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 ON VIEW IN THE STUDIO
Almost Free: The Freedman Town Legacy
presented by Form Creatives
February 14 – March 21, 2025
Reception: February 14, 6 – 8 PM
This interactive Community Mural Exhibition, in partnership with the City of Dallas Arts and Culture, provides a profound opportunity to reimagine the narrative of division that has historically shaped or society. By coming together, people of diverse colors, backgrounds, and socio-economic experiences unite to engage in a collective process of honoring, learning, and reinterpreting Dallas' history-particularly Black history. While the legacy of the past remains deeply ingrained, to disregard it would be to overlook the enduring truths of the struggles against slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic injustice. This initiative is not an exercise in blame or victimization but a celebration of unity, healing, and the sharded commitment to intellectual and cultural enlightenment. Through this process, we open ourselves to the possibility of growth and transformation, both as individuals and as a community.
The title "Almost Free reflects both the struggles and triumphs of a community that pushed or freedom, identity, and self-determination. It speaks to the ongoing journey of growth and renewal that continues today. This body of work emphasizes the importance of recognizing Freedman Town influence throughout the year, not just within certain observances or timeframes. It's about understanding the depth of this legacy and keeping these narratives alive, ensuring the remain accessible and relevant to al.
We invite you to reflect on how the story of Freedman Town shapes the present and inspires the future, showing that the journey of a community is never just confined to a moment-it's an ongoing story, always worth telling and always worth remembering.
COMING TO THE OC3 GALLERY
ALIYAH CYDONIA
donia
March 15 – April 12, 2025
Reception: March 15, 6 – 8 PM
 Aliyah Cydonia’s solo exhibition donia, a contemplation on bloodlines, memory, and corporeal awareness, will open on Saturday, March 15, 2025 with a reception from 6 - 8 pm.
donia is an homage to lineage, a vein connecting the past. Paintings and a video depicting her ancestor Sedonia resurrect familial bonds and supplant her awareness of “lives lived before”. In another painting titled “The Pilgrimage” Aliyah depicts a Cake Walk, a dance that was originated by American Slaves; performing a mockery of the Waltz and other traditional European dances. Rendered in oil, the figures in the painting are faint providing a glimpse of ancestral memory hinting at the permeable connections in bloodlines.
Through research and reflection, her paintings and video installation in the exhibition experiment with the corporeal, attempting to access the information from the bloodline that is stored within her. She likens it to a journey, explaining “this series is an exploration of the pilgrimage going on in our bodies in relation to the experiences and the entropic memories from ancestors that are being stored in us”.
Aliyah Cydonia was born in 2002 in Dallas, TX. She is a recent graduate of The University of North Texas, achieved her BFA in Studio Arts with a concentration in Painting and Drawing. Cydonia has exhibited works at Daisha Board Gallery, Tureen, SP/N Gallery at the University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas Contemporary, the gallery at Richland DCCCD Campus, and Paul Voertman's Gallery. She lives and works in Dallas, TX. In 2022, Cydonia was awarded The Clare Hart DeGolyer Memorial Funded by the Dallas Museum of Art. Cydonia, along with Hannah Baskin started a collective in 2021 called Anti Avant Garde Avant Garde. The collective has performed a performance piece, Cooperative Conundrum, at the Dallas Contemporary. In 2022, Cydonia traveled to Florence, Italy to attend a paint and drawing study abroad program. In 2023, Cydonia attended the New York Academy Arts undergraduate residency. In 2024, Cydonia was an artist in residency at Arts Mission Oak Cliff.
 One Line at a Time: An interactive Workshop Exploring Line as an Element of Art
In this interactive workshop guests will review the Elements of Art, with a specific focus on line as an integral role in art making and communication. Traditionally, the elements of art are the visual components that artists use to create art, and are important in fostering aesthetics, professionalism, and appreciation for art. During this in-person session, filmed live and offered online simultaneously, participants will practice various techniques regarding value, form, and texture, as well as creative activities for shape, space, color, and design. We will explore artistic tools, trades, careers, and practices, as well as review canonical artists with exceptional line works and designs. Understanding these foundational aspects of art is greatly beneficial for AP college portfolio preparation, art educators, self-taught artists, curators, and art appreciators of all ages.
Bring your sketchbook, paper, pencil, and eraser. Rulers, black ballpoint pen, black ultra fine Sharpie markers welcomed.
 MORTAR AND PESTLE CLASS
with James Beard Nominated Chef Reyna Duong
April 23, 2025, at 7:30-8:30 PM
Dallas College El Centro Culinary Center
801 Main Street
Dallas, Texas 75202
Save the date for the first class in our Mortar and Pestle series with James Beard nominated and founder/executive chef of Sandwich Hag and chimanh, Reyna Duong, in collaboration with artist, educator and founder of Break Bread, Break Borders, Jin-Ya Huang and Dallas College Culinary, Pastry, and Hospitality Center. More details to come and registration opens soon!
 SWAN STRINGS AT OC3
TUESDAYS AT 6:30 PM * & SATURDAYS AT 11:00 AM 2024
Swan Strings Music Program is a 501c3 non-profit organization with a mission to provide free music education, community concerts and sound therapy services to North Texan individuals without access.
Questions? Contact Swan Strings at programs@swanstrings.com
* Thursday lessons will be moved to Tuesdays starting in November
Oak Cliff Cultural Center
223 W. Jefferson Boulevard, Dallas, Texas 75208
Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday
12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Phone: 214-670-3777
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