Photography by Shelby Tauber
When Avery-Jai Andrews walks into work every morning, she often speaks into the rafters of the building on South Windomere Avenue that Arts Mission Oak Cliff calls home.
Once an abandoned church, the space has been transformed into a performance and arts gathering and work space since it was taken over by the organization in 2017.
“She really is a character because it’s like, who she brings here and what she brings out of them, it is not due to any skill of a fallible man,” Andrews says of the building. “This place literally creates pure magic, and I think that is part of the lives that have been lived here, the histories that live here.”
In September 2022, Andrews was named interim executive director of Arts Mission Oak Cliff after founder Anastasia Muñoz decided to take a behind-the-scenes role with the organization to focus on her growing family.
The organization puts on productions (they most recently brought Cabaret back to the Dallas theater scene), hosts yoga classes and “Beyonce Ballet,” displays art installations and even has a sound booth for recording artists, Andrews says.
While Andrews is now bursting with enthusiasm for Arts Mission and its projects, her entrance into the Dallas arts scene was a somewhat reluctant one.
Andrews is a dancer who grew up in North Texas and attended Booker T. Washington High School. And, like many artists, she had her eyes set on New York City.
She attended New York University, and spent time in New York, Germany and Israel before coming back to Dallas to start a dance company.
But after producing her first show, Andrews says something “wasn’t quite right.”
“The community part was missing. I realized that it wasn’t just about the dance company and that it was I was seeking something deeper and bigger,” Andrews says.
It was a moment of “synchronicity” when she joined Arts Mission Oak Cliff shortly after that first show and was able to get her hands on a community-focused arts initiative.
Andrews started out as a member of the Arts Mission exchange program in 2018 — a program that allows artists to utilize the space in exchange for several hours of work a week. Over time, she added more and more responsibilities to her plate.
Andrews says she suspects Muñoz was mentoring her during that time, although she didn’t realize it until more recently.
But Muñoz says she knew early on that Andrews had the energy and passion to run with Arts Mission Oak Cliff, once she was ready.
“I saw that in her from the get, and just knew that she had big, big things in her future,” Muñoz says. “I saw it even that first day, I was like, ‘Man, this is the kind of person that I would feel comfortable giving back to.’”
Muñoz describes Arts Mission Oak Cliff as “her baby,” and Andrews as “her person,” so it was a natural transition between the two.
Andrews still runs her dance company, produces, choreographs and is even exploring other mediums for her art, but running Arts Mission comes with its own set of challenges.
Andrews joined the board of the organization as they began the transition into being a nonprofit and says she suddenly found herself dealing with paperwork and fundraising, things a dancer doesn’t necessarily think they will have to juggle.
Not to mention building upkeep. Andrews says the church has a “strong spirit.”
“Just keeping all the bathrooms working, all of a sudden, I’m very comfortable with toilets. I understand them a lot more,” Andrews says.
The church is a part of Winnetka Heights Historic District, meaning all of the changes and renovations made to the building have to be approved by the city.
And there is one major change Andrews hopes to see in the next few years.
“There is no access to the sanctuary right now that is ADA compliant. So you can get to the underground through that side ramp door, which was step number one … But we want to have a lift here. It’s built into the plans for the building,” Andrews says.
Andrews estimates it will cost at least $50,000 to buy an elevator and have it installed in the building, but she says it is a major priority for the organization.
Part of the funding for that elevator will come from Arts Mission’s spring fundraiser, PROM. This year, PROM will be on April 22.
The fundraiser will also raise money for the artist in residency program, monthly artist showcases and the growing staff at Arts Mission Oak Cliff.
PROM is an opportunity for members of the community to dress up and come to Arts Mission for a night of festivities without the pomp and circumstance of traditional galas, Andrews says.
Instead, Andrews says the idea of PROM is creative, nostalgic and “a little kitsch.”
It is also an opportunity for local artists to attend the type of event they may not usually be able to because of cost, Andrews says.
“We recognize it is a fundraiser, but there is no reason that a local artist shouldn’t be able to come to the fundraiser that’s supporting them,” Andrews says.
Andrews has been back in Dallas for a while now and says over the years of working at Arts Mission, she has come to deeply believe in the benefits of nurturing artists in our city instead of perpetuating the idea they have to move to cities like New York or Chicago to succeed.
She says she “did the travel thing,” and brought back inspiration from how other countries “engaged with art” and supported it.
That type of accessibility and support for the arts is what Andrews hopes to continue providing as she leads Arts Mission Oak Cliff.
“Being able to offer high quality work at a variety of experiences and a variety of types of art in your neighborhood, I think that is ideal. That is what art should be,” Andrews says. “You shouldn’t have to leave your neighborhood and pay a whole bunch of money to be able to engage to be a part of it.”
