"Destination America" storyteller Linh Matthews in front of a work in the DMA: Photo by Monte Laster

Destination America storyteller Linh Matthews at the Dallas Museum of Art: Photo by Monte Laster

Mark your calendar for a storytelling event you won’t want to miss.

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For several months, White Rock area resident Nicole Stewart, the founder and director of the true-life storytelling organization Oral Fixation, has been working with The Dallas Museum of Art on the theme “Destination America” as part of the museum’s Arts & Letters Live series, and now it’s officially happening on Saturday, May 16.

In Destination America, seven immigrants and refugees share their true, personal stories of coming to America. The Dallas Museum of Art organized this show in partnership with SOLUNA Festival as part of the Arts & Letters Live series. The stories will touch on everything from coming to America through academic scholarships to foraging for food and escaping crisis situations via pirate ships.

Shay, pictured in Vickery Meadow in 2014, will tell his story at the May Oral Fixation show: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Se Da Oo Shay, pictured in Vickery Meadow in 2014, will tell his story at the May Oral Fixation show: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

One of the featured speakers will be Se Da Oo Shay, “who at age 19 became the central communicator between the residents of Vickery Meadows and the media and police during the Ebola crisis,” according to the Oral Fixation promo.

You might remember Shay, who we featured in the November 2014 Advocate magazine story “Five Days of Frenzy: Vickery Meadow, Ebola and out-of-control media.” Getting to know Shay, for Advocate staffers, was a gift, and it is inspiring to know that now more people will have an opportunity to know him.

Last February the Advocate staff attended the Oral Fixation show “Two Peas in a Pod” because our own Danny Fulgencio was a featured storyteller. That particular show included at least two Lake Highlands residents; one of them was Robert Hunt.

The Destination America event is May 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Horchow Auditorium at the DMA. Tickets are $15-35 and are available at online.  To learn more about Oral Fixation, read our Lakewood Advocate story from 2012. For information about the event, check out www.oralfixationshow.com