Willie Baronet Exhibit at Hal Samples’ Gallery from Cindy Chaffin on Vimeo.

When I first met Hal Samples he was living on the roof of the South Side on Lamar building. At that first meeting, some 6+ years ago, he explained to me his plans to make the world a better place. Thing is, he actually did.

You can read more about Hal’s life adventures in this 2004 story, written by Zac Crain for the Dallas Observer.

Willie Baronet’s Home? exhibit will be the last at the Hal Samples Gallery. Hal talks about the closing of the gallery in the above video, and I think I’ll let him speak for himself.

Willie Baronet began engaging in conversations with the homeless, who held signs asking for help, in 1993. He came to learn they had much to give him in exchange for the signs that he purchased from them along the way. Baronet was in the advertising design business for much of his career but seeks to shed light on the lives of those less fortunate by showcasing signs written by those in need. “I see the signs now as sign-posts of my own journey,” says Baronet, “inward and outward, of reconciling my life and my judgments with the plight of the homeless, and even with the notions of home, goodness, and compassion. Part of the passion that drives me to share this work with others is so that they too might examine their own.”

The exhibit runs through November 28th and a portion of the proceeds will benefit The Stewpot.