Transforming the public space

Welcome to Oak Lawn and the Cedar Springs Strip: Rainbow-colored light-up signs installed at either end of The Cedar Springs Strip in 2020 welcome visitors to the heart of the Dallas Gayborhood. CSMA is undertaking three new public space projects created to make the area even more vibrant and welcoming

From Staff Reports

The Cedar Springs Merchants Association on Monday, June 8, announced three “transformative public space projects” the organization is launching during Pride Month.

These projects, according to a press release from CSMA, “will infuse Oak Lawn and the Cedar Springs Strip with defiant color, durable infrastructure and unapologetic visibility.”

The three projects being rolled out simultaneously this month are the Progress Rainbow bike racks, a new Pocket Park and the Walls of Pride multi-year mural program. They will “mark the most ambitious private streetscape investment in the corridor’s history” and are “a direct answer to those who would dim our light,” the press release declared.

CSMA President Kevin Miller declared, “They scraped our rainbows off the asphalt and thought they had quieted us. What they did was ignite a fire.

“The bike racks, the pocket park and the murals aren’t fleeting gestures,” Miller added. “They are infrastructure, public art and gathering spaces designed to outlast a single political moment.”

When the city, at the order of Gov. Greg Abbott, removed the rainbow crosswalks on Cedar Springs, the CSMA press release said, “the message was clear: Some forces would rather see this neighborhood blend instead of standing out. But CSMA’s message in return is even clearer: We are not going anywhere.

“We are planting roots, raising color and reclaiming our place in the public realm, not only for this Pride Month, but for the years ahead.”

According to the press release, the three projects — “all funded and shepherded by CSMA in partnership with the city of Dallas and community partners” — will each debut with its own formal ribbon-cutting ceremony, details for which will be announced soon.

The artist-designed Progress Rainbow Bike Racks are powder-coated in the colors of the Progress Pride Flag — a white chevron incorporating black, brown, light blue, pink and white — and will be installed in “high-visibility nodes along Cedar Springs Road,” the press release said.

The bike racks “merge functional cycling infrastructure with public art, inviting residents and visitors to lock up in style while reminding every passerby that sustainable, inclusive transportation is built to endure.”

The planned Pocket Park will be “carved from an under-utilized right-of-way” along the corridor to “transform barren dirt into a shaded gathering space” that will feature “native landscaping, seating accent lighting and a pedestal for rotating community art,” the press release explained. When completed, it will “offer an intimate venue for everything from morning coffee to impromptu drag performances,” becoming a “bold demonstration that even the narrowest strip of land, when loved intentionally, can become a landmark of belonging.”

The Walls of Pride mural project is a multi-year effort by CSMA and Artitude focused on “turning the facades of the Cedar Springs corridor into one of the largest outdoor galleries of LGBTQ+ public art in the nation,” according to the CSMA press release.

Calls for artists, with details on each wall, will be announced beginning this month.

“Each work will tell stories of queer history, joy, protest and futurity,” the press release said.

“New murals will be commissioned annually, ensuring the corridor’s walls evolve with the community.”

The murals will be maintained and protected by CSMA and its partners.

“Temporary street markings are subject to political removal; these are monumental artworks, secured through property owner and tenant partnerships and protected by the sheer scale of the investment,” the press release said. “While some will be designed to be long-term installations, others will be designed as temporary canvases with new pieces on display regularly.”

CSMA will be announcing more details about each project throughout the months of June and July, according to the press release, which declared, “Together, we don’t just march, we build. We plant. We paint. We stay.”

Cedar Springs Merchants Association “champions the businesses, culture and public realm of Oak Lawn and the Cedar Springs Strip, advocating for a vibrant, inclusive and economically thriving district that reflects the soul of Dallas’ LGBTQ+ community,” the press release said.