If you want to see art work by neighborhood artists, check out the show appearing at 5501 Columbia through June 25.
The show displays the work from Art in the Neighborhood, a two-day children’s workshop held at the gallery in May.
The workshop and show were put together by Kaleta Doolin, the gallery owner and president of Contemporary Culture Inc., an art education organization. Contemporary Culture sponsors shows and workshops of various art forms at 5501 Columbia to create an awareness about contemporary art.
This was the second year for Art in the Neighborhood, Doolin says. Last year’s workshop attracted 90 children. To meet demand, the program was expanded to two workshops this year, one in May and a second in September.
The workshops are free and are taught by local artists. In May, the instructors were Chong Chu, John Hernandez, Leticia Huerta, Carl Lewis and Albert Shaw.
The program is designed to create an awareness of 5501 Columbia as a neighborhood source for art and culture, Doolin says. Another is to expose children, especially minority children, to contemporary art.
“We’re not teaching art,” Doolin says. “We’re teaching confidence.”
“This is an under-served area,” she says. “I look out the window, and most of the kids I see in this area are ethnic kids. I wanted the kids to identify with the artists.”
During the workshop, each child was provided a canvas, frame, paint brush and paint. Their pieces had to incorporate the frame with the image on the canvas. A tarp was laid on the floor of the main part of the gallery, and five folding tables were set up.
Boxes against the walls were filled with items Doolin had collected – plastic toy cars, costume jewelry, scraps of material – to be used in the pieces.
After each artist spoke, the children were free to create anything they wanted. The pieces went straight from the work tables onto the walls of the gallery, which is an old Dallas Fire Station built in 1918 and restored by Doolin and husband Alan Governor in 1991.
The program is free to the children and is funded by the City’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Frito Lay and Documentary Arts, Inc.
“I think charging would make it exclusive, which goes against my philosophy that contemporary art should be inclusive,” Doolin says. “If it couldn’t be free, I don’t think I’d want it.”
Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. For more information about Art in the Neighborhood and other programs offered at 5501 Columbia, call 823-8955.
News & Notes
SUMMER DANCE CAMP: Dance Fusion Studios will offer week long dance camp for children ages 4 through 10. The program includes dance classes and lessons on music, dance history, nutrition, anatomy and creative expression. For students 11 and older, the studio will have Saturday workshops in ballet, tap and jazz. For information, call the studio at 320-3396.
Arts Calendar
June 1-24 – Critic’s Choice exhibition at D-Art Visual Art Center, 2917 Swiss. For information, 821-2522.
June 1-17 – Mosaics: Leticia Huerta at D-Art Visual Art Center, 2917 Swiss. For information, 821-2522.
June 3-19 – “The Wonderful World of Oz” by Dallas Children’s Theater, Inc at El Centro College Theater. For information, 978-0110.
