American actress and playwright, Regina Taylor stopped by the St. Philip’s School and Community Center to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Moody Performing and Fine Arts Center. Taylor’s valediction to the celebrants from the school, community members and donors was poignant, saying, “this space is necessary.” Taylor hails from Dallas and got her big break on the iconic film, “Lean On Me.” Like many creatives from the inner city, Taylor grew up in a world without creative spaces such as St. Philip’s and to see something of this magnitude coming to South Dallas, everyone needed to know that this was much more than another building. The expanse of the creative spaces in the state-of-the-art Moody Performing and Fine Arts Center boasts the capacity to hold the limitless imaginations of the minds opened by teaching arts and industry professionals.
The longer the anticipation, the greater the appreciation.
-Dr. Terry J. Flowers
The new state-of-the-art facility is a 17,898 square-foot expansion of the campus and will consist of a 300-seat performance hall and six classrooms, and a dedicated video recording studio. It will also include a gallery space to display students and works by
local and visiting artists. The building will also have a commercial kitchen and a dedicated storm shelter. Fine and Performing Arts Director Alicia “Iv Amenti” Holmes opined, “I don’t even know who would I be if St. Philip’s School and Community Center existed in Fort Worth, Texas when I was in elementary and middle schools so I thank you that you had enough within you to believe.” In 2015, St. Philip’s launched a capital campaign “We Believe” focused on expanding the campus to meet the growing needs of students and broadening our resources for the South Dallas community. To date, St. Philip’s has raised an unprecedented $60M to support this revitalization and expansion of the school’s facilities.
“I’m so grateful to the hundreds of remarkable individuals and leaders who care deeply about our students and the economic landscape surrounding our campus for supporting this effort. At St. Philip’s we believe in the possibilities for every child we serve when the facilities equal their family’s dedication and community’s hope.”
– Dr. Terry J. Flowers, Perot Family Headmaster
St. Philips is a school and community center and the work done doesn’t end with the last school bell of the day. The school is a beacon of light to nearby blighted areas in the southern sector of the city of Dallas. Dallas City Councilman Abel Bazaldua shared with the public about the somewhat grueling process of permitting that brought the new addition about and commended the school for the work done in the community for South Dallas residents. The school makes learning opportunities possible for children who would otherwise have no chance to learn and study the arts in their formative years. Garry Williams, Principal at Dallas’ famed Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, remarked that with the addition of the arts wing, St. Philip’s has created a viable pipeline for their artistic alumni. To close his congratulatory remarks, Principal Williams sang a stirring rendition of Nina Simone’s “Young, Gifted and Black,” an ode to the little saints occupying the hallowed halls on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Pastor Chris Simmons of nearby Cornerstone Baptist Church concluded the ceremony by performing a Water Libation Ceremony acknowledging “the ancestral rights of those who have passed before and those who have been instrumental in the lives of others.” Pastor Simmons poured the water over the soil that moments later was symbolically broken in an anointed soil turning. With that, the ceremony closed and began a new era at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The St. Philip’s community anxiously awaits the completion of the new facility but will continue their work in the meantime. Gathering funds took longer than expected, but Dr. Flowers believes that the delay is no deterrent to the work and impact of the new wing. In the words of Headmaster Flowers, “The longer the anticipation, the greater the appreciation.” Ground has been broken, the community believes and the outlook of futures for the saints at St. Philip’s is bigger and brighter than ever before! Stay tuned for the updates throughout the project and upon completion.
