DALLAS — In the Oak Cliff community, a historic church that was slowly falling apart is being retooled to build a space for creators.
AJ Ramler and six other people in the South Dallas area came together to purchase the building at 919 Morrell Avenue. It’s currently designated as a historically preserved landmark by the City of Dallas. Oak Cliff Assembly of God, which was founded in the 1920s, initially owned the property, building the entire facility in the 1940s.
Eventually, Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church took over the church in the mid-1960s. Now, Ramler and the other owners are looking to preserve the structure of the building.
“We told the brokers, like, bring us the deal that literally nobody else wants to touch. That’s the one we want,” Ramler said.
Their restoration project is currently underway. Along with repairing flood damage, the group replaced the entire roof. Ramler says they’ve also found countless historic documents from both churches. They want to ensure that they preserve the history of the church while turning the 15,000-square-foot property into an affordable space for creators.
“Office, retail and a theater space that can be used by community theater, acting, dancing, comedy, educational events,” Ramler noted.
The Oak Cliff Assembly, as the building is now known, held one of its first exhibits on July 9. The Art Walk and Open House hosted more than 30 local artists, bringing in nearly a thousand event goers. Dallas artists including Rosalia Salazar, Darin Triplett and Braulio Lazon-Conde were in attendance, getting the chance to show off their work. Each one created unique artwork with a piece of an old church pew from the building as their canvas.
Salazar, who is also an elementary school teacher in Oak Cliff, created a cyanotype collage using the sun to make prints of her photography. Some of the pictures are of Salazar’s own eyes or hands.
“I wanted to show with my piece, just…these connections we have with nature,” Salazar said.
Triplett created a painting of two skeletons, telling a story of one who gives all of his love to the other. The male skeleton is seen holding flowers, a chihuahua and having his heart exposed to the woman skeleton.
“It’s ‘Mi Amo, te daria el mundo!’ And it’s ‘My love, I will give you the world,” Triplett said.
Lazon-Conde found inspiration from the restoration of this historic church itself, hand carving into the pew wood and recreating the iconic lighthouse in front of the building.
“I just wanted to make sure that I touched on that structure. That’s just kind of an amazing place,” Lazon-Conde said.
All three local artists say the Oak Cliff community is near and dear to their heart. Salazar understands the significance of maintaining these historic buildings.
“I think it’s important to just preserve all of these places and their history, and especially because of the community that they’re in," he said.
Ramler says their next step is to work on getting the proper zoning from the City of Dallas in order for them to carry out the rest of their revitalization plans.
The success of the July art exhibit is validation that a venue like this is needed, according to Ramler.
Triplett says creating this affordable space will remove an obstacle for artists and creators from all walks of life in DFW.
“Not only us and now, the practitioners, but the kids and things coming up behind us. It’s a pipeline for a beautiful tomorrow,” Triplett said.