News
Exhibit showcases Oak Cliff’s Latinx and Hispanic owned auto shops | April 20th, 2023
Last year, during considerations for the West Oak Cliff Area Plan, one recommendation to make the neighborhood more walkable could have put local auto shops at risk.
But community organizers, including Victoria Ferrell-Ortiz, got auto shop owners to push back and the language for the plan was changed.
Ferrell-Ortiz is the executive director of RAYO planning, an urban planning nonprofit that advocates for fair housing, environmental justice and community education. She calls herself a barrio historian, an urban planner, and a cultural artist.
Life & Work with Victoria Ferrell-Ortiz | April 10th, 2023
Now, I have curated an exhibit entitled “Este Lugar Importa” which commemorates the contribution and history of Latinx / Hispanic owned automotive businesses to ensure they have a place in Oak Cliff’s future. The exhibit is a collection of articles, awards, prints, photos and other materials sourced from local automotive business owners and neighbors.
The Exhibit Opening Event will take place at Arts Mission Oak Cliff 6pm-8pm, April 14rth (410 South Windomere Avenue Dallas, TX 75208).
The Flowers of Campo Santo In West Dallas | October 27th, 2022
The cemetery is a powerful place to visit for Victoria Ferrell-Ortiz, 29, whose 90-year-old wela—short for abuela— grew up in Cemento Grande. Her great-uncle died in the 1918 Spanish influenza epidemic as an infant and is buried at Campo Santo. Ferrell-Ortiz’s family, like Henry Jr.’s, were cementeros. But until 2016, she had little knowledge of this part of her family history. That’s when her wela saw fit to bring her to Campo Santo for the first time. She remembers watching her grandmother, who was 84 then, make the short but steep climb from an AT&T parking lot to the cemetery’s entrance, which sits on a hill. Slowly but surely they made their way to the top.
“Seeing my grandmother climb up this hill, it really drove home the importance to me,” Ferrell-Ortiz said. “She wanted to show me. She wanted to see her little brother.”
Beyond Dallas’ white history — city officials work to preserve Black, Asian and Latino landmarks | September 16th, 2022
Places or landmarks can be preserved because of their historical and architectural significance. But Dallas historian Victoria Ferrell-Ortiz said that there’s more to preservation than just beauty, cultural significance should play a part.
Put the brakes on the West Oak Cliff Area Plan
| June 15th, 2022
Regarding Bishop Arts, Councilman West shared that, “No matter what the future holds for us, residents and small business owners remain the heart of the neighborhood.” But just one mile away, West Oak Cliff residents and business owners are concerned about what their future holds. During the city-led West Oak Cliff Area Plan (WOCAP) process, residents have expressed concern about being displaced.
'Sowing seeds for future generations': How communities have changed two years into the pandemic
| March 11th, 2022
For Ferrell Ortiz and West Oak Cliff native Jennifer Rangel, the past two years have been times of transformation. Along with Evelyn Mayo, they founded Rayo Planning, a Dallas-based urban planning organization that centers community voices in development projects.
Six to watch on the social justice front in Dallas | January 21st, 2022
Ferrell-Ortiz believes it’s important to preserve the culture of neighborhoods for new generations, like that of her little daughter.
“I’m all about connection and personal history, something you can’t be taught in a classroom from a teacher,” she said.
From altars to festivals, here’s how North Texans can celebrate Día de los Muertos | October 28th, 2021
At the North Oak Cliff Branch Library stands a small ofrenda, an offering altar set up with photos and sculptures of businesses that have shut down during the pandemic in Dallas’ neighborhood of Oak Cliff. It offers residents a place to honor the “huge cultural loss of spaces in our community,” Oak Cliff resident Victoria Ferrell-Ortiz said. She created the altar.
Nuestro Oak Cliff cuenta historias de vecindarios latinos en peligro de extinción | October 1st, 2021
Hace tres años, Johnson participó en una exposición de Wela, El documental de Ortiz sobre la vida de su abuelita (abuela) en Cemento Grande (Cement City), un lugar construido para los trabajadores de Trinity Portland Cement Company Town en Cemento Grande.
“Nuestro Oak Cliff” Tells the Stories of Disappearing Latinx Neighborhoods | September 30th, 2021
Three years ago, Johnson attended a screening of Wela, Ortiz’s documentary about the life of her abuelita (grandmother) in Cemento Grande (Cement City), a locality built for workers of the Trinity Portland Cement Company Town in Cemento Grande.
Appointment to the Arts and Culture Advisory Commission (ACAC) | September 2019
Appointed by Dallas City Councilman Omar Narvaez to sit on the ACAC, the commission is instrumental in overseeing and making policy suggestions on arts initiatives for the art ecosystem of the city. Victoria considers it a privilege to serve as an at large commissioner for the city of Dallas and is looking forward to advocating for equity in the arts, particularly for the districts most close to her heart (D1, D4, D5, & D6).
New Film 'Wela' Aims To Keep Cemento Grande's Memories And History Alive | September 28th, 2018
Growing up, Victoria Ferrell-Ortiz didn’t hear her grandmother talk about life in Cemento Grande or Cement City, the town built for workers of The Trinity Portland Cement Company in the early 1900s.
Dallas’ Cement City is gone, save an old, obscure cemetery | September 17th, 2018
“Wela” is the film from first-time director Victoria Farrell-Ortiz.
During that interview with Grandma, Victoria realized she’d scratched the surface of a larger story that she wanted to tell. So she enlisted friends and her husband, Mesach Ortiz, to help her make a full-length documentary.
Is 'gentrification' a dirty word? Artists, journalists and more invite you to discussions at Wild Detectives | February 15th, 2018
Artists, journalists and community activists are working together to spark a conversation about the rapid effects of development in Dallas.
The documentarians: Three projects that aim to tell our neighborhoods’ stories | December 27th, 2017
Victoria Ferrell-Ortiz started out interviewing her grandmother as a way to record her family’s history.
“One of the first things she said was that she’s a ‘cementera,’ ” a person from the Trinity Portland Cement company towns, says Ferrell-Ortiz.
It's Demolition Day for El Corazon de Tejas | May 15th, 2017
Just after sunrise this morning, Victoria Ferrell-Ortiz went to El Corazon de Tejas — or rather the building that used to be El Corazon de Tejas, as the restaurant closed April 30 — to deliver a message in the form of a hand-painted sign she hung on...
Demolition begins on landmark Oak Cliff restaurant despite neighbors' pleas | May 15th, 2017
Monday morning, around 6, Victoria Ferrell and her husband took a short drive to a neighborhood restaurant and hung a banner from the storefront. It read, in big red letters: "With this building goes part of our Oak Cliff heritage and history. We will not support a business that destroys this historic building."