Voly in the Park on Saturday June 6th

Check out The Stewpot’s booth at Voly in the Park on Saturday June 6th. Find out exciting volunteer opportunities in Dallas!  http://www.volunteernorthtexas.org/ev…/voly-in-the-park.html

Art Opening on Saturday, November 8

You are invited to attend an Art Opening on Saturday, November 8 from 2 to 5 pm.

The event will take place at the Thomas Welcome Center at First Presbyterian Church, located at 1835 Young Street Dallas, TX 75201. 
The Little Stewpot Stewards have teamed up with participants of The Stewpot’s Open Art Program to host an Art Show. Please join us for refreshments and a silent auction. The theme of the event is "Playtime". The Little Stewpot Stewards were assisted in this theme by local Dallas artist Helen Green. Many Stewpot Artists have also created pieces with this same theme and will be selling their artwork at the show as well. Come visit with artists from both programs and learn more about what the Open Art Program means to the homeless and at-risk residents of Dallas. All proceeds from Little Stewpot Stewards will be donated to The Stewpot Open Art Program. The auction closes at 4:30 pm.

For more information about The Stewpot Open Art Program, please visit http://www.thestewpot.org/art.asp. 

For more information about the Little Stewpot Stewards, please visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/192209497609396/?fref=ts. 

For more information about Helen Green, please visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-Filled-Nest-Mini-Art-Camp/574147489350988.

STEWPOT ART SHOW

The Stewpot Artists have a show of 38 pieces of artwork on display at the Oak Lawn Branch Library.  The Library is located at 4100 Cedar Springs Road and open from 10 to 6 on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and from 12 to 8 on Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

For more information or to purchase art contact Cynthia Brannum, Art Program Director at 214.382.5912 or email CynthiaB@thestewpot.org.  The show will be up until the end of July. 

Earth Day 2014 at The Stewpot & Encore Park Community Garden was fun for everyone!

Earth Day 2014

From Susan Stephens, Chair of the Encore Park Community Garden (EPCG)

At the Occasion of Earth Day 2014, Downtown Dallas

I was chair of the Community Ministries committee when the congregation of FPC purchased this piece of property several years ago with plans to restore the historic 508 Park building, build an outdoor amphitheater and have a green space within this corner of Downtown Dallas. As a Dallas County Master Gardner, I saw that green space on the plan and thought a community garden would be a wonderful addition to these visionary dreams.

The dream is coming true with hard work and funds from many, many people and fabulous partnerships like the Young Guns of The Real Estate Council.  Our EPCG committee has been meeting for about 2.5 years -for most gardeners the planning and waiting is hard since we are anxious to get our hands dirty. Already in use is our temporary bed where we are raising produce that has been distributed to the families of the ESL program at The Stewpot and Abigail has been using the garden with her Horticultural Therapy clients.

Our vision of Encore Park Community Garden is a place for people to regain their roots and plant second chances. Our community garden will break down barriers between people:

• Economic barriers

• Social barriers

• Racial barriers

• Religious barriers

• Barriers of age, physical ability, and having a home or not

It will be an inclusive space - open to everyone. We will start small and learn as we go but within a year or two I hope to see individuals working in their garden plots sharing their gardening best practices with one another – and one of these gardeners may live in one of the beautiful new expensive town homes being built in our neighborhood just blocks away and the other may not have a home of their own and be a client of The Stewpot. But they see one another as valued and loved children of God.

A little history of gardening in downtown Dallas includes William Ross’ garden:  In the mid to late -1800s there were two brothers named Ross living in the area that is modern day Downtown Dallas. In fact Ross Avenue is named for these two brothers and their home was located on what we now call Ross Avenue near the current day intersection of Ross and Akard.  One of the brothers, William, was very interested in horticulture. According to a Dallas Morning News article from April 1922 (92 years from today’s Earth Day), William cultivated a garden near his home in the mid to late 1880s. The skeptics thought he was crazy – that this was not a proper place for a garden but in fact his garden is attributed to be Dallas’ first Kitchen Garden.

With EPCG our dream is to again take a barren plot of land and use it to reconnect people with growth and new life in a garden in this corner of downtown Dallas.

To paraphrase the Parable of the Sower from the Gospel of Luke, this is the story where the Sower spreads seed.  Some of the seed lands on hard ground, other seed finds shallow, rocky soil and still more seed falls on soil filled with thorns and thistle filled soil - but some of the seeds lands on fertile soil. Our hope is some of today’s seed will find good soil in Encore Park CG and yield hundredfold.

The Stewpot Art Program showing at Walk the Light Art Festival

This Saturday, March 15th the Stewpot Artists will be showing their work at the 

Walk the Light Art Festival in Historic Downtown Cedar Hill.

The weather is supposed to be perfect so come on out between noon and 10PM.  

Bands * Vintage Volkswagen Auto Show * Kids Corner * Food Trucks

31 Artists and Craftspeople Including The Stewpot Artists

Fun for the whole family!

See you Saturday!

Food Recovery Challenge Underway

By Stephen Sturdivant, EPA Region 6
Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center - Centerplate has joined the Food Recovery Challenge and with the help of EPA, have successfully donated food that would otherwise be thrown away not only to help feed the homeless but to also reduce the environmental impact that food waste represents.  This is one of many actions being taken by the Convention Center as part of their program in the Food Recovery Challenge.  This test run between Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center – Centerplate, FoodSourceDFW, and The Stewpot was a success and marks the beginning of a new relationship of donating to the homeless.  And ATT Stadium is watching.  They hope to do the same thing and they along with others will look at this success as encouragement to donate themselves in the DFW area.    

Thank you to all who helped make this partnership happen: 

•         Bonnie Zitek, Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center
•         Douglas Keller, Centerplate
•         David Skorka, Centerplate
•         Dan Craig, Centerplate
•         Florence Chauvet, Centerplate
•         Snaxpo
•         Melissa Smith, EPA
•         Frances Verhalen, EPA
•         Cameron Balch, EPA
•         Joyce Stubblefield, EPA
•         Golam Mustafa, EPA
•         Stephen Sturdivant, EPA
•         David Riley, EPA
•         Lee McMillan, EPA
•         Todd Collier, FoodSourceDFW
•         Susie Marshall , FoodSourceDFW
•         Brenda Roberts, The Stewpot
•         Lee Hutchins, The Stewpot
•         Cristy Ecton, Rock and Wrap It Up