The amazing buildings that support hundreds of Dallas art groups and many hundreds of artists are falling apart. City investment is needed to keep them from deteriorating to critical condition. It has been seventeen years since there has been any significant investment in the repairs and maintenance of these important and iconic facilities. The longer this situation continues, the more it will cost to correct the damage from deferred maintenance. The bond program being proposed does not increase the tax rate on Dallas homeowners but is part of the normal process for the City to maintain its infrastructure. We can’t let Dallas fall behind other Texas cities and see our beloved arts facilities become shabby or even unusable.

Check out this important article that KERA released last week on the City of Dallas bond allocation issue happening now.

As this is a long holiday weekend for the Sammons Center’s staff, we wanted to share a few 4th of July recipes that recipes we’ll be making this year. From salads and soups to BBQ and even dessert, we hope you are able to concoct one of these yummy recipes and have a fun, cool, and creative holiday!

Watermelon Blueberry & Feta Salad

From Running in a Skirt by Julie Wunder, shared by Hannah Garcia | Director of Development

Ingredients:

• ½ seedless watermelon, cubed (about 8-10 cups)
• 1 cup blueberries
• ¼ cup crumbled feta
• 2 tablespoons mint leaves, chopped (If you love mint, use more)
• For the dressing: 2 limes, juiced

Optional:

• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons honey
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

1. Combine the fruit, mint, and cheese in a bowl.
2. Toss in the lime juice or use the optional dressing.
3. Serve immediately.

White Gazpacho Soup (Cold)

An original recipe shared by Joanna St. Angelo | Executive Director

Ingredients:

• 3 slices soft sandwich bread, crusts removed and torn in small pieces
• 1 Leek, washed thoroughly and sliced thin
• 1 – 2 medium cloves of garlic minced
• 1 lg. shallot diced
• 1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds plus more sliced almonds for garnish
• 1 English cucumber peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped celery leaves or inner stalks chopped
• 2 Tbspn Cream (or Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 Tbspn Sherry Vinegar
• 1 – 2 cups plain unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup water (may not need all of this)
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Saute leeks, shallots and garlic until softened but not browned.  Put in refrigerator to cool
2. Soak torn bread in water for a few minutes
3. Squeeze excess water from bread and put in blender
4. Add almonds, vinegar, and cream to blender and process until smooth
5. Add cooled leek mixture and process until smooth (process after each addition to ensure smooth texture)
6. Add cucumber and a small amount of almond milk and process until smooth
7. Add celery and more almond milk and process until smooth
8. Add the rest of the almond milk and some water if needed for desired consistency
9. Add salt to taste
10. Process some more if texture is not as smooth as desired.  Can be strained through a sieve or chinois but not necessary
11. Chill completely
12. To serve portion in bowls and sprinkle drops of green oil on top.  Garnish with sliced almonds.
13. For special presentation also add one or more edible flowers as garnish along with almonds and green oil.

GREEN OIL

Process 1 Tbspn chopped chives or other herb with ½ cup olive oil and let sit for an hour.  Strain through a sieve and add a few drops to each bowl of soup before serving.  Oil will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.

LAVENDER ALMONDS (OPTIONAL GARNISH)

Saute ¼ cup sliced almonds in oil.  Remove from oil and toss with mixture of 1 Tbspn salt and pinch of ground lavender.

Pork BBQ Skewers

Family recipe shared by Marica Cruz | Assistant Office Coordinator

Ingredients:

Ingredients:

Cake:

One of the things that we rent space for at the Sammons Center is recitals. We have special rates for them, to allow even very small studios to give their students opportunities to perform on professional instruments in beautiful rooms. These educational performances often showcase the work of students, and they’re typically attended by friends and family. We rent to families and to music teachers; sometimes it will be dozens of kids, sometimes it’s a solo event or even a recording of a piece to send away with a scholarship application. The only rule is that it has to be all about the art; it can’t be a birthday party or a corporate event. This will be a particularly special evening — it’s a senior recital for a music student, hosted by his parents. It’s by invitation only, so you can’t buy a ticket, but I want to share the story with you, and a taste of the music, because they’re both beautiful.

Shreyan Daulat is playing piano. Aadi Khasgiwali is playing cello. Shreyan’s music teacher Jenni VerHagen is taking them through the pieces they’ll play at the recital on Sunday, making minor last-minute adjustments and notes. These young men have been best friends since kindergarten, and the only senior graduation party that Shreyan wanted was a recital where he could play music with his friend and share it with his family. The resonant acoustic of Kurth Hall embraces the sound of the duets, adding just enough reverb to make it sound like sacred music being played in a chapel.

I’ve been working with Shreyan’s mom, Malisha, on getting all the arrangements perfect; working out where to put the tables, how to arrange the food and drinks. They’re doing a mix of charcuterie and traditional Indian sweets and pastries, and they’ll have the recital in Kurth Hall and then reception in the Cree Mezzanine. I’ve enjoyed getting to know Malisha; she and her husband are very keen on music, theater, and the arts, and she is passionate about making sure her children are educated in creative pursuits as well as their other studies. They have taken their kids to performances since they were little. She and I have had a lively discussion about music and theater and the arts and how important they are to quality of life.

Watching the two students play together, I was really touched by how much this is at the core of what we do at Sammons – it’s creative, beautiful, soulful, and real. There is nothing like live music. When I asked permission for our social media guru Marica to take video, Aadi apologized for his casual clothes and told me he wished they were dressed up; I explained that so much of the activity here at Sammons is rehearsals, workshops, classes – getting ready for big stage performances at the Moody, the Meyerson, the Eiseman. T-shirts and shorts are perfect. Aadi knows Kurth Hall from his rehearsals with Texas Cellos, Joseph Kuiper’s all-cello musical performance group; they’re one of the groups in our DARS program, which provides mail services and discounted room rates. I wish Shreyan and Aadi both the best, and good luck on their journey to the next big stage performance.

Michael Cook

Assistant Director, Sammons Center for the Arts