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PrintThe Brady bunch
The Brady District reveals its new logo, streetscaping and Web site.
Last Thursday, with my trusty umbrella, I headed into a drizzling downtown hidden by fog to the new Living Arts building at 307 W. Brady St., just steps from the new ballpark. A couple of days earlier I saw a Facebook posting that caught my attention:
“FEBRUARY 4th! At Living Arts from 5-7. The unveiling of the Brady Arts District’s new logo, streetscaping, website! Plus a little ‘Taste of Brady’! Will also include remodel of Kaiser/Mathews building. Plus (keep your fingers crossed) the unveiling of the new Channel 6 studio! Lots of exciting stuff coming in 2010.”
How could I pass that up? I showed up to Living Arts about 5:15 p.m. The first thing I did was pick up a copy of the “executive summary” of “The Brady Arts District: A Small Area Plan." Before I could start reading, the smell of wonderful food caught my attention, thanks to the good people at Lola’s and other neighborhood restaurants, who were providing the snacks for the evening. I hadn’t seen the new Living Arts exhibition, a surprisingly interesting collection of quilted works unlike any I had ever seen. I milled about for a few minutes, taking in the sights, sounds and people. One of the people I ran into was my good friend and artist Donna Prigmore, owner of the Boston Artists Gallery and a longtime Brady advocate.
“I’ve been down here for a long time,” she says. “But through all of the talk and planning, I have never seen as much movement as I am seeing now.”
The walls were plastered with blueprints, plans, mock-ups and other words for pictures of building and places that don’t yet exist But the feeling in the room was not one of “we hope this will happen someday.” It was a bold declaration, much like a steam train blowing its whistle to announce its impending arrival.
One of the best things to come from the night was the launch of the new Web site for the district, www.thebradyartsdistrict.com. Here, you can see upcoming events, a map of the area, local business listings and I am sure there is more to come I did eventually sit down and read the executive summary and I would suggest you do so if you want a sense of what’s to come. You can also see this on the new Web site by clicking the “About the District” tab.
I had no idea how far down the road many of these developments are and what passion is going into them. This area really does have the potential to change the entire feel of downtown Tulsa.
