Spent the majority of Saturday inside the warehouse next door to Patina Bleu, which is situated at the corner of Kings Highway, W. 7th Street and N. Tyler Street -- which, usually, is quite the clusterfudge, as I explained to the boy. The furniture and home-decor store's owner, Gregory Barker, had loaned out his storage facility to temporary kiddies' art studio Rock, Paper, Scissors -- one of the handful of so-called pop-up shops installed along the one-way N. Tyler for the Better Block art installation-cum-political statement that defied city code. My 6-year-old returned home with several acts of rebellion, chief among them a flag-on-a-branch he made all by hisself.
As evidenced by our slide show, Danny Hurley was out and about as well during the busy, jam-packed weekend in the O.C. Not only did Jason Roberts turn the three-lane Tyler Street into a single-lane of traffic bracketed by a bike lane and coffee shops and floral boutiques (note to Holly Jefferson: Any "Keep Dallas Douchey" artwork left?), but there was also the Oak Cliff Art Crawl, Make's Urban Street Bazaar in Bishop Arts and, yesterday, the Crave winding at Nova on W. Davis (where, among others, Giggle Party and special guest performed -- see video after the jump).
The kid had a blast -- but he's always happy with a fistful of artwork and a tummy full of Eno's and a root beer from the Soda Gallery. (Give me Franconia. Sweet, delicious, slightly cloudy Franconia.) Roberts likewise considers the weekend a rousing success: "It was an amazing project, and city council members, city staff, and urban planners were on hand to witness the amazing transformation. Moving forward, we'll begin working with Councilmember Delia Jasso, to make the changes permanent, and truly enliven this block for all modes of transit." Indeed, Jasso says she wants to do a "mini-study" of the area, in the hopes of, perhaps, turning that most confusing of intersections into a pedestrians-only plaza. I know, I know: Goddamned hipsters.
Giggle Party & K.D. from George Wada on Vimeo.
