Program areas at Near Southside Arts
Community Events - providing free, safe activities and promoting public spaces for the Near Southside community, HSI produces the annual ArtsGoggle event, Friday on the Green, and Open Streets community events. ArtsGoggle began in 2002 as an indoor gallery night and has grown into a street festival that spans a mile of Near Southside's prominent Magnolia Avenue. Highlighting local artists, this family-friendly event hosts more than 1,000 visual artists, 50 musical performances, artistic displays of every kind, food, drink, and fun for everyone. Friday on the Green is a free, community concert series produced annually in the spring/fall at the Magnolia Green park. Open Streets is a 4-hour annual event that closes Magnolia Avenue to vehicles and opens the streets for cyclists, scooters, strollers, food trucks, dog walkers, skateboarders, yoga classes, face painters and free activities hosted by local businesses. Open Streets has grown to be one of the Near Southside's most beloved community events with attendance in the thousands and more than 150 community partners providing free activities for our patrons.
Summer Swim Program - Each year HSI administers a grant from the Rainwater Charitable Foundation which provides funding for structured swimming lessons through the City of Fort Worth Parks and Community Service Department's Mobile Recreation Summer Day Camp. Historic Southside, Inc. receives a fee of 10% for its services administering the program. In 2022, several hundred swimmers participated in the program.
Public Space Beautification - Creating special places for people is an essential component of the Near Southside's revitalization and continued community development. Public space projects in 2022 included the opening of Fire Station Park and Dickies Skate Plaza, with $685,000 raised by our organization toward its construction; the creation of the South Main Squeeze pedestrian plaza, a leisure space for visitors to South Main Village; additional enhancement to the South Main MicroPark; and continued programming of public art exhibitions and murals through our Art South initiative.
CARES Fund -