Bishops Arts District

New church

Here’s a sight you won’t often see in England – a church being built. And a big church, too. This is quite a common sight here – at least in the Bible belt. In England, they have trouble filling and maintaining the architecturally spectacular churches that we have; in Texas, they can’t build them fast enough, even if they are just stick built (wooden skeleton) and drywall (plasterboard). You can read into this whatever you like.

Today, I went in search of the Bishop Arts District (http://www.bishopartsdistrict.com/) in South Dallas. It took a bit of finding, because it’s not so much a “district” – more just a couple of blocks of artsy shops and restaurants in the middle of a deprived Hispanic area of Dallas. The reason I went was because a local TV station reported on a Dallas Museum of Art’s community outreach program to encourage local children between 14-18 years old to create murals in the area. You know, of course, that I’ve developed a particular fondness for murals.

The area, apart from the murals, was disappointing, as are so many of the “gentrification” projects that seem more to me like “yuppification”. At least Starbucks haven’t made it there yet.

(And, on a separate note, if you have access to the internet, and any doubt about the poverty gap between rich and poor in the United States, you should check out http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/countryboys/view/ - there are significant areas of the country that are third world at best. And I’m sure this is just as true of almost any country that likes to think of itself as “civilized”.)

El Padrino

I bought lunch at “El Padrino” – it’s on the fringes of the District, and is included in it more as an acknowledgement of the local community, since the patrons (unlike those of many of the nearby upscale restaurants) seem to be exclusively Hispanic. It’s basically a streetside Mexican takeaway. The menu was entirely in Spanish, and I had no clue what to order, so I asked two young girls ahead of me in the queue to help with the translation – I can’t believe my opening line was: “Do you speak English?” We’re in Dallas, for heaven’s sake, and they looked at me as if I was insane. They helped me nevertheless, and I ordered 3 chicken fajita tacos and a Coke. The tacos, needless to say, were nothing like what we call “tacos”, but delicious, and served with refried beans and slices of fresh avocado.

Mum in Okehampton

And just to make sure that you don’t get the impression that my interest in murals is confined to Texas, here’s one in Okehampton, Devon. The wonderful lady in the picture is my mother – otherwise known as “Nana”, which is why I also include a picture of an enterprise she seems to be running on the side in Dallas, unknown to the rest of the family. 

Nana's Wash-n-Dry

I wish there were more murals – they brighten up the dullest of areas and lift the soul.