Latino Cultural Center

[GarrettCarey]

Taken from the Latino Cultural Center Website (http://dallasculture.org/latinocc/). Another great addition to Dallas cultural scene.
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http://dallasculture.org/latinocc/../images/g_latinobuilding.jpg


The Latino Cultural Center/
Centro Cultural de Dallas

The Latino Cultural Center is the realization of a vision that Dallas citizens have fostered. These citizens desire a City facility that would artistically, respectfully, and authentically reflect and represent the Latino community's rich historical culture.

The VISION of the Latino Cultural Center is to provide artists, cultural organizations and the Latino community with the facilities and opportunities to develop and celebrate the unique cultural talents and gifts. The Center will present opportunities for education and experience in quality visual, literary, media and traditional arts. The center will provide a venue and workspace for artists.

The MISSION of the Latino Cultural Center is to serve as a catalyst for the preservation, development and promotion of Latino and Hispanic arts and culture in Dallas

[gc]

I am not sure if anyone has driven past this place lately, but they are making significant progress. It is certainly different looking but seems to fit into Deep Ellum fairly well. Let me know what you guys think.

[freewaytincan]

I feel that if they have one of those, then they had better have one for all people. I mean, if the public officials are so into equality, where're the "African American", "Anglo-American", "Asian-American" and so on cultural centers?

I feel like the design could have been way better. Oh yeah, and the naming rights. Someday, some guy who is my age or maybe older will take their kid to the center of Dallas and he'll take him to an afternoon concert, explaining who Mort Meyerson and Bruce MacPherson were, continuing on to the sculpture garden, telling him all about Raymond Nasher. He'll go all over, and while passing the Latino Cultural Center, he'll explain to his kid who Jose Cuervo was. Doesn't it all seem backwards?

Maybe it's just me.

[gc]

urban, check out this site....

http://dallasculture.org/centers.html

[ibryant]

Actually, Jose Cuervo is not the sponsor. After people began having a fit about the idea of it, Jose Cuervo stepped down and Oak Farms became the new sponsor.

[freewaytincan]

Really? Well it's an improvement, but that doesn't say much. It's too bad we haven't had many good role models in the history of Dallas that really affected certain groups. We could arrange that for a name. But Oak Farms...it still sounds...wrong.

[jsoto3]

by the way, the architect of this project is none other than mexico's most famous living architect, ricardo legoretta. he also designed that office complex, 'la solana'?, on 114 west of grapevine. anyway, this center will undoubtedly be a major tourist draw for the city, particularly deep ellum. the image may not be that appealling to many of you, but i assure you this guy creates beautiful places/spaces. he makes excellent use of water features. i can't wait to see it.

[gc]

I agree jsoto, I can't wait to see the finished product.

[aceplace]

jsoto, the building should be wonderful. I've spent a little time in Solano, and the architectural esthetics basically takes my breath away.

We'll be fortunate to have his building close to downtown.

[tamtagon]

At the current population growth rate of the Latino community in Dallas, the cultural center mightl need to begin expansion plans soon after opening.

The collection of Latin American artifacts at the DMA is impressive. I could see a new museum dedicated to Latin American Art built in the Arts District.

[aceplace]

tamtagon,

There is already a museum dedicated to Latin American art, although it is not in the Arts district.

The art movement called MADI, a form of abstract art involving bright colors and bold shapes, is opening this month in Uptown Dallas, on Carlisle street, I think. A local lawyer is a patron of the MADI movement and the ground bloor of his building will become the museum.

MADI originated in Argentina, but it has since spread to Europe and other parts of the world. The Dallas museum is going to be one of its outposts in North America.

BTW, I think the cultural center on Good-Latimer is going to be MEXICAN in character, is it not? There is no such thing as "Latino" really...

Of course, I could be mistaken... perhaps the center will have a Bolivian section, an Uruguayan room, and something for the people of Argentina.

[gc]

Good call Ace.

I have seen the MADI several times. It is a far out looking development....and surprisingly small. I am anxious to see the finished product. It is just south of West Village....go south on Cole then I guess Cole turns into Carlisle. You cannot miss it on the right side....

ace...is there a website for it? I have not been able to find one.

