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Dallas Black History Fact!

The first African-American mayor of Dallas (1995). Originally from Austin, Texas, Ambassador Ron Kirk graduated from Austin College and earned his law degree at the University of Texas School of Law.

After graduating from law school, he served as Texas Secretary of State under Governor Ann Richards. In 1995, Ambassador Kirk was elected as mayor of Dallas and served two terms. Soon after, he practiced law as a partner in the international law firm Vinson & Elkins, LLP. He was named one of “The 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America” by The National Law Journal in 2008.

President Barack Obama nominated Ambassador Kirk to serve as the 16th U.S. Trade Representative. He was confirmed in 2009 by the Senate. Also, Ambassador Kirk was a member of President Obama’s Cabinet and served as the President’s principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on trade issues.

Dallas Black History Fact!

Arthello Beck, Jr., was born in Dallas on July 17, 1941. He was the first African-American to own and operate an art gallery in Dallas. Arthello Beck graduated from Dallas’s Lincoln High School, where he received his only art training; beyond that, he was self-taught. He had a speech impediment and he tended to express himself more through his art than through speech, especially as a very young man. Beck used the main Dallas Public Library as a way to learn more about art. Beck’s artistry depicted the life and culture of African-American people when it wasn’t popular, beginning in the 1960s. He opened an art gallery in Oak Cliff around 1973 and owned the gallery for more than thirty years. In 1988, he was one of four winners of an art contest in which the winning paintings were reproduced on billboards. The painting, writ large, was reproduced on billboards throughout the Dallas area sequentially for a year and was available for viewing by as many as 400,000 motorists per day. Beck relished the tremendous amount of exposure for one of his paintings. Beck’s painting of Jesus being baptized by John was done for the Crest-Moore King Memorial United Methodist Church; in it, both Jesus and John are presented as black men. Beck’s artwork was on display in art galleries, museums, churches, colleges, universities, community centers, the Dallas City Hall’s Great Court, and the State Fair of Texas. You’ve likely seen his work if you’ve passed through Terminal D at Dallas-Forth Worth Airport. Beck’s most well-known work is a 20-foot-wide rendering of Caddo Lake titled Cypress Trees. It was embedded in the floor a year after his death. During his life, Beck donated several of his paintings to the Seagoville Federal Correctional Institute. Considered by many to be one of the leading artists of the Southwest, Beck traveled to Central America, South America, West Africa, England, China, Egypt, Turkey, and the Caribbean. Beck once told a reporter, “I do believe an artist has to see things. An artist has to travel.”

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