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The Museum of Street Culture
The Museum of Street Culture validates the history and everyday experience of people in public places through diverse forms of art, education, and new ideas, activating social change and building community. By involving artists, arts professionals, health and human service specialists, individuals and families experiencing homelessness, and the public at large in an unprecedented dialogue, it dignifies what is often seen as unimportant and irrelevant and breaks down stereotypes of about the ever-changing role of museums in the world today.
Alan Govenar, American Alliance of Museums (online), December 2018
The Museum of Street Culture validates the history and everyday experience of people in public places through diverse forms of art, education, and new ideas, activating social change and building community. By involving artists, arts professionals, health and human service specialists, individuals and families experiencing homelessness, and the public at large in an unprecedented dialogue, it dignifies what is often seen as unimportant and irrelevant and breaks down stereotypes of about the ever-changing role of museums in the world today.
Alan Govenar, American Alliance of Museums (online), December 2018
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Homeward Bound
The first-of-its-kind Museum of Street Culture challenges art-world norms by employing homeless docents and displaying art on the street. It takes thick skin and a generous spirit to appreciate the Museum of Street Culture. When I visited on a sunny April morning, I was on display to a group of homeless people who stared at me as I observed the art. The homeless sat on the sidewalk right in front of me, their backs slumped against the walls on which were mounted the photographs I was there to see. I felt the urge to look down and make eye contact, but resisted, afraid I wouldn’t know what to do with the looks that would be returned. Instead, I stayed fixed on the photos — black-and-whites of homeless people — and considered how they mirrored the environment in which they were presented. Michael Hoinski, Texas Observer (online), July 2018 |
Mary Ellen Mark, Tiny and 30 years of reportage along the way, inaugurate the Museum of Street Culture in Dallas
The story of the girl, photographed for 30 years by the great Mary Ellen Mark, inaugurates the Museum of Street Culture in Dallas with an exhibition that returns to the streets Mary Ellen Mark is a true legend of photography; sensitive to everything that lives on the edge and outside the box. From the street to the cinema, from the liberation movements of women and the homosexual culture, to the set of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 1975). She was also the first woman to enter Magnum Photos (1977 - 1981), coming out to recover the freedom she breathed with her life. To inaugurate the innovative Museum of Street Culture at the Encore Park in Dallas, from October 1st, however, is her extraordinary photographic documentary, dedicated for over thirty years to the hard life of Erin Blackwell Charles, better known as Tiny. The thirteen-year-old girl ran away from home and ended up living on the streets of Seattle, followed by the photographer from 1983 to 2014. Simona Marani, Marie Claire Italy (online), May 2018 |
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An Insider's Guide to the Busiest 10 Days of the
Dallas Art World The Museum of Street Culture is changing how Dallas thinks about what a museum is, where it can be, and what populations it can serve. Tiny’s Family Life, 2003-2005, the third installation in the incremental and progressive exhibition Looking for Home: A Yearlong Focus on the Work of Mary Ellen Mark is one show you’ll see. Photography and Social Justice, featuring artworks by kids ages 11-16, is another. The opening reception from 6-8 p.m. will include a free meal and docent-led tours. Darryl Ratcliff, D Magazine, April 2018 |
The Museum of Street Culture Wants You To Rethink Homelessness
Vicky, a docent at the Museum of Street Culture, is giving a tour of an exhibition of Mary Ellen Mark’s photography of poverty in America. Mark spent years documenting Erin Blackwell Charles, known as “Tiny,” a teen runaway who spent much of her life on the streets of Seattle. Our tour guide strikingly captures the essence of Mark’s work, relating it to her own life on the streets. Amina Kahn, D Magazine, February 2018 |
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Dallas' Museum of Street Culture burrows deeper into the life of a homeless woman
The new show, "Tiny and Her Children, 1985 to 1999," expands the photographic profile of Erin Blackwell Charles of Seattle, otherwise known as "Tiny," but in this incarnation, we meet the children of Tiny, whom Mark photographed for 32 years. During that time, Tiny had 10 kids, with five different multiracial partners. The photos can be seen on the exterior of the Stewpot building at 1835 Young St. and on the façade of the 508 Park building. Michael Granberry, Dallas Morning News, January 2018 |
Picturing Homelessness, Through Children's Eyes
The Stewpot in Downtown Dallas is best known for providing services to clients experiencing homelessness. For decades, the organization has also run a weekly club for kids whose families may be at risk for homelessness. The program starts in elementary school and runs through high school. Raphael Dominguez went through the program, from first grade to high school. Like 80 percent of those who participate, he got a scholarship and went to college. Now he’s back, teaching at the program. (He also runs a video business.) Anne Bothwell, Art&Seek, January 2018 |
The Museum of Street Culture Takes a Ground-Level Look at Dallas Arts
Dallas has never had a place to tell—or, frankly, had much of an interest in telling—the story of its musical history. But in October, Encore Park opened the Museum of Street Culture, a new, multidisciplinary, multi-venue museum that will interpret and preserve Dallas’ significant musical heritage, as well as the broader cultural ecosystem, the culture of the street, that gave birth to it. Peter Simek, D Magazine, November 2017 |
Calling from the Downtown Dallas Wonderphone
There’s one at Main and Akard and two at Commerce and Browder. All of the Wonderphones were commissioned by the nonprofit community design firm bcWorkshop and Downtown Dallas Inc. as part of the Activating Vacancy Downtown Initiative. The anachronistic phone booth, rewired with current technology, comes loaded with messages. Press 2, and students at CityLab High School downtown will tell you about their hopes for a greener, more walkable Dallas. Press 9, you’ll be directed to the new Museum of Street Culture at Encore Park. Alex Macon, D Magazine, October 2017 |
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The Museum of Street Culture's First Exhibit will Challenge Your Ideas about Homelessness
On the walls outside and inside The Stewpot, a safe haven for homeless people in Dallas since 1975, the long-awaited Museum of Street Culture presents its debut installation. Streetwise: Tiny and Runaways in Seattle (1983) is the first of four curated exhibitions in the series Looking for Home: A Yearlong Focus on the Work of Mary Ellen Mark. Designed by graphic artist Adrien Gardère in association with the Mary Ellen Mark Foundation, the series centers on a photogenic runaway named Erin Blackwell Charles, nicknamed Tiny — Mark’s primary subject for more than 30 years. Leah Pickett, Dallas Observer, October 2017 |
Best Things to Do in Dallas This Weekend
In association with the Mary Ellen Mark Foundation, an exhibit of new photos will be phased in quarterly through June and follow the life of Erin Blackwell Charles, who ran away at age 13 and was known as Tiny, from 1983 through 2014. Two documentary films, both made by Mark and giving more insight into her most popular subject, Tiny, are slated to screen alongside the exhibit. According to its mission statement, the museum “validates the history and everyday experience of people in public places through diverse forms of art, education, and new ideas activating social change and building community.” Diamond Victoria, Dallas Observer, September 2017 |
Street Culture Museum will Lend Voice to the Homeless
The five-year wait is over. The Museum of Street Culture, billing itself as the first museum in the world to showcase homelessness and street culture through photography, art and music, will open its doors October 1 with an exhibition of iconic photographer Mary Ellen Mark’s photos of Seattle’s infamous runaway, Erin Blackwell Charles, better known as Tiny. Juan Betancourt, Central Track, September 2017 |
Museum of Street Culture Opens this Sunday in Dallas
For five years Dallas has been hearing about the development of an ambitious project called the Museum of Street Culture, and this coming Sunday, October 1, it will open its first planned phase to the public with a celebration at the heart of its location, Encore Park. Encore Park itself is a growing, ongoing project, but its current center point is 508 Park, a historic building with an amphitheater in downtown Dallas, as well as the Stewpot, next door at 1835 Young St., which serves the at-risk and homeless and has for decades. Glasstire, September 2017 |
21 Things to Do in Dallas This Week
For its inaugural exhibition, Encore Park’s Museum of Street Culture, 508 Park Ave., hosts Looking for Home: A Yearlong Focus on the Work of Mary Ellen Mark at its free kickoff celebration. The museum has been in the making for five years, and its opening event includes street performances and food trucks from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Diamond Victoria, Dallas Observer, September 2017 |
Five years in the making, The Museum of Street Culture will finally open in downtown Dallas
The Museum of Street Culture, which has been in the making in Dallas for five years, is gearing up for its official launch on Oct. 1. Those behind it are fond of saying it's both "on the street" and all about the street. Its opening exhibition underscores the point perfectly. Founded by Dallas-based writer, photographer and filmmaker Alan Govenar and designed in part by French museographer Adrien Gardère, the museum will open with a 12-month phased exhibition titled "Looking for Home: A Yearlong Focus on the Work of Mary Ellen Mark." Michael Granberry, Dallas Morning News, September 2017 |
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Downtown Dallas' Museum of Street Culture opens with groundbreaking show
The official launch date is near for the Museum of Street Culture, the groundbreaking project opening at Encore Park in downtown Dallas: October 1. Founded by Dallas writer-filmmaker Alan Govenar, the museum will feature programming on street life, beginning with a massive exhibition by street journalist Mary Ellen Mark. Teresa Gubbins, Culture Map Dallas, August 2017 |
Work By Internationally-Acclaimed "Street" Photojournalist Mary Ellen Mark Launches Groundbreaking Museum Of Street Culture At Encore Park
Encore Park's Museum of Street Culture – a museum in the making for the last five years – is set to launch October 1, 2017, literally on the street with programming about the street. The groundbreaking museum concept founded by Dallas-based writer, photographer, and filmmaker Alan Govenar and designed in part by French museographer Adrien Gardère will open with a 12-month phased exhibition entitled Looking for Home: A Yearlong Focus on Mary Ellen Mark. Encore Park, PR Newswire, August 2017 |
Looking for Home:
A Yearlong Focus on the Work of Mary Ellen Mark The MUSEUM OF STREET CULTURE at Encore Park The Museum of Street Culture is on the street and about the street. Over the course of the next year, the exhibition “Looking for Home: A Yearlong Focus on the Work of Mary Ellen Mark” will engage different areas of Encore Park, including The Stewpot, 508 Amphitheater, 508 Park, and Community Garden. Alan Govenar, StreetZine, September 2017 |
Museum of Street Culture announces first exhibit, coming this fall
"Opening in the fall will be a yearlong focus on the work of the late Mary Ellen Mark, the Life magazine photographer and documentarian known for her work focusing on people on society’s fringes." Cary Darling, Star-Telegram, March 2017 |
A First Look: The Museum of Street Culture’s Permanent Collection
"With a constantly growing diverse selection of art, Dallas’ new Museum of Street Culture challenges the idea of what a museum can be, positioning itself at the crossroads of social purpose and culture." Jeremy Hallock, Arts and Culture Texas, April 2017 |
New, Ambitious Plans for Museum of Street Culture Revealed
"Renovating a fabled old Dallas recording studio where blues master Robert Johnson cut some of his greatest songs was one thing. Turning that studio into a Museum of Street Culture linked with the Stewpot, the downtown nonprofit serving the homeless, was another." Jerome Weeks, Art and Seek, March 2017 |
The Museum of Street Culture Opens This Fall
"The museum is not defined by its buildings: it was at one point described Tuesday as having the potential to be a “think tank” for issues of homelessness and displacement." Alex Macon, D Magazine, March 2017 |
Plans for Dallas' Museum of Street Culture include taming the very street it celebrates
"Encore Park's executive director Pat Bywaters said the Stewpot has created a "transitional community" they don't wish to dissipate with the rise of the new development." Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Morning News, March 2017 |
Museum of Street Culture to open this fall as gentrification continues at Encore Park
"When it's done, the park will feature art exhibits, a roof top area for events, food trucks, a café, and Wi-Fi throughout the campus. A community garden and amphitheater for performances are already up and running."
Evan Hopfer, Dallas Business Journal, March 2017
"When it's done, the park will feature art exhibits, a roof top area for events, food trucks, a café, and Wi-Fi throughout the campus. A community garden and amphitheater for performances are already up and running."
Evan Hopfer, Dallas Business Journal, March 2017
New Museum of Street Culture in downtown Dallas cements first exhibit
"Govenar also announced partnerships for future exhibitions with the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Dallas Museum of Art, and with the Texas Folklife Museum in Austin, including one that will focus on Tejano music." Teresa Gubbins, Culture Map Dallas, March 2017 |
A $2 million gift for Museum of Street Culture that's taking root in Dallas' historic 508 Park Ave.
"The ever-expanding group behind the ever-evolving project, intended as the centerpiece of the Encore Park project taking root around The Stewport on Park Avenue, announced Wednesday that the Moody Foundation is providing the sizable grant." Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Morning News, Feb. 2017 |
Alan Govenar to Bring Dallas Its First Fiddle Contest in Almost 50 Years
"Fiddle contests are usually associated with rural towns, but they have made their way into suburbs and cities. It’s hard to believe that an event so significant to regional culture hasn’t happened in Dallas in almost five decades." Jeremy Hallock, Dallas Observer, October 2015 |
Famed French Designer Takes On Dallas' Museum of Street Culture
"Gardère designed the exhibitions spaces for the museum, which is located in an industrial area in economic decline, with high unemployment rates. The museum has an innovative, low-scale design that the museum says would suit Dallas well" Jeremy Hallock, Dallas Observer, April 2016 |
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Sneak Peek at the Museum of Street Culture Inside Historic 508 Park Ave.
"Still to come: the community garden, the recording studio, the rooftop deck, the art studio and the centerpiece known as the Museum of Street Culture." Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Morning News, May 2015 |
Step into Dallas' Historic 508 Park Building, Now Becoming Encore Park
"The pull of history is palpable here. It’s in what used to be the film vaults on the first floor, on the upper floors where Johnson and Clapton recorded, and in the scribbles on the walls that remain as mementos from the 1940-60 Decca era." Cary Darling, Star-Telegram, March 2015 |
‘75th at 508’ Celebrates Robert Johnson’s Dallas Recordings Today
"The idea was to create something that will be intimate and experiential. It’s the world that exists between ideas, history and aesthetics, and that’s the world where I like to work — where history meets art. That’s what this is all about" Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Morning News, June 2012 |
Alan Govenar to Oversee, Curate "Museum of Street Culture" Planned for 508 Park Avenue
"First Presbyterian Church plans not only to install a recording studio inside 508 Park Avenue, a nod to the building's storied history as one of only two spots where bluesman and myth Robert Johnson recorded the music that serves as rock-and-roll's backbone, but to also turn the former Brunswick Records regional office into a museum." Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Observer, Jan. 2012 |
For all press inquiries, please contact: Christine Rogers, [email protected], 214-364-7049
Carrie Dyer, [email protected], 210-287-5434
Carrie Dyer, [email protected], 210-287-5434