Local theaters band together in new Trinity Corridor space
The donor who bankrolled the McKinney Avenue Contemporary arts complex is building another arts center for two performance groups founded by Little Forest Hills and Lake Highlands residents.
MAC developer Claude Albritton bought property in the Trinity River Corridor to house the Green Zone, an indoor-outdoor arts complex that will house Our Endeavors Theater Collective and Project X.
Husband and wife team Patti Kirkpatrick and Scott Osborne, who live in Little Forest Hills, founded Our Endeavors in 1997. The 11-member theater company specializes in live theater productions.
Lake Highlands resident Raphael Parry joined forces with 14 other artists in 2001 to form Project X, which moves among  the fields of theater, music, film, and dance.
“The great thing about collaboration is we’ll be bringing in a lot of different disciplines in to the building,” Kirkpatrick says. “The possibilities are really endless.”
The Green Zone, on Riveredge Drive at Irving Boulevard, will include three theaters with 100, 150, and 250 seats, a gallery and two three-story buildings with rehearsal spaces and loft apartments. An outdoor stage, two piazzas and a movie screen green space will surround the complex.
Albritton will cover construction costs while the companies pay to outfit the space.
Parry, also the artistic director for Shakespeare Dallas, says Albritton has a vision for Dallas’ artistic community that involves bringing people back to experience art in public forums.
“I get supercharged when I think about the  opportunities before us,” he says. “We are really looking at art on a mythic scale that can have a profound effect.”
Phase one of the Green Zone should be complete by fall, and the companies plan to mark the open with multiple performances and celebrations. Phases two and three should be finished by 2007 and 2008, respectively.
The complex is one of the first new public venues in the Trinity River Corridor, Kirkpatrick says, and should draw people to the area as well as complement projects in the Arts District.
Bringing Our Endeavors and Project X under one roof also benefits the two companies, she adds.
“We do have a loyal following, but at the same time, there’s a lot of people who don’t  know about us. And it’s the same for Project X,” she says. “I feel strongly that the two companies will find a way to work together in a positive way.”