[aceplace]

Not for the museum, but here's a web page that explains some of the goals and character of MADI:

http://www.collectorsguide.com/ab/abfa14.html

[rantanamo]

That rendering explains a lot. I pass that thing everyday and simply cannot make out what is going on with the shape. Very cool and unique.

[Andy1978]

thanks for the link. Great site!

[tamtagon]

I remember in another thread of this forum, the MADI gallery was mentioned, but I was not aware the Dallas MADI museum (http://www.madimuseum.org/) was so innovative as noted by this quote from the website:

"...located at 3109 Carlisle,.... This is the first time that MADI has been used in the U.S. as an architectural form on this scale."

The location on Carlisle is perfect, and will hopefully encourage additional similar museums and galleries to locate in the area. More than that, the MADI museum is a motivating example for others with collections to share. Come on, take it out of your study, and put it in a gallery. What are the chances that a gallery could exist spotlighting the collective collections of area community - "This Spring and summer, the art of Highland Park"

The Latino Museum I mentioned is wishful thinking. THe DMA collection of Middle and South American artifacts would be an excellent base collection to a museum dedicated to ethnically Latino artists. I believe the much of the art out there is affordable, and a sizable collection could be pulled together which, in time, would be more valuable. As Latin cultures (regardless of the orgin) becomes more important in American society, so will the Latin art. In 50 years, The DMA could be have the definitive collection of Latin art if purchases are wisely made. San Francisco and Los Angeles has museums dedicated to Latino art, and even specific area artists. Just as European art reflects much of the culture of America, Latino Art will represent much of the culture to come.

Eventually, I would like the Africian American Museum in Fair Park to move to the Arts District, too.

[tamtagon]

I think the broadest definition of Latino may be Spanish and/or Portuguese speaking. Language defines your culture.

[aceplace]

Tamtagon, that definition may be too indefinite because there is no such thing as the "Spanish" language.

The language spoken in Mexico is a variation of the language known as "Castilian".

The language spoken in Argentina, not counting minor use of German and Italian, is a mixture of Italian and Castilian.

Barcelona and the surrounding regions in Spain speak a language called Catalan, which is as different from Castilian as Italian is.

Northern Spain speaks a language called Basque, which is similar to Hungarian and Finnish.

Northwestern Spain, just north of Portugal, has Galician as its native language. It is a Celtic language, like Irish and Scottish. The Galicians are recognized at the Dallas Irish Festival held in Fair Park every year.

The corrupt practice we have in this country of grouping dissimilar things out of ignorance of their differences... ayyyyyy

Like calling someone from India and someone from Hokkaido Island in Japan by the same term... what an asinine and ignorant practice.

If they are both Asians, then I don't know what an Asian is, because I don't see anything in common between them other than their humanity.

LIkewise, I see no relationship between, say, an Argentine of Italian descent, and a Mexican of Mayan descent.

[aceplace]

BTW, Tamtagon, thanks for the link to the MADI museum. I'm also looking forward to seeing their stuff. It looks colorful, and I like the concept (and the feeling) of geometrical shapes having their own relationship, independent of anything else... context-free meaning?

[crescentboi]

That's interesting about the MADI museum because my apartments are right across Bowen from that and so I see it every day and noticed the sign for the museum, but never fully knew what it was! Thanks for the info!

[gc]

I am not sure how many of you guys have been able to follow the progress of the Latino Cultural Center, but it is really starting to look cool. It is really adding a different flavor to the area. I recommend taking a look at it. Here is another rendering of the finished product.

[bloodandpopcorn]

What is the best way to drive by the cultural center?

[gc]

It is located at the Good-Latimer/Live Oak street intersection (across the street from the Live Oak Lofts). When you are there you cannot miss it.

[rantanamo]

walked past there today. The colors look really great. Very vibrant.

[MustangMonkey]

Do you think they could install stadium seating on the roof? :D

[tamtagon]

So, is this place open yet? A quick scan of the website didnt reveal an opening date.
Later this month, I'll be touring some recent DFW developments and have been hoping to include the Latino Cultural Center....

[gc]

It is not open yet and not I am not sure what the date is. They are still finishing some things up.

[gc]

Logo inspired by new Latino center's design
06/05/2003 - By FRANK TREJO / The Dallas Morning News

The distinctive architecture of Dallas' soon-to-open Latino Cultural Center has influenced the creation of a logo that will represent the facility for years to come.

The logo, unveiled this week at City Hall, was designed by Dieste, Harmel & Partners in Dallas, one of the nation's largest Hispanic advertising agencies.

The unveiling is in anticipation of the fall opening of the $9.8 million center designed by renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta.

"We've all worked so hard for so long that we are just thrilled by the fact that ... [the ad firm] hit it right on the head the first time," said Dolores Gomez Barzune, chairwoman of the city's Cultural Affairs Commission.

The center's grand opening is set for Sept. 16-20.

Tony Dieste, president of Dieste, Harmel & Partners, described the logo as extremely versatile. He said about 200 designs were considered.

"We wanted the design to reflect Latinos and not focus on one particular subculture of Latinos," Mr. Dieste said.

The logo has a stylized "L" derived from the angular walls of the center, as well as the bright colors used by the architect.

The center, at Live Oak Street and Good-Latimer Expressway, includes a 300-seat theater, art gallery and 75-foot tower.

[rantanamo]

The Live Oak corridor is really livening up with the LCC, new apartments, office buildings and townhomes. Does anyone have an idea what that newly poured site is going to be. I passed be a couple of weeks back and notice the new site just between the new apts and that park. Anything significant, or just a gas station/convenience store site?

[gc]

Latino cultural center: Light embrace
Complex mirrors ancient village in modern design
10:07 PM CDT on Saturday, September 13, 2003
By DAVID DILLON / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/entertainment/stories/091403dnartlatinoarch.35ce1.html

The new Latino Cultural Center manages to evoke ancient traditions and cultures without becoming a theme park. That's quite a trick in this scenographic era and one that only a sophisticated architect could pull off.

Ricardo Legorreta's model was obviously the quiet village on the edge of the bustling city, complete with plaza, bell tower and decorative fountain. Yet the overall effect is severely distilled and abstracted, an interpretation rather than a re-creation. The tower is purple and torqued, like a tottering stack of boxes. The fountain spills mysteriously from a channel in a wall, not a decorative basin. Surfaces are smooth, corners razor sharp, everything is reduced to essentials.

Mr. Legorreta was the perfect choice for this project, not only because of his Hispanic roots but because he is a master at creating rich buildings out of simple forms and materials. The construction budget was barely $9 million, which left him no room for gimmickry or grandstanding. His only flourishes are the purple tower, which at night becomes a beacon, and the soaring roof of the performance hall, which smooths the transition from downtown scale to neighborhood scale. Everything else is walls and simple openings animated by color and light.

The wall is the heart of Mr. Legorreta's architecture, a link to Mexico's pre-colonial past, the world of the pueblo, but also a source of order and mystery. The wall separates inside from outside, public from private; but by denying us access it also makes us wonder what is on the other side. In an architecture of walls a window becomes a surprise, a gift. Instead of panoramas, therefore, we get framed views and forced perspectives, which turn ordinary spaces into paintings.
The Latino Cultural Center, which opens downtown Tuesday, is such a world of artfully arranged walls and windows. Courtyards appear magically through grilles and screens; a slice of the downtown skyline pops into a skylight; nature is framed by large square picture windows. The feeling of being simultaneously inside and outside is constant, as it is in much Latin American architecture. Despite the walls, there is no claustrophobia because of the rich interplay between natural light and color, Mr. Legorreta's tools for making modern architecture sing.

At one level, the Latino Cultural Center is a simple building, consisting of a performance hall, with dressing rooms and a 300-seat auditorium, and an offset gallery wing containing studio and exhibition space along with staff offices.

Yet into this mix Mr. Legorreta has introduced a subtle asymmetry that is both modern and subtly reminiscent of the ad-hoc construction of old vernacular buildings in Mexico and elsewhere. He believes that in their demand for clarity modern architects miss out on the delights of mystery and intrigue, which to him is synonymous with wandering the corridors of old convents and haciendas, which offer a surprise at every turn. In some of his larger projects, such as Solana, these journeys end in shadowy gardens and courtyards where it's possible to relax and catch one's breath.

"To arrive at a place and find peace is extremely rewarding," he said in an interview several years ago. "If I work 12 or 14 hours a day, then a moment of peace becomes the most creative moment of the day."

These ideas appear in abridged form in the Latino Cultural Center. Visitors who enter from the parking lot, for example, will pass through a contemporary version of a traditional portico, its square columns and plain walls replacing the round arches and embellished walls of the original. They can then either turn left into the studio wing, ending up in the sparkling rotated cube of the main gallery, or straight ahead into the rotunda, featuring an iridescent mural by Arlington artist Celia Alvarez Muñoz. This is intended as a meditative space, a room in which to reflect on light, color and silence, basic elements of Mr. Legorreta's architecture.

The center is not Mr Legorreta's grandest or most adventurous building. Its colors are considerably more muted than those at Solana, in Southlake, for example, or the new Visual Arts Center in Santa Fe, N.M. Several influential patrons reportedly pushed him to tone down his palette, to the point that he briefly considered making the building out of brick. That would have been disastrous; the combination of stucco and oversized clay tiles provides exactly the right mix of density and delicacy. Still, a bit more pop would have been welcome

There are occasional problems with details as well: walls that don't quite meet; columns that aren't flush. Modern detailing is the toughest to do because nothing is concealed; what you see is what you get.

But these are minor issues compared with the building's obvious strengths. The center achieves everything that it was supposed to. After years of delays and disappointments, the city's Latino community finally has a place to call its own, a focal point and gathering place that should be a source of deep pride. It is unlike anything else in Dallas, and because of its energy, its bravura, maybe a source for a broader deeper awakening in the future.

E-mail ddillon@dallasnews.com

[gc]

Crown of light in the new Latino Cultural Center
05:47 PM CDT on Friday, September 12, 2003
By TOM SIME / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/entertainment/stories/091403dnartmunoz.3310c.html

The rotunda of the Latino Cultural Center is capped by a flurry of images, a computer-generated collage of elemental and social references created by artist Celia Alvarez Muñoz. There's a lightning-slashed sky full of butterflies, an Aztec calendar fragment, a stylized human heart, baroque architectural details and what the artist calls "a compilation of sun images from Latino cultures all over the world" on the ceiling.

"They're all computerized – hundreds of images. Some were created 3-D, like the flames and lightning. The butterflies were 3-D so that I could open them and close them," she says.

The rotunda floor serves as the central point of a sunburst design that radiates beyond the building and across the plaza. The room where Ms. Muñoz's work is installed is the only round space, and its uniqueness is heightened by a circular window, over which a piece of the mural has been placed on a plexiglass sheet, so it's backlit by the sun. On the ceiling, an image of a sunburst in the Italian baroque style surrounds a face taken from a Mexican folk-art clay sculpture.

Ms. Muñoz, an El Paso native who lives in Arlington, is in her mid-60s, and has exhibited her art and created permanent public works all over the country. But she'd never done a piece quite like this one before, "so it's a whole, wonderful experiment. For me, there always have to be experiments," she says. "I've got to go into it with fear, or else I'm not happy. When you repeat yourself, where's the learning curve there?"

On the day she was interviewed, Ms. Munoz was supervising the installation of Orientations/Orientaciones: Poetry, Passion and Permanence. As workers rose and fell on a cherry-picker, she looked for the right spot to add her signature. It was the first time she'd seen it as a seamless work; on the computer, it was always flat, with the wall and ceiling components separate.

"You can imagine it, and we had a printout, life-size, but it isn't until it goes up" that you really see what it will look like, she says. The work, created with Photoshop software, is a Lambda digital print with adhesive backing.

"It's very densely composed. There's many, many, many layers of meaning. I mean, how do you define a culture?" she says. "What constitutes 'Latino'? There's so much. The Moors traversed there, so the Spaniards are mutts themselves. I call ourselves Mediterranean mutts. Then we come to this hemisphere, and there you've got more mutation taking place. There's no fine edge to anything, and I wanted that, [to] defuse these boundaries. Because I don't know if there's a pure race anywhere. Maybe the Indians, maybe along the Amazon, but who knows where those guys came from, too? So there's this richness."

The piece is illuminated by an array of lights that constantly shift from red to blue to yellow. "The blue is poetry. Poetry is inspiration. The red is passion. And the yellow is permanence, like the sun," she says.

The lighting enabled Ms. Muñoz to turn the piece into "performance," she says. "How do you activate a static image? You can do it with audio, but I wanted to do it visually. ... This made it breathe."

She says the images of lightning represent creative insight. "What is inspiration if it isn't a clash of elements?" she says. "When thoughts clash in your mind, when you combine things that probably normally weren't supposed to be combined, that's creativity, that's inspiration."

She says the Latino Cultural Center represents such a leap.

"I think it's a terrific acknowledgement of the city finally coming to terms with its citizenry and the composition of its citizenry," she says. "So the building, the exterior, the coloration – I might see it as a cry, a grito, about staking, marking the spot. ... It's a great signifier, I think, for the city."

[gc]

Latino Cultural Center gets a director and plans for its future
05:47 PM CDT on Friday, September 12, 2003
By TOM SIME / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/entertainment/stories/091403dnartlatinoarts.2675d.html

The Latino Cultural Center aims to be a colorful new addition to Dallas' artistic life as well as its skyline, offering a mix of locally produced and imported programming and exhibits.

"Our plans are to collaborate with local groups," says Betty Switzer, director of the city's Office of Cultural Affairs, which operates the center. "Teatro Dallas, Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico, Cara Mia Theatre Company and Martice Enterprises have all already booked performances in the theater."

Also on board is Alda Godines, who will start as manager of the center in early October. Ms. Godines is currently the director of the Casa Latina Cultural Center at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill. Before Casa Latina, she was director of the Center for Hispanic Arts in Corpus Christi. She will be introduced at Tuesday's ribbon-cutting and was not available for interviews before the ceremony.

The opening week's attractions include performances by local arts groups, an exhibit by Texas artist Jesús Bautista Moroles and a juried show of works by area Latino artists.

Events will also be brought in from other places, Ms. Switzer says. "It could be a symposium, it could be literary artists, it could be other musical kinds of programs."

It took seven years to raise money for and build the facility, but building a structure can sometimes be the easy part. Now the cost of running the center comes to the fore. There's a discouraging precedent in the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, N.M., which opened three years ago and is cutting programs because of a money shortfall, even as it raises funds for an expansion of facilities.

Ms. Switzer says the Latino Cultural Center is in good shape for now, with an operating budget of $492,718 approved by the city for its first year.

"I think it is enough, most especially for the first year," she says. "We are establishing a membership organization, and we'll be selling memberships [through] a nonprofit organization. With support from that and the city budget ... we actually will be able to produce a really good season of events."

The new manager of the center was chosen by a panel of city staffers including Ms. Switzer and library director Ramiro Salazar. John Watts Nieto, who has been acting as interim manager, will continue working at the center as the city's cultural programs coordinator. He will also continue to manage the Ice House, an Oak Cliff cultural center.

The manager "will make many of the curatorial and programming decisions," says Mr. Nieto. "But the goal is to have a visual arts coordinator in place by January. We will also have an advisory committee that will give guidance and input."

E-mail tsime@dallasnews.com

[gc]

Check here (http://www.guidelive.com/profile/357580/) for the opening week events. It looks to be busy, fun, and interesting!

[214]

why in the world did they build it?
its horrible!!!!!
They should have got Santiago Calatrava to design it

[gc]

I disagree completely.

It is far from my favorite flavor of architecture, but it is reflective of the culture it represents.

[rantanamo]

I think it looks great. After seeing it up close and walking around it, I love the different textures and how much the building stands out.

http://home.comcast.net/~randyman2426/BryanPlace/DSCF0003a.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~randyman2426/BryanPlace/DSCF0004a.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~randyman2426/BryanPlace/DSCF0008a.JPG

[214]

they should have named it THE MEXICAN CULTURAL CENTER
this building in no way represents latinos other than mexicans

[bloodandpopcorn]

All I know is it is a very interestingly designed building that was sorely needed in Dallas and will greatly inrich our cultural atmosphere. I can't wait to visit it.

I agree that it isn't my favorite typical style of architecture, but it will stick out, which is always good. I wish that it could have reflected back on more ancient styles of central american architecture and been more intricate, etc., but even as it is I think it will be a great addition to the area and the city's cultural attractions.

[gc]

Latino Cultural Center opens with celebration
02:19 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 16, 2003
By FRANK TREJO / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/091603dnmetlcc.186ab4b.html

Dallas' long-awaited Latino Cultural Center opened Tuesday with music, dance and an appreciative audience.

The opening of the center will feature a five-day celebration that kicked off with a colorful parade through downtown Dallas. Floats, marching units and music groups representing every Latin American country and Spain made their way from City Hall to the new center at the corner of Live Oak Street and Good-Latimer Expressway.

"I think it's fabulous, a day of celebration for the city of Dallas," said Jenni Jennings, a North Oak Cliff resident, who watched the parade on Main Street across from Neiman-Marcus. "It's amazing to see costumes of all the Latino countries represented here."

Voters approved $3.4 million in a 1995 bond program for construction of the center, with the idea that additional private funds would push it toward a 1999 opening. The cost of the center since has risen to $10 million and the start of construction was delayed repeatedly.

The building, in shades of terra cotta, features a slant-roofed auditorium and a tall purple tower that is a contemporary version of a traditional Mexican church tower. It was designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta.

At the center, the parade turned into an impromptu fiesta as different musical groups entertained a crowd of several hundred participants.

Inside the Oak Farms Dairy Performance Hall, Mayor Laura Miller and members of the Dallas City Council congratulated those who had a hand in making the Latino center a reality.

Ms. Miller remarked that such elaborate celebrations for the center illustrate how important it is, not just for the city's Latinos, but for all its residents.

"Never in the history of the city has there been a three-hour ribbon cutting," she said.

E-mail ftrejo@dallasnews.com

[evdallas]

I like it, and the work of Legoretta.

[evdallas]

this image is from www.craigkuhner.com He is an architectural photographer and proffesor at UT Arlington School of Architecure.

Solana

[gc]

wow, that is a cool picture, but it is not the Latino Cultural Center. It is the Solana Complex in Solana, Texas ....designed by Ricardo Legoretta.....you knew that right?

[evdallas]

Yeah I was just showing some other work but I forgot to add a title to the picture. It is indeed Solana. Go and look at the other pictures. Several of them are really nice. Many of the residential projects in Austria are great, visited some of them myself.

[freewaytincan]

I still say that this is sociological segregation, almost in a subconcous manner. Look at it. It's a Latino Cultural Center. That adds to the Women's Museum. And the African-American Center. This goes on and on. Find me a Caucasian Center, and I'll buy you a life membership. Hey, read that again and tell me you didn't have a reaction out of the ordinary and I'll give you a hug. This kind of pattern in our society is dangerous. We tell the children (that was me a few years ago, being told not to judge by race, while at the same time, I could ride my bike home only to see public officials like John Wiley Price or Dan Peavy making an asses of themselves on television again and again. Why? Because of racism! And then, to make it even better for the already confused children of my era, it is made acceptable to have clubs that are based on race and religion. You know, whatever happened to Chess Club? How about FCA? Something other than Black Student Union or Asian Club, or Persian Association, or Latinos Unidos. Because I'll tell you what, I don't like that it came to this...as it did in California recently. It is to the point at which the only way to make people pay attention to the backwards policies, reverse racism, and self segregation that is not only in the public world, but even in the public schools was for a rather clever freshman to create a Caucasian Club at her high school. It was nothing short of genius. I had thought of it many times before, but never had the support. And do we see what happened? She was immediately labled a racist and attacked by parents, the ACLU, the NAACP, and just about everyone who supports this effective segregationist policy and doesn't even realize it!

So the question really comes down to this: what good is a cultural center if it is centered around only one culture, and intended almost exclusively for their use? Do you know what would happen if I were to walk in on a Black Panthers meeting? What if an environmentalist and wildlife enthusiast attended an NRA forum? It's the same thing. We already had a world that was split up into many different parts. But instead of actually fixing it, and putting it back together, we simply found a new and more subtle way to segregate ourselves. The honest truth is, I don't want a Caucasian Cultural Center. But I don't want a Latino one, either. Nor do I want a Cowgirl hall of fame as much as I would want a Men's Museum. What good is an African-American Center, if we are trying to untie, not divide? This is our problem now, and this is only another step in the wrong direction.

[rantanamo]

I'm sorry urban, but that post really, really angers me, and reminds me of the people I went to high school and college with. I could write for days on this, and why that girl was an idiot. I will just say this to you.

I'm African-American/black/negro. Whatever you want to call it. I live a whole life. I have a whole culture. I have a whole history. My people were a huge part of the formation of this country. I'm not a month, a few lessons in history class or a couple of weeks of display in a museum. I'm not a jockey of a couple of issues politically, and am not into only 3 sports. I have layers. 'Society' does not treat me that way, so I have to show them or I will be ignored. That's the difference between she and I. Maybe I shouldn't call her an idiot, because she may have been to young or naive to understand that, but it still angers me, and comes off as a mockery. What she is missing is that she doesn't have to convince, show, or fight for understanding. In the US of A, she is born with that. Many in the country or not.

[bloodandpopcorn]

Urban, I agree with you to an extent. But look at it this way. I go to all of the 'ethnic' cultural centers and museums in Dallas, most often the Crowe Collection. I will probably frequent this not that it's done. So there's a white guy going to see it all.

Why is stuff like this necessary? Well, look at the DMA. They're art is dominated by European art, or art of white people in the early 20th century. Why? Because, regardless of your situation, that art is really the most important of that time, as far as formation of American culture, etc. is concerned. Today that's changing, and Asian, Latino, and African art, music, etc. are becoming more and more influential. But 100 years ago, it was European art and the art of East Cost caucasians that made the largest impacts.

So where does all of the non-caucasian art go? Though you hate the DMA, they are doing a great job of picking up art. Even diverse art. But they still have to focus on European and white-American art from yesteryear. Because that is what the country and most of the world's museums see as 'fine art'. So, it's good that we have other places that can focus on art with DIFFERENT cultural backgrouns.

In addition to that, everyone learns European and early, white America history. Not so many learn Asian history or Latino history or REAL black history. So these places give us a place to learn that, for those of us that didn't have the time or even the option to study them in High School. They can be resources for everyone to learn and to grow into an America of completely shared respect and knowlege for and of heritage, as long as they aren't used for people to hide behind. If no Asians, Caucasians, or African-Americans ever go to the Latino Cultural center, then it has failed. If many go, even more than the Latinos that go, then it has suceeded. So instead of getting worked up on the issues of race (which I admit, in a world as racist as it now is, even if that racism is indirect in many ways, it is hard not to get worked up), just go out to these places. Take a diverse group of friends with you. You'll all learn, maybe meet some new, interesting people. And if nothing else, you'll have one hell of a time.

[rantanamo]

PBS has a great special on right now about this very thing. They are using examples such as the various Chinatowns and the latino community in LA as to why our society has insular seperations like this.

[tamtagon]

The Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Museum already exists in Hereford, TX.

I'm unfamiliar with that Caucausian's Club. Was it a white only organization? Clubs focusing on the challenges of an ethnic group generally are intended to address challenges created by the bigoted majority. What was the purpose of the club?

[freewaytincan]

The purpose of the one that some good friends of mine and I are working on creating at my school right now is not of racism, not of culture, not of any of the supposed "good reasons" to "celebrate diversity", as it were. No, we're going to create it only to prove the hypocrisy of the other groups like it.

[bloodandpopcorn]

Wouldn't that just make you all hypocrites, too?