The Trans.lation pop-up market this Saturday in the Vickery Meadow area near Lake Highlands is part of a major nationwide effort to improve struggling communities through design.

Artist Rick Lowe — famous for his Project Rowe Houses in Houston — which transformed a violence-ridden and neglected neighborhood into an inviting urban village — is a leader of the movement and he, along with Dallas Nashar Sculpture Center and the Vickery Meadow improvement District, has led the Trans.lation project.

Sign up for our newsletter!

* indicates required

The Vickery Meadow-based Trans.lation project comprises a series of pop-up art markets to coincide with the Nasher’s 10th anniversary. In addition to tomorrow, upcoming events are set for Nov. 23, Dec. 21, Jan. 18 and Feb. 22 and “will enable the Vickery Meadow community to share their artistic talents and cultural traditions with each other and the greater Dallas community,” organizers say.

1008

Click on image for larger view.

Vickery Meadow, a three-square mile area bordering Lake Highlands and housing some 36,000 residents, has appeared on the police’s violent-crime hotspots list every year for as long as I’ve covered news in our neighborhood (that would be eight years or so but who’s counting), but it has moved down the list from number one to number four.

That’s due to a tremendous effort by an altruistic group of people  — in 2011 we outlined the dramatic efforts of the Vickery Meadow Improvement District to enhance the quality of lives in the area.

A large portion Vickery Meadow residents are refugees from from Burma, Bhutan and Iraq.