Photo courtesy of the City of Dallas
Hey Oak Lawn and Uptown neighbors, come here for a minute. Reverchon Park and Baseball Park is getting a new public art piece and the city wants your input. Oh yeah, one more thing, they would also like for you to be involved in the selection process.
“We are asking people in the community for ideas and stories that the artist who will create the artwork will consider when designing it,” said Adriana Martinez Mendoza, public art project lead for the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture (OAC). “We want to know what gets people to come back to the park.”
The OAC held its first community meeting last week at the Reverchon Recreation Center so they can begin creating the scope of what the artwork will be.
This public art project comes on the back of the rebirth of the Reverchon Park Baseball Field which had its ribbon cutting this past April.
Neighborhood input at the beginning of a public art project is crucial, Mendoza said, because that is where the scope of the project begins to take place so the final product can truly reflect the spirit of the neighborhood where it will be displayed.
“If we are able to create a really cool scope that will result in a really cool piece of art,” Mendoza said.
Reverchon Park Public Art Will Welcome Visitors
Photo courtesy of the Office of Arts and Culture
During the presentation, Mendoza showed the above graphic with the two yellow stars designating the possible location of the artwork. Currently only one sculpture is planned but she said “we do have projects that have multiple sculptures.”
This is why the OAC is asking Reverchon Park neighbors to take a couple of minutes to fill out a survey and consider being on the selection committee.
Scan this QR code to give your input on the public art project for Reverchon Park and Baseball Park
Funding for the project will come from the 2017 and 2024 Bonds. The price tag on the artwork is $260,000. Members of the selection committee will include representatives from the OAC, the parks and rec department and two or three professional artists as well as two community members.
Mendoza said the OAC will spend three months in community engagement and once the scope is developed they will launch the search for the artist who will create the sculpture. That process will take six to eight months and once the artist is selected, they will be under contract for 18 months. The target date for installation is 2027, she said.
Skatepark Mural Great Example of Public Input
This mural is located at the Bachman Lake Skatepark. (Photo by Mimi Perez for CandysDirt.com)
Located in northwest Dallas, the Bachman Lake Skatepark continues the legacy of being the place to go to if you want to skate. Home of the famed Clown Ramp in the 1980s, people from across the nation would come to Dallas to skate at Bachman Lake.
When creating the scope of the public art project for Bachman Lake, the OAC took into consideration the intergenerational aspect of the neighborhood and the activity of skateboarding. It is not uncommon for more experienced skaters to encourage younger, newer skaters and to help them learn tricks.
It was that spirit of one generation teaching another that inspired the artist.
The mural was meant to reflect the intergenerational aspect of the neighborhood. (Photo by Mimi Perez for CandysDirt.com)
“You have the Mama dragon teaching the baby dragon how to skate,” said Lynn Rushton Reed, the public art program manager. “This neighborhood is very intergenerational, and that is what skaters do for one another.”
“These are the best days,” said Renee’ Johnson, deputy director for the parks and rec department, “when parks and the arts come together. That is just a glorious day. The art can signify what is wonderful about our city.”
(Photo by Mimi Perez for CandysDirt.com)
The OAC hopes that the public art project at Reverchon Park and Baseball Park is as reflective of the neighborhood as the mural at the Bachman Lake Skatepark. Mendoza said they will be accepting surveys and input through November. You can access the survey online here: https://forms.office.com/g/iMT72xiptz