The Oak Cliff Foundation has officially handed the keys to the historic Texas Theatre over to Aviation Cinemas, Inc., a newly formed movie theatre company with the expressed goal of renovating the theatre by installing a 35mm changeover system, tweaking the existing digital projection system to meet I-Cinema compliance, and installing a new adjustable 40 foot screen. This will allow the theatre to screen movies of various exhibition formats, utilizing state of the art equipment. The large screen will be moveable to allow for other kinds of entertainment including plays and concerts. The old school style film changeover system will allow the Texas to screen repertory film prints that would not normally be allowed to be spliced together on a platter. Additional exhibition for small format films and filmmaking will be supported by the addition of 16mm and Super 8mm projection. Plans also include constructing a concession stand and a separate full-service bar in the main lobby and soundproofing the area between the theatre and the bar.

“Phase one is to get the theatre in good working condition in order to exhibit films in traditional and digital formats,” said Barak Epstein, President and CEO of Aviation Cinemas. “Long term goals to restore the theatre to its original condition still exist; but in order to realize those goals we’ve got to be on par with competing theaters. Attracting audiences is the only way this theatre will survive.”

Aviation Cinemas, named in honor of billionaire Howard Hughes, who financed The Texas Theatre in 1931, is the brainchild of award-winning independent filmmaker, Barak Epstein. Epstein has been scouting potential spaces in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for several years. Following the Oak Cliff Foundation’s involvement with the Texas Theatre led him to his first opportunity.

Award-winning Independent film producer, Adam Donaghey, is Vice-President and CMO. “Barak and I have been looking for the next project to team up on,” said Donaghey, who’s produced several films alongside Epstein, “and when the opportunity to be a part of a movie theatre with the kind of history the Texas has, I jumped all over it.”

Creative Director for The Oak Cliff Foundation, Jason Reimer, will stay on as a part of Aviation Cinemas, continuing to head up programming and book shows. “When Barak came to us with his ideas for the Texas Theatre, “ says Reimer, “I knew instantly he was the right fit. Coupled with Adam’s ability to scout the latest and greatest on the indie film market, will make for some quality programming.”

While the theatre has content booked through the rest of the year, beginning in October, including the Texas Blood Bath Film Festival in November, the grand opening of the new Texas Theatre is scheduled in January 2011. Following the grand opening, phase two will consist of remodeling the balcony by possibly turning it into two additional screens (ala the Inwood Theater in Dallas), remodeling additional areas for lounge space and installing a digital cinema 2K and 3D projector.

The Texas Theatre is currently booking independent films, concerts, theater programs, parties and events. Book your event by calling: 940-391-5899

Upcoming Shows:

Following are a selection of confirmed shows

all dates subject to change

• Thurs. Sept. 30 – encore showing of Return to Giant (w/ dir. Kirby Warnock)
• Tues. Oct. 5 – Touch of Evil (dir. Orson Welles)
• Tues. Oct. 12 – Harold and Maude (dir. Hal Ashby)
• Tues. Oct. 19 – After Hours (dir. Martin Scorsese)
• Tues. Oct. 26 – Bonnie and Clyde (dir. Arthur Penn)
• Tues. Nov. 2 – Last Days of Disco (dir. Whit Stillman)
• Tues. Nov. 9 – Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (dir. Sam Peckinpah)
• Tues. Nov. 16 – Jesus’ Son (dir. Alison Maclean)

• Nov. 13/14 – Blood Bath Horror Film Festival

Coming Soon:

• Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields
• Adventures of Power
• Until the Light Takes Us
• Life During Wartime

Featured Directors of the Month Series:

• Akira Kurosawa
• Jacques Tati
• Alfred Hitchcock

Our previous Better Block project made national headlines, and is now being modeled throughout the country as a way for community’s to create real-time “demonstration zones”, and to help residents promote change within their own city governments.  This time, we’ve received a helping hand from SWA Group, a major landscape architecture firm based in Downtown Dallas. Our teams walked the street to identify areas of opportunity and have come up with a series of changes that we hope can be made permanent at a later date. Inspired by San Francisco’s Walklet project, we’ll also be introducing a series of decking projects into parking spaces, using re-salvaged pallet wood, and other found materials. Gary Buckner explains in greater detail here:

Gary Buckner explains part of the Better Block Buildout (YouTube link)

Be sure to check in with us on Facebook for more updates. Also, if you’re interested in volunteering in any way, don’t hesitate to drop us a note.

But.

Tonight I saw Ruby Jane at The Kessler.  And she was incredible.

Serious talent, amazing drive, and passion about music obviously put this 15 year old into a whole different level of musical genius.

I don’t know how many of you know Edwin Cabaniss, owner of The Kessler, but seeing as he’s a Go Oak Cliff board member, I see and talk to him pretty often.  I’d say out of all the acts The Kessler has had to date, nothing gets a true spark in his eye quite like Ruby Jane.  I first started hearing about her when she was a 14 year old “prodigy” opening for other folks at The Kessler.  I somehow missed that show, and then I managed to miss the next one or two.  Now suddenly she’s already 15 and headed towards what appears to be serious stardom.

So tonight I made the time to go see Ruby Jane, mostly to see for myself what Edwin keeps gushing about.

Wow.

Plain and simple.

She belts out songs you know and songs she wrote herself in a voice that is reminiscent of Willie Nelson, yet with something like an Allison Kraus meets Janis Joplin female blend, all while rocking an electric guitar,  picking away on an acoustic one, or wearing many a string out on her fiddle.  Her band is all male, and I’d guess not a single member is a teenager, yet the respect they have for her talent is plain to see on their faces as they play away to match her energetic ways.

The crowd was good- every chair both upstairs and down was full, and folks were standing around the room, as well.  The crowd was a good mix of ages, literally from preschoolers to senior citizens.  All were cheering, all were clapping.  You can’t help yourself!  She’s awesome!

She’ll be back at The Kessler October 1.  I’d say it’s a must do.

Shannon Driscoll of Kings Highway and Kayli House of Elmwood have taken the ultimate leap of faith and turned Rock, Paper, Scissors- their pop-up shop from April’s Better Block project- into a reality.  After spending a hectic weekend painting and organizing, the owners opened today for a half day art camp for preschoolers.

Located in a charming building on the corner of 7th and Tyler Streets, the space inside is a creative haven.  The set up was child-friendly, yet it would not make an adult interested in art classes feel out of place.  Neutral walls and lots of natural light keep the space bright and airy.  Art stations divide the area into task-specific centers.  Samples of Driscoll’s and House’s work adorn the space.

The creative exchange will keep regular store hours from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.  A variety of classes will be offered beginning this fall for both children and adults.  There are also days when the facility will be available for rent for private classes or parties.

When asking my own craft-loving four year old how she enjoyed the art camp, she was filled with excitement as she showed me her handmade necklace, drum, and drum stick.

At a price of $30, the camp was slightly more expensive on a per-hour basis than many Parents Day Out options, but the experience was worth every penny.  We look forward to many years of arts and crafts on our side of the river.

The bio on the chef included many interesting tidbits, including a story about a semester abroad spent in France where she fell in love with food. Surprisingly buried well below that is the fact Aliza Shier was until two weeks ago the pastry chef at Local. Shier was recruited to the job by Eno’s owner Matt Spillers, a partner in this new venture who happened to be high school classmates with Shier.

The menu is said feature a “seasonal, ingredient-driven menu compiled of made-from-scratch food” and is focused around a mantra of “food for all”, but with Shier’s experience at Local under Chef Tracy Miller, you can expect the quality to be high.

So while we don’t yet have a name to call this new restaurant, we do have quite a bit to look forward to.

We at Go Oak Cliff have spent the last six months working on finding out who we are, who we want to be, and discovering our potential as an organized team.  Now that we are getting our footing, we are ready to expand into a new field- Volunteerism!

Go Oak Cliff is seeking people who are interested in rolling up their sleeves and working hard for our community.  Our first opportunity is to get involved with the Blues, Bandits, and Barbecue festival, which includes a “Better Block” facet.  Many man hours go into making an event like Better Block happen, and expanding from just one block on Tyler Street to three blocks on Davis is going to be quite a bit of work!

If you are interested in joining the team, fill out this short online form.  We appreciate the volunteers who have already invested their time into Oak Cliff. From Better Block to the 7th Street Murals to the Jefferson Boulevard clean up, we are all fortunate folks!

And what the cheesesteak is to Philadelphia, the taco is to Oak Cliff. The South Philly vibe isn’t quite the same on West Davis, but Cesar’s Tacos original location on the north side of the street sits directly across from La Paisanita aka Rico’s Taco, making it a convenient stop if you want to do a taco taste test. I don’t think anyone is going to crown these two taco joins the best in the city -  they won’t even win the best on Davis, but both serve inexpensive and tasty tacos.

Our lunch started at Cesar’s with a sampling of the carnitas and deshebrada tacos, a quesadilla, a bean & cheese gordita, and a cup of ceviche. You might think us brave, or perhaps less than intelligent, to include a sampling of the ceviche at Cesar’s… but truth be told we didn’t actually order it. It somehow ended up in our bag of food and so we considered it a gift from the food gods and felt obligated to try it!

One of the members of our lunch party raved about the quesadilla, noting it’s incredibly crunchy exterior made possible through a dip in the deep fryer. The carnitas taco was good, but the deshebrada lacked the flavor you’d expect from a stewed shredded beef taco. And the ceviche was surprisingly good- served with a side of limes and a stack of saltine crackers – we would consider getting this again.

Once finished at Cesar’s, we ventured across Davis to La Paisanita. At this point the temperature was climbing and air was heavy with humidity. Don’t expect a cool place to sit at either of these locations – all seating is outside. La Paisanita has a substantially smaller menu than Cesar’s, but the taco options include beef fajita, pastor, lengua, pollo, and barbacoa. Since this was our second lunch, we scaled back a bit and tried the barbacoa, pastor and the pollo tacos, all served doubled up on corn tortillas.

One nice addition at La Paisanita was a side of cooked onions in addition to the raw onions and cilantro that came with the tacos. The pollo is a stewed chicken, and our taster complained a bit about the quality of the meat. The barbacoa and pastor were fair, but not memorable enough for a return visit.

We did observer that La Paisanita appeared to be doing a more brisk business, at least in the 30-45 minutes that we spent at this particular spot on Davis, so you may want to factor that into your thinking when picking your next stop for tacos.

Oak Cliff Bicycle Company celebrated their one year anniversary on Saturday with quite a party and an even bigger announcement.  The bike shop will be making a move to the Bishop Arts District this fall.

Citing space constrictions in their current location, owners Jeremy Ordaz and Ean Parsons are excited about the opportunity to grow their business.    The bike shop will replace the Dallas Police Department storefront that was in the 400 block of North Bishop.  With nearly twice the space of their current location, the company should be able to expand their line of bikes and accessories, as well as continue their booming repair business.

Ordaz anticipates an early October opening in the new location, just in time for Cyclesomatic, Bike Friendly Oak Cliff’s annual bicycle festival.

Best of luck in your expansion, fellas.

You may not have any idea who Vicki Fitzgerald is, but she’s had a huge impact on our community. And if you’ve been around the Cliff long, there’s virtually no chance you missed her. Vicki has long served as a board member of the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League, chairing the OOCCL Home Tour 5 times in the last 10 years. She has served numerous times on the Winnetka Heights Neighborhood Association board, and has run the Winnetka Heights holiday home tour for years. But beyond the official titles and jobs that she gladly volunteered for, Vicki has been known as one of those neighbors who will lend a helping hand when anyone asks.

Well now it’s our turn to lend a hand to Vicki and her family. Friends have organized a fundraiser called The Heart of the Neighborhood to help cover Vicki’s mounting medical expenses as a result of her battle with cancer. The event is Sunday, August 22 at The Kessler Theater and features live music, an impressive silent auction and food and drinks. (Your $20 ticket actually gets you admission, 2 cocktails and heavy hors d’œuvres.)

While the night will surely be special and fun, it will also benefit a great lady who has done so much to benefit Oak Cliff.

First off – you can participate in one of two ways: you can compete and make the BBQ, or you can come join the fun and EAT the BBQ! Here’s how it works…

COMPETITION: Do you make an amazing brisket? Are your ribs legendary in your neighborhood? Then you should enter the BBQ competition! The competition is open to the general public and we’re hoping to draw out some of the great backyard smokers around town. We’re hearing rumors that a few professionals may join in the fun as well. There are CASH PRIZES involved for the winners of each category! All cooking will be done on-site (behind The Kessler at 7th & Clinton) starting the afternoon of Saturday, September 11. And your entry fee includes the meat – which is being provided by our friends at Urban Acres. If you want all the details on the BBQ competition then click here to download a copy of the official BBQ Competition Rules.

EATING: Staying up all night to smoke a hunk of beef may not be your idea of a good time, but you can still come out and enjoy all this tasty grass fed, sustainably produced beef, pork and chicken. We’ll be selling wrist bands that will entitle you to taste the brisket, chicken, pork ribs and homemade sausage of each competitor! Information about pre-purchasing the wrist bands will be posted here in the coming weeks.

The BBQ teams will start cooking at noon on Saturday, September 11 in the grassy area behind The Kessler Theater (1230 W Davis Street, Dallas TX 75208) and the cooking will continue all night long. The judging and tasting starts at 11:30am on Sunday, September 12. You are welcome to come up and chat with the teams while they cook on Saturday – there will be beer for sale and lots of fun before things really get kicked off officially on Sunday.

So get excited and spread the word. It’s going to be a great weekend of blues and BBQ in the Cliff!