Dallas’ Little Mexico comes to life on 7/25

By Sylvana Avila Alonzo

The Oak Cliff Coalition for the Arts (OCCA), a non-profit organization who promote the arts, education and charitable work, will present El Barrio Retrospective Project — where Dallas’ Little Mexico comes to life — on Saturday, July 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at La Cantera Arts Conservatory, located at 1050 N. Westmoreland Rd., Dallas, Texas. The event is free and open to the public, but guests must register online.

 The Project is a review of the “book” titled El Barrio Study Phase 1: City of Dallas, which contains a study conducted in 1974 and 1975 by the City of Dallas’ Parks Department and the Urban Planning Department. Fifty-six Little Mexico neighborhood residents participated in 30 meetings and contributed ideas on how to improve Pike Park. The process and its results document the hopes and dreams of “los cincuenta y seis” (the 56).

During this four-hour event, six artists, various authors and writers will present works of art, share diaries and essays, discuss a photo exhibit, provide tours and map activity, deliver writing prompts and share information about the publishing of a chapbook, a multi-page, inexpensive book commonly associated with poetry.

“Little Mexico is Dallas’ hidden gem with few visual landmarks left, but this book -— hidden for over 50 years — has also inspired hope and new dreams,” said Sylvana Avila Alonzo, executive director at the Oak Cliff Coalition for the Arts.

 El Barrio Retrospective Project is supported in part by the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture. For more information and free tickets go to Facebook event page “El Barrio Retrospective 1974 to 2026 – Little Mexico Comes to Life.” Click on the link to access the Google form.