On Wednesday, May 8, the Dallas City Council approved a plan for a new women’s professional soccer team to call the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Fair Park its home for the next two years.

The plan authorized a $592,000 subsidy for the next two years with the operators of Fair Park to secure a contract with the unnamed USL Super League team to play home games at the stadium in South Dallas. It includes the option to continue for a third year.

On Thursday morning, the team will announce the club’s name, logo and other branding during an event at Klyde Warren Park.

“I am excited that Dallas is going to have its first-ever women’s soccer team,” said Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson. “This city is at the forefront of professional sports, and women’s sports in particular. Bringing more professional teams to Dallas diversifies and strengthens our economic portfolio and spurs further economic development. As a lifelong sports fan myself, I am delighted that another professional sports team will soon call Dallas home.” Mayor Johnson facilitated the USL Super League launch in Dallas by creating the Ad Hoc Committee on Professional Sports Recruitment and Retention in 2022.

“As the chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Professional Sports Recruitment, I want to say that I am super excited that in the course of just about three weeks, we have taken huge leaps in making Dallas the number one sports destination in the country” said Council Member Zarin Gracey. “First, the Dallas Wings, now a newly formed league is recommended for Fair Park. I could not be prouder of this City and the City’s leadership and staff for all the work put forth to get this done. Go Dallas!”

“It’s an incredible honor for our City to play a part in supporting women’s professional sports,” said Council Member Adam Bazaldua. “This is a wonderful moment to highlight the importance of continuing to bring opportunities and invest in South Dallas, who has been neglected from so much of the growth in our city for so long. It’s imperative we continue to work to bring professional sports teams to our city, as they play such a crucial role in the economic vitality of Dallas. The possibilities that this partnership will open for South Dallas, Fair Park, and access to women’s professional sports in our city is more exciting than I think many can understand.”

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas Interim City Manager, expressed enthusiasm as she welcomes the arrival of a new women’s soccer team to our city, stating, “Dallas is championing empowerment, diversity, and the thrilling spirit of sportsmanship. With the addition of this dynamic team, Dallas further solidifies its commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion and providing opportunities for female athletes to shine on the field and inspire future generations.”

DALLAS – The Oak Cliff Cultural Center (OC3) is pleased to present artist Antonio Lechuga’s Structures of Softness opening on August 5, 2023. Lechuga’s multi-disciplinary practice focuses on the intersection of art, design, architecture, and social change. He uses a varied visual language of materials and processes to discuss and investigate his culture and existence; both his existence and experiences as a Tejano living in the 21st century and its constant battle with the erasure of that history. Antonio Lechuga uses the current condition of today’s political climate to inform and guide his work. Through investigations, research and new technologies Antonio begins to piece together new narratives of a future for the Mexican-American of the Texas region while emphasizing and highlighting it’s rich, deep and turbulent past.

Structures of Softness is an immersive installation responding to the divisiveness of border walls. Tall fence like structures wrapped in cobijas/blankets transform the gallery, embodying comfort in opposition to the cold, hard structure that exists along the United States/Mexico border. The cobijas, warm and inviting, are lovingly wrapped around the fence, hugging it to encourage a sense of care and security. Lechuga’s careful deconstruction of the cobijas and his consideration in the craft, composition, and reconstruction of them to hug the fence facilitates the comforting experience. Focused on healing, Lechuga’s installation “challenges the future function of a border wall and the notion of security” altering the collective experience of walls and borders of all kinds.

Antonio Lechuga is a multidisciplinary artist who was born in and based out of Dallas, TX. He attended Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles, CA as well as El Centro College in Dallas, TX. He has exhibited work both nationally and internationally but most previously at many regional Dallas-Fort Worth institutions including 500X Gallery, the Geometric MADI Museum, Arts Fort Worth, Craighead Green Gallery, Ro2 Art Gallery, ArtRoom, Love Texas Art Galery and both the Oak Cliff Cultural Center and Latino Cultural Center respectively. His work is included in private collections across the nation and in 2022 he opened his first solo show titled Fences, at Love Texas Art Gallery in Fort Worth. He has upcoming solo shows in 2023 at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center and the Daisha Board Gallery where he is currently represented.

Additional programming includes an artist talk and cobija art workshop led by Antonio Lechuga at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023 from 5 to 7 p.m.

The Oak Cliff Cultural Center is located at 223 W. Jefferson Blvd. next to the historic Texas Theater. Operating hours are from noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday every week. Structures of Softness will be on view through Sept. 2, 2023.