Historical data shows that a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit can sneak up as early as the benign month of March and pop up as late as October ‹ not to mention all of the months in between.

So why not head to Dallas now, in relative comfort, when Chicago is or will be cold and wintry?

Why, indeed.

One reason is that Dallas may surprise you. Despite its reputation for big oil, big money, cowboys, ranches and freeways, Dallas has another side ‹ its art scene, which is booming. Dallasites go about everything in a big way. Or not at all.

In recent years, two more museums have opened, and more outdoor sculptures have popped up downtown.

Raymond Nasher is one of the reasons why. Nasher has a reputation for making money, as well as for spending it. On art.

He and his late wife, Patsy, began buying modern and contemporary art in the 1950s. They didn't plan on becoming collectors, and they bought art only if it gave them "butterflies."

As Nasher tells the story, when he liked something, it was "under consideration." When she liked it, they bought it.

In any event, they bought what they liked, and in the process became collectors. They felt art was something that enriched their lives. "We started in the late '50s and just kept on going," Nasher says. "We were partners. We basically thought a great deal alike."

Early purchases included works by Jean Arp, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Joan Miro, Alexander Calder and Isamu Noguchi.

"This (the Nasher Sculpture Center) is in the middle of Dallas," he points out. "We were researching and we learned that no city had within the city center a sculpture museum and a sculpture garden. "We decided it was time to make Dallas a leading city for modern sculpture in the entire world."

And they did it. The Nasher Sculpture Center opened in October 2003 at 2001 Flora St. Each piece of sculpture is placed so that it can be seen on a 360-degree basis. The 350-piece collection also includes prints, drawings and paintings.

The sculpture collection is displayed both indoors and out, in keeping with the Nashers' principles. The renowned Renzo Piano of Genoa, Italy, was the architect for the building. Landscape architect Peter Walker designed the garden.

"Trees are the most important sculpture," Nasher told a visiting group earlier this year.

"They're living sculpture. Grass ought to be green. It's necessary for people to walk. We want everybody to see sculpture on the grass." More than 170 trees ‹ among them oaks, willows, pines and magnolias ‹ grace the lawn, along with pools, fountains and night lighting. The fountains help muffle the sounds of street traffic.

The Nasher Sculpture Center is situated in the heart of the Dallas Arts District, on a 2.4 acre site adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.

Nasher also shares contemporary sculpture with the public at NorthPark Center, his highly successful shopping center, opened in 1965.

The Dallas Museum of Art more than 100-years-old, moved in 1983 from Fair Park into a new limestone building designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes. A sizable addition, also by Barnes, opened in 1993. The museum's collection of more than 23,000 objects spans 5,000 years of history, and offers American, European and contemporary art as well as the arts of Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Mary Cassatt, Thomas Hart Benton, Andrew Wyeth and Georgia O'Keeffe are among the artists represented in the American Galleries. The Latin American galleries include work by Diego Rivera.

Sculpture is located throughout the museum, and also in the Sculpture Garden. Among the works in the garden: British artist Barbara Hepworth's "Figure for Landscape" and a red I-beam work titled "Ave" from Mark Di Suvero.

The Trammell Crow Center Sculpture Collection is not a typical museum, but functions as one. The collection is spread inside and outside the Trammell Crow Center, a handsome 50-story building at Ross Avenue and Harwood Street. Visitors can begin at the Ross Avenue entrance, and walk all around to discover the sculptures. There are a number of Rodin sculptures in the collection, including "Genius of Eternal Rest," "Cybele," "Prayer" and "Large Torso of a Man." One of the most striking works on view is "Horse for Alvear" by Emile Antoine Bourdelle, who was an assistant to Rodin.

The Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art at 2010 Flora St. is located in a pavilion of the Trammell Crow Center, across from the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center. Over a 30-year period, the Crows acquired more than 7,000 objects dating from 3500 B.C. to 1900. From this number, some 500 have been placed on display. The collection includes Khmer sculpture, Chinese lacquers and Japanese painting.

The Meadows Museum is named for donor oilman Algur Hurtle Meadows, who traveled to Spain on business and became intrigued by Spanish art. This sparked the creation of the Meadows Museum, located on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The museum is noted for Spanish art from the 15th through the 20th centuries.

King Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife Queen Sofia were on hand for the museum's opening in 2001. The work of Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava was featured in the Meadows' inaugural exhibition.

And then there's Pioneer Plaza over by the Dallas City Hall, where you'll find some 40 very realistic-looking bronze longhorn cattle, being herded by three bronze cowboys on horseback. The meandering ensemble is said to be reminiscent of two old-time cattle trails, the Shawnee Trail and the Chisolm Trail. This is a great photo op, especially for families.

City Hall itself even has a sculptural flair about it. The design by I. M. Pei has the front facade of the building projecting outward at a 34-degree angle.

And in front of City Hall is a monumental bronze three-piece sculpture by Henry Moore called "The Dallas Piece." Talk about contrast. The stunning Reunion Tower, topped by a geodesic dome studded with lights, is an instant landmark for visitors and a point of pride for locals. An observation deck 52 stories above the city offers a 360-degree panorama. The Reunion complex includes the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

The whole explosion of visual art in Dallas is wonderful and impressive, but if I had to pick a favorite Dallas sculpture it would have to be "Man and Pegasus" on the southwest corner of Bryan Tower at 2001 Bryan St. Carl Milles, the artist, was born in Sweden, but became an American citizen.

The sculpture, both man and horse, look as if they're actually in flight, and it makes you feel that in Dallas, anything is possible if one just reaches for it.