After a couple months of prep and planning, Team CJ has pulled together our wits and resources and we’re ready to rock our upcoming Core Conversation at SXSW Interactive.

But before we get all serious and pack it in for SouthBy, we are throwing a sendoff party for our friends and fans!

Come by CoHabitat for the Official Unofficial SXSWi Sendoff Pre-party on Tuesday, March 9th between 7 and 10pm. Meet local techies, bloggers, artists, foodies, fellow SXSW attendees, and free stuff enthusiasts for the only pre- SXSWi party in Dallas!

GuerillaArts, the nonprofit space committed to increasing art awareness and support in Dallas, will be giving tours of their 5,000 sqft building this Sunday – even the upstairs artist studio space, which has been closed off at past events.

Stop by between 2 and 4pm – meet and mingle with the people behind GuerillaArts and your local artist community. They will be talking about the great things GuerillaArts will be launching this spring, including the artist in residency program, spring classes and their summer institute for high school aged artists.

The controversy that has accompanied the publication of the Noyola collection of Frida Kahlo material has raised numerous questions. This panel will bring together the owners of the Noyola material, experts who have examined the objects, the publisher of the related book (Finding Frida Kahlo), as well as scholars, dealers, and journalists who are familiar with the artist’s oeuvre. The discussion will range from the specific — a description of the Noyola archive — to more general questions about how newly discovered artworks are received and evaluated by the scholarly community and the market.

The 1st Annual Dallas Art In The District Art Fair features an array of contemporary emerging art galleries and artists. Art In The District provides participating galleries with a platform to present new works to a strong and growing audience. Art In The District is for everyone from the first-time buyer to the art savvy collector.

ArtLoveMagic connects local artists with spectators for a night of creativity and entertainment. From 8pm to midnight on Saturday, January 30th, fifty local artists and musicians are taking the stage to create in front of you.

Tonight kicks off the 2010 Young & Cultured Concerts @ series at AMLI Quadrangle. Come in, grab a drink and take in the creative works of 2 local artists – musician Eric Tipton and artist SAMO4PREZ.

This is a free event (sweet!) but don’t come empty handed (oh?). Concerts @ has partnered with two local nonprofit organizations, See the Need, Meet the Need and Hope for Haiti, and will be collecting supplies to airlift next week to Haitian relief efforts. YOU can help by bringing in supplies or a donation to the Concerts @ event tonight. There will be boxes and donation jars around the gallery and concert space.

Don’t miss the Ross Akard Gallery’s grand opening reception on Thursday, January 21st.

The Ross Akard Gallery is located in the historic Fairmont Hotel and is the first art gallery to open in the Dallas Arts District in over 30 years. Featured artists include Michael Ledoux, Larry Whitely, Ricardo Paniagua, Julie Lazarus, Michael Osbladeston, Daniel Blagg, and Amy Cannady.

ILiveinDallas.com, along with our friends at In-This-Economy.com and FiveOClockDallas.com, have been selected as a Core Conversation at SXSW Interactive 2010! Thank you so much to everyone who voted for our panel back in August.

Cliff Notes Prolonged Media is a new and independent bookstore in the Oak Cliff area. The 400 sq ft store is filled with character – selling literature from the Beatnik movement to more recent, self-published works by local authors.

Last month Cliff Notes had a successful, standing room only Open Mic night. This Friday night, the crowd will gather at Mighty Fine Arts for their second event – this month featuring local writer/poet, Josh Weir, and local band, Atrium.

It’s his second year back for the DMA’s Arts & Letters Live Series and we are thrilled!

David Sedaris will be telling personal stories and sharing life’s observations with us at SMU’s McFarlin Memorial Auditorium in April 2010. Tickets are still available to see the ever so witty and hilarious author.