Photo courtesy of David Spence
Call it food for thought.
More than 300 paper plates with spiritual messages make up a community art installation at a former church at 610 N. Tyler.
Photo courtesy of David Spence
Real estate investor David Spence bought the church that originally opened in the 1930s as Davis Street Baptist Church, along with the adjacent retail strip that includes Dallas Bike Works and Rose Garden Remake, about two years ago. He renovated the old church’s foundation and the building envelope, and it’s now available for lease to a restaurant tenant.
The idea for “Sacred Plates,” as the installation is called, came to Spence as a way to pay homage to the building’s 80-year history as a church.
Churches and business owners passed out paper plates and asked neighbors to write their favorite spiritual message — a Bible verse, a song lyric, something their grandma used to say. Spence was afraid no one would participate, but to his delight, about 300 came back, and more were added at the Tyler/Davis block party this past weekend.
The “spiritual snapshot” of our community was so well received that Spence decided to extend it beyond the block party. It will be open from 7-10 p.m. every Monday through Nov. 16. Anyone can contribute by adding a message.
Here is an newspaper clip from 1936 about the church and its pastor:
