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 We are thrilled to invite you to Preserves, a recipe swap and storytelling club at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center. Preserves is for people like us who are passionate about sharing good food and the personal stories embedded in a dish. Our gatherings will consist of potluck-style meals accompanied by storytelling that reveal the human ingredient of our recipes. Together we'll build a community cookbook for and by us.
Saturday, September 20, 2025, we delve into food that sparks nostalgia. Bring a dish that ignites a significant memory from the past and come prepared to share that story with the group. Did the dish or memory inform how you came to view the world? Is it associated with a special person or place? We look forward to hearing and tasting!
Abril and Adrian
 Cyanotype Workshop with Arthur Fields
September 27 from 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Join us in celebrating World Cyanotype Day on September 27 from 1 - 3 PM at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center.
Taught by artist Arthur Fields, this workshop introduces participants to one of the earliest forms of creating an image on paper using light sensitive iron salts. Invented in 1842 by Englishman Sir John F. W. Herschel and sometimes called "blueprints", Cyanotypes were originally used to reproduced technical drawings. Later, Illustrator Anna Atkins used the process to create more accurate depictions of botanical specimens. Made by placing objects ranging from opaque to translucent on a sheet of cardstock or watercolor paper, Cyanotypes offer a variety of image making possibilities.
Participants will learn the process and create their own unique cyanotype prints using provided materials and sunlight in this 2 hour workshop. Participants are encouraged to bring objects and botanical specimens for use in creating their images.
ARTIST INSTRUCTOR BIO
Arthur Fields is a multi-disciplinary artist working in digital and alternative photographic media. Arthur's artistic research is based on self-representation and social media. Acting as both curator as well as image-maker, he is concerned with choosing, organizing, editing, and remixing, to better understand the collective cultural experience that is mediated through digital processes. While most of Arthur’s work deals with technology and social media relationships, he is currently focusing on his love for abstraction and alternative-process photography.
Arthur grew up in Killeen, Texas. He completed a MFA in Photography at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas. He earned a BFA in Digital Imaging and Photography at Washington University in St. Louis. HIs prior studies included printmaking and photography at Brookhaven College (now a campus of Dallas College). Arthur recently completed 7 years as Associate Professor Art at Vincennes University (Indiana) where he taughtcourses in analog photography, digital imaging and design. He also served as the director of VU’sShircliff Gallery of Art. Arthur is currently Associate Professor of Artat Dallas College (DC) where he teaches courses in photography and design. Arthur's professional service includes serving as National Board Chair for the Society for Photographic Education; Member of the Leadership Arts Institute of North Texas Class of 2024, Board Member of The Cedars Union Arts Incubator and the City of Dallas Public Art Selection Panel among other natinal organizations. He is represented by Pencil on Paper Gallery in Dallas, TX.
WORKSHOP DETAILS
Where: Oak Cliff Cultural Center, 223 W. Jefferson Blvd, Dallas, TX 75208
When: Saturday, September 27, 1 - 3 PM
Parking information: https://occc.dallasculture.org/parking-information/
 From The Mountains
September 6- 13, 2025
Artist Statement
From the Mountains is an interactive installation that explores what it means to rebuild — both ourselves and one another. The work features large-scale wooden puzzle pieces in the forms of reclining female figures, created in collaboration with Dalhaust Studio, whose precision and craftsmanship brought them to life. Scaled up to monumental size, these puzzles invite visitors to assemble them throughout the exhibition. Each figure embodies strength, perseverance, and the slow, deliberate process of healing. Alongside the puzzles, oversized green beanbag chairs serve as shifting “mountains.” They are both obstacles and resting points — firm yet adaptable, always capable of being moved or climbed. These forms encourage participants to change their perspective, allowing them to see the puzzles differently depending on their position or vantage point. Like real mountains, they are never fixed; they are always in motion, reshaping the space as viewers interact with them.
The installation depends on participation. Visitors climb, shift, and reassemble the work, becoming an integral part of the artwork itself. It is designed to be accessible and engaging across all ages, encouraging touch, collaboration, and reflection. At its heart, From the Mountains is about resilience and empathy. It recognizes that putting things back together is rarely a solitary act — sometimes we rebuild ourselves, and sometimes we quietly help rebuild someone else who may never ask for it. The hope is that the experience lingers after leaving the gallery, the way a landscape stays with you long after you’ve moved on — reminding us of the power of shifting perspectives, shared effort, and the beauty of becoming whole again.
Artist Bio
Desireé Vaniecia is a contemporary artist whose work explores the complexities of the human experience through striking lines and symbolic storytelling. Centering emotions, relationships, and personal narratives, her paintings and drawings reflect themes of joy, sorrow, resilience, and transformation. By foregrounding vulnerability and human connection, Vaniecia emphasizes how shared experiences unite us across cultural and societal divides.
A graduate of McMurry University (BA, Cum Laude, 2013), Vaniecia has exhibited nationally, with recent solo shows including "To Be Seen, Not Heard" at the South Dallas Cultural Arts Center (2024) and "Is This Living?" at Conduit Gallery (2022). Her work was published in New American Paintings (West Issue #174) and has earned recognition through the Dallas Museum of Art’s Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Fund (2020) and multiple ArtsActivate grants from the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture. Her works are included in significant collections such as UT Southwestern, Meow Wolf, JP Morgan Chase, and Soho House.
 Chantal Lesley
As I Lay It All to Rest
August 1 - September 12, 2025
We carry so much within us: memories, regrets, unspoken words, and lingering ghosts that echo in the quiet hours of the night. As I Lay It All to Rest is an excavation of these restless thoughts, an exploration of what it means to release, to surrender, and to live with the weight of what cannot be undone.
Chantal Lesley (she/her) is an artist based in Austin, TX. As a multicultural, first-generation American born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley along the U.S./Mexico border, Lesley’s work is deeply informed by her experience of being stretched between four cultures. The daughter of Peruvian and German immigrants, she explores themes of identity, belonging, and contemporary social and political issues through her art.
Lesley earned her BFA in Fine Art Photography from Texas State University in 2021, and her work has been exhibited across Texas and the U.S. Notable exhibitions include the Houston Center for Photography (Houston, TX), Craighead Green Gallery (Dallas, TX), Touchstone Gallery (Washington, D.C.), and Humble Arts Foundation (New York, NY). She has been selected for prestigious residencies, including LATITUDE (Chicago, IL), The Line in partnership with Big Medium (Austin, TX), Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), and Château d'Orquevaux (Orquevaux, France). Lesley has also held solo exhibitions at the Dougherty Arts Center (Austin, TX), LHUCA (Lubbock, TX), shedshows (Austin, TX), and Bradbury Art Museum (Jonesboro, AR). Her 2025 accomplishments have included Artist in Residence at KUNSTRAUM in Brooklyn, NY followed by a residency at kala in Berkeley, CA.
 
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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