Worth museums, Walker served as guest curator in The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, organizing Rock Style and Curios & Treasures (1999-2000), and was a guest curator at the Meadows Museum for Balenciaga and His Legacy: Haute Couture from the Texas Fashion Collection. She authored a book of the same title in 2006.
Review :
"Dreams and Ideas addresses a gap in knowledge regarding the contributions of designer Winn Morton, presents an extensive archive of his work, and provides a significant contribution toward understanding his life and work as an artist and costume designer. This work is a critical primary source for emerging fashion designers and costumers."--Barbara Trippeer, associate professor of fashion design at the College of Visual Arts + Design at UNT
"Dreams and Ideas is a valuable archive of images and information on this figure in American theatrical design and stands as a unique text on the work and career of Winn Morton. This gathering of renderings and production photos, biographical information, and production work is an informative and comprehensive reference for theatrical design students and educators as well as anyone interested in the visual design of live theatre, circus performance, and pageantry."--Jonathon Taylor, associate professor of scenic and costume design at East Tennessee State University
