5 years ago, when I moved into the Vickery Meadow community, as I looked around and got to know my neighbors, I remember thinking, "why do we go to Pier 1 Imports and World Market...and why do I bother going to, what I think, are ethnic restaurants?" The culture and delicious flavors are RIGHT HERE!
I thought it would be so wonderful to have an outdoor international market in my community. I wanted my neighbors to be able to share their culture and generate income from doing what they already know how to do and what they are good at. And I wanted the greater community of DFW to be able to appreciate and support what is right here in their back yard.
Well, it was a "great idea" and all, but I had no idea how to make it happen...so I just kinda forgot about it.
About 1.5 years ago, our ministry team was pretty burnt out and defeated by what we considered failure. We decided to just clear the slate, and forget about what we thought we "should" be doing...or what we thought others "expected" us to do, and just ask God, "WHAT THE HECK are we supposed to do!??!" ...We were desperate!
When I got alone and asked God for direction and answers, I started to think about that vision...dream...desire I had to see an international market in this community. And God showed me that, it was not just a random "idea" I had...it was God's vision for this place...and He would make it happen, and I should go after it, believing and trusting Him to do it!
That is when I started going down the economic empowerment side of things. And I have been working with groups like Vickery Threads to make and sell bags, and the New Roots Gardeners at White Rock Local Market. All that has been so fun, but it still felt like a market in Vickery was soooooo FAR AWAY...and I had NO IDEA how it would become a reality!
....WELL, NOT ANYMORE! Nasher Sculpture Museum is sponsoring a project with a large number of artists and there is going to be a market HERE, ON MY STREET, starting THIS October!!!!!!!!! And they asked ME to be on the Steering Committee (the 5 decision makers). Wow, I still can't believe this is happening!!!!!!
So Mark Your Calendars for our markets and stay tuned:
October 19, 2013
November 23, 2013
December 21, 2013
January 18, 2014
February 22, 2014
...after this PRAY, PRAY, PRAY the market will continue!
Here are 2 articles of a community event we did a few weeks ago that tells a little more about the project:
http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2013/06/nashers-citywide-public-art-initiative-begins-to-take-shape/
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/mixmaster/2013/06/public_markets_in_vickery_mead.php
To introduce the project to the community, we threw a big party...it was sooo fun!
What I love about this picture is, I see so many different cultures of people in one place: Ethiopia, Burma, Bhutan, Mexico, Russia, Vietnam, etc, etc.
This is my sweet friend Eden, who performed the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony.
Notice her hair, earrings, nails, makeup, jewelry, dress AND coffee cups are ALL in the Ethiopian flag colors! It was SPECTACULAR!
Forget face painting...we have HENNA artisits!
We had traditional food prepared by 20 residents from all different places around the world!
The event was a great success and so much fun...and NO leftovers!
We started doing different creative workshops to discover the talent and potential artists in the community. We have been blown away by what people are capable of with some resources, encouragement and an outlet.
This is a watercolor that an artist named Ameer did for me during one of the workshops.
He was a famous artist in Iraqi and I am praying this market will get him the recognition and connections he needs here in the Dallas.
Needless to say, Ameer (in this picture) has joined the leadership team on this project and has been teaching and helping other residents work on their artistic skills to prepare for markets.
TUESDAY NIGHT JAM SESSIONS UNDER THE TREE
I met a great guy who just started "The Social Jam," check it out on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/165335200296897/
He and his friends are coming to Vickery every Tuesday night to "jam" and build relationships with the residents. I am praying this will create some community around creativity, and all types of creative expression will be alive, like dance, poetry, story telling, painting, etc, etc.
...who knows what can happen!
I believe God created us all with different passions, interests and abilities...and being who He created us to be gives us ultimate purpose and fulfillment.
He is our awesome Creator, He is a Creative God, and He lovingly created each one of us so unique and wonderful...and He knows best what is inside of us waiting to be discovered by the world!
I pray that people will discover that the random things they like to do, or the things they are just "naturally" good at or drawn to, is EXACTLY who God created them to be. It is so wonderful!!!
I pray people will be empowered, encouraged and courageous enough to be the UNIQUE person He designed them to be!
And I pray they will get to know and fall in love with their generous, patient and loving Creator...who designed them for ABUNDANT JOY!
Anjana (in the shorts) told me she saw people ice skating last year and was too scared to do it. She always regretted not trying it...so we went to the galleria and she almost chickened out again, but I FORCED her to go. She never took her hands off the railing!!!!!!! I was so proud of her for trying...but I highly doubt she will ever go again! LOL! Her cousin Rita (in the blue pants) was a little more daring, but not much more talented! LOL What a FUN experience to have with them!
Some of us were invited to go visit the Nasher Sculpture Museum.
True to form, all art is not for everyone, and there was some pretty random stuff in there...
As we were looking at the random-ness, it was HI-LAR-I-OUS, b/c one of the girls looked at me with this funny look on her face (the girl in the white shirt...with that same look) and said, "I don't get it!" Ha ha! Neither did I!!!
Subeit turned TWO!
OmQueteba, welcomed a grandson, Leith (Lion) into the world and I was honored to be there with her and her family. Honored, but tired, I think this picture was taken at about 4am and didn't get into bed until 6am! :)
