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Past Events

Arts Access: Making the Scene


Dallas Museum of Art

Saturday, September 17, 2 p.m. at the Horchow Auditorium at the DMA. 
Presented in partnership with the Dallas Museum of Art and The Dallas Morning News
The event is free, but registration is required.

How do we make art accessible to all and how does art build spaces that foster creativity, care, and community? Join KERA’s Elizabeth Myong in conversation with local arts leaders Ilknur Ozgur, Jess Garland, and Ofelia Faz-Garza as they discuss how their respective works and organizations have enriched North Texas communities with accessible experiences. 

About the panelists:

Ilknur Ozgur (she/her) is the Founder & Director of Artstillery, a nonprofit immersive performance art company based in Dallas. Artstillery aligns with community partners and produces artistic experiences based on true narratives. Originally from Chicago, Ozgur started her writing journey in partnership with individual artists wanting to create solo original works. “Jaspora: Imitation Haitian” was created alongside powerful writer-performer Nancy Moricette and toured the New York International Fringe Festival.

She also workshopped original pieces from writer Suzan-Lori Parks within Chicago Puerto Rican communities with Urban Theatre Co. One of her favorite experiences was working alongside Miguel Pinero (Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York) to produce his works as immersive experiences inside small street-facing urban spaces. Rhythms from hip hop, rap, street poets, and community narratives have always been the grounding force behind Ozgur’s work. When serving as an instructor of Performance Art and Communications at the university level, she thoroughly enjoyed sharing experiences with her students and devising interpretive pieces for performance competitions across the United States.

Ozgur proudly served as an Arts & Culture Commissioner representing Dallas District 6. She currently resides on the TACDC Creative Place Making Task Force under the NEA; she is an artistic liaison to Dallas City Homes, advising on the creation of shared spaces; and she runs the creative place making initiatives at 723, a warehouse located in West Dallas. Her most recent speaking engagement was on the TACA Perforum Stage: REimagine: The Future of the Arts.

Ozgur believes in shattering hierarchical structures created in traditional spaces. She believes in and works to develop self-sustaining artist ecosystems encompassing people from all backgrounds, skill sets, and passions.

Jess Garland is a Dallas-based singer-songwriter and recording and performing artist. She is a multi-instrumentalist who combines harp and guitar loops to evoke her unique brand of celestial avant-garde pop with ethereal jazz tones. Garland most recently opened for Stones Throw artist MNDSGN and Warner Music Group artist Adia Victoria. She performed at the historic Kessler Theater on June 3, 2022. Garland sold out a concert at Undermain Theatre on February 19, 2022. In 2021 she opened for Jackie Venson and Hayden Pedigo. She has also opened for Gingger Shankar and Madame Gandhi. Recently, Garland was awarded the Local Legend award in Nashville from Wild Turkey’s Creative Director, Matthew McConaughey, for keeping music alive in Dallas.

In May 2021, Garland released “Harp & Sol,” an art film and music composition focusing on environmental racism in Dallas and Black feminism. She co-produced the film and composed music for Their Lives Mattered: A Dialogue Honoring Stolen Lives by Dallas law enforcement.

Garland has partnered with She Shreds Media and has been featured in Guitar Girl magazine and Kyser Presents Locals. She has also worked with other guitar brands like D’Addario for funding and supplies for Swan Strings. As a recording artist, Garland was featured on the Ataraxia Trio’s + 2 album Nights Enter, released on Ayler Records in March 2021. She was also featured on the title track of the Billboard charting Truth to Power Project, a local fundraising initiative released on Record Store Day in June 2021. She is the featured harpist on These Machines are Winning‘s Slaves for Gods album, as well as Sunshine Village’s album The Buffalo Trees Saved The Children of The Sun. Her debut single, “Glow,” is out now.

Garland is also the President and Founding Director of Swan Strings and has recently been appointed Executive Director at Girls Rock Dallas.

Ofelia “MexMama” Faz-Garza is a mama, poet, and cultural promotora from the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas who is inspired by the subtleties of life and the rituals that root us. She is the proud daughter of Mexican migrants who kept her grounded in the beauty of her ancestral heritage while giving her the courage to fly free and unbound. Nepantla, or the in-between space, is where she lives, loves, and dreams.

Her work has been included in several anthologies, including Women in Nature: An Anthology, Outrage: A Protest Anthology for Injustice in a Post 9/11 World, BASTA! 100+ Latinas Speak Out Against Violence Against Women, and the Voces Anthology, and in the Dallas Morning News. She is also the founder of Cascabel Group, an organization that uses the literary and cultural arts to build community through a variety of initiatives, including the Semillitas Neighborhood Library program, the con safos Community Ofrenda Tour, and The Meet Shop 2.0.

Faz-Garza is currently working on a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Texas–Rio Grande Valley, and she attempts to brew the perfect cup of coffee every morning.

After the event, learn more about Color Vision Deficiency (CVD), more commonly known as “color blindness,” and try out our new EnChroma® color-correcting glasses while exploring the DMA. These glasses enhance hues for individuals with red-green type CVD, allowing them to experience the entire color spectrum. Quantities are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

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1717 North Harwood Street · Dallas, TX 75201


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