Press Release. (Thanks to Peter Coyl for the submission!)
Dallas developer Luke Crosland of The Crosland Group and ilume®, ilume® Park, and ilume® Gallerie, is gifting 6,000 volumes of LGBT literature to the Dallas Public Library. As space allows, as many as 800 volumes of this collection will be housed in the Library’s Oak Lawn Branch and comprise an integral part of the newly established ilume® LGBT Collection. The donation from Crosland was originally housed in The Stonewall National Museum and Archives located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The Stonewall National Museum and Archives houses the largest collection in the world of LGBT reading material from the 1950’s to the present. This donation will give Dallas the distinction of housing the second largest collection of LGBT documents in the country.
“Giving back to the Oak Lawn community has always been a part of our mission statement†says Crosland. “Over the past five years I have worked closely with Ronald Radwanski, Gallery Director at ilume® Gallerie and Artist in Residence at the ilume®. Ron has played a key role in helping us expand our community outreach through public art initiatives on the Cedar Springs thoroughfare and by hosting monthly benefit shows at the gallery.†The Gallerie was the first venue outside of Los Angeles to host the NOH8 Campaign, and developed “The Faces of Life Project†with international photographer Jorge Rivas. The Gallerie is currently celebrating its fifth year with shows of contemporary art, sculpture and photography.
David Joban, Curator and Director of The Stonewall National Museum and Archives, will be the guest of honor at a cocktail reception held on Friday, September 19th from 6pm-7:30pm in the lobby of ilume® Park, located at 3109 Douglas Ave, Dallas, TX 75219. The formal dedication of