As the sun set behind Interstate 45, Dallas’ reimagined Forest Theater revealed a towering, stainless-steel sculpture declaring that the new venue will be “For The Culture.”
“This art installation is more than a beautiful photo opportunity,” said Jiles King, the interim executive and artistic director. “It is a love letter to South Dallas first, but also to Dallas, to Texas and to the world.”
Despite more than 100-degree heat, the unveiling drew dozens of attendees Thursday. The theater has been barreling toward its November opening, transforming a historic space — once down to its studs with a thatched roof — into a venue with lobbies, chandeliers and the makings of a coffee shop slated to serve the area’s first Starbucks drinks.
“This has been the craziest year. It’s just nonstop,” said Elizabeth Wattley, president and CEO of nonprofit Forest Forward, which is leading the revitalization. “People are so excited. Me too.”
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While guests took photos with the new sculpture outside the building, people inside worked on a stage. The rooftop, where visitors will soon gaze at the downtown skyline, is accessible. Wattley said the building has gained running water, electricity, air conditioning, lighting and many rooms. She can point to where her office will be.
Some years, Wattley said, there’s been “invisible progress.” This year, progress is center stage.
Forest Forward acquired the site nearly a decade ago. It has fielded enthusiasm and skepticism from community members who asked about how they would be welcomed into the space, shared memories, took tours or gave feedback on their favorite curtain colors. On Nov. 1, the theater’s iconic tower is expected to light up for the first time in more than half a century.
Forest Forward is hoping to honor history at the site built by Karl Hoblitzelle in 1949, which has served as a hub for Black audiences and featured acts including Tina Turner, B.B. King, Prince and Dallas’ own Erykah Badu. It will also welcome kids from a once-struggling nearby school, which has now been transformed into a sought-after arts academy.
Garnering public and private funding, Forest Forward has about $73 million raised for the project. Wattley is hoping to finish out the year with $10 million more, which includes support for the venue’s operations.
Wattley said the nonprofit’s impact will go beyond the theater.
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Around Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where the venue sits, several efforts have been underway to bring new housing, restaurant space and walkable areas. Forest Forward aims to improve quality of life in an area that has faced historic disinvestment and harmful policy choices.
King, the interim director, said he has spent much of his career “amplifying artists of color’s voices” on stages across North Texas and nationally. Now, he’s planning shows and educational programming for a range of people from young children to seniors.
The theater is expected to host performances and visual art. It will have a 1,000-seat concert hall, an immersive art studio and a podcast studio. King put out a call for artists that received more than 200 responses. A little more than 100 will be included in the first season, King said. He’s focusing on including local talent while also bringing in national acts.
“The calendar is the key because that’s how we sell tickets, but that’s also how we really impact the community because this place should be swinging,” King said. “The doors should be open. The doors should be moving people in and out, because it’s built for that.”
Creating a community space, King said, has been at the center of the work.
“Artists help shape the identity of our communities through their creativity, vision, and dedication,” King said at the sculpture unveiling. “They transform public spaces into places of connection, reflection and inspiration.”
Outside the venue Thursday night, people gathered in its new plaza and took in the sculpture. At about 17 feet tall, it was designed by Jessica Bell, an artist with work across the country, who said she lives just a few minutes away and used historical photos as inspiration.
Visitors sipped lemonade from Sweet & Chill, a shop that opened just blocks away about a year ago. They listened to a performance from singer Erika Nicole, a graduate of Dallas’ Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
Shanay Wise, a local caterer who said she has been involved with the theater, was first to write her answer on a wall asking guests to share what the phrase “for the culture” meant to them.
“A lot of people like to come to South Dallas and make a lot of promises, get the neighborhood excited,” Wise said. “When things don’t go the way that they think that they should go, then all of a sudden, they pull out. And then, we’re left with just a whole bunch of dreams and wishes.”
She wrote that being for the culture is “a promise kept.”
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.