The Cedars Union, a non-profit arts incubator and artist community with studios, classrooms, and co-working spaces, was burglarized over the weekend. Around 5:17 a.m. on Saturday, someone climbed the fence, threw a rock through the window of the woodshop, and entered, Executive Director Matthew Bowdon says. The burglars were only in the woodshop for about two-and-a-half minutes, but that was long enough to steal nearly all of the organization’s power tools, passing them through the fence to another person who loaded them into a car. Luckily, the suspect didn’t go any further into the building. Precious art and expensive computers were left untouched.
Next week, the 501(c)(3) non-profit celebrates the one-year anniversary of its “Annex” space, a former ice cream factory neighboring Dallas Heritage Village and the neighborhood’s giant bowler hat sculpture. The Cedars Union has become a hub of the Dallas arts community over the last year, hosting classes, workshops, panels, and providing resources that help both artists and art enthusiasts. Renowned local creatives including Jeremy Biggers, Riley Holloway, Carmen Menza and many others are studio artists at The Cedars Union and use the studios as their primary work space. The facility offers memberships with and without studio spaces, as well as $25 day passes for those who just need the tools and space for a few hours.
The non-profit is currently working with law enforcement to estimate the value of the stolen equipment. It also has a broken window to fix. As of Monday morning, no arrests have been made. It plans on coming up with a fundraising campaign to help cover the losses, and we’ll update this story accordingly with that info. Until then, you can boost the recovery by donating to The Cedars Union’s website.
