News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A Photographic Stroll Through Dallas' Shuttered Schools

Allison V. Smith

Five stories that have North Texas talking: What a shut-down school looks like, turning a tire plant into an arts center and more.

It was certainly a hot-button issue when DISD decided to close eleven schools earlier this year. Officials essentially stated the schools were “under-populated” and closing them would save an estimated $11.5 million dollars.

Photographer Allison V. Smith recently trekked through several shuttered schools in Dallas -- the photos made NPR’s Picture Show blog.

Question: Allison visited another unnamed school back in 2008. Anyone know which one?

-- Justin Martin

Have A Cookie With Your Texas Tea

Another NPR blog post with Dallas ties -- make that Dallas ties -- is blowing up today on our site. All Things Considered profiled a pair of Cambridge, Mass., siblings known as the Brass Sisters, a.k.a. the Queens of Comfort food. Seems they used to make poppy seed cookies while watching Larry Hagman and the gang during their first tour of Dallas duty on TV. Get the scoop -- and the recipe -- on NPR's blog, The Salt.

-- Rick Holter

Sometimes You Gotta Yell When It’s Good: ArtCon 8 Is Saturday

Art lovers of varying opacities can commit that annual adrenaline-fueled act of communal philanthropy on Saturday, as ArtCon 8 takes over a former Goodyear tread plant on Dragon Street with its boot-level charm.

The winner of Art and Seek’s weekly photo contest, Brian Hamm, sneaks a peek at the work up for live auction by over 150 artists. The beneficiaries this year are Girls Rock Dallas and W.T. White High School’s new art program. Click here for the stage lineup and tickets.

-- Lyndsay Knecht

Not All The Arty Kids Go To Booker T.

Speaking of W.T. White, Art&Seek’s Stephen Becker takes an intriguing look insidethat school’s nascent Visual and Performing Arts Academy. The program has 78 students in seven disciplines, about a third of them from other DISD schools.

It’s no Booker T Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts, but then again, it’s not trying to be. As program director James Smethers puts it, ““They’re designed to make you a star. We’re designed to make you employable.”

-- Rick Holter

Twice As Nice?

Long before Museum Tower brought its shimmer to Dallas' Arts District, One Arts Plaza provided a buzzworthy place to have a pied-a-terre.

Today, Dallas Morning News real estate maven Steve Brown unveils the plans for Two Arts Plaza, a next-door office building. And judging from the renderings, it, too, will shimmer. (Thankfully, there's just no museum close enough to catch the rays.)

-- Rick Holter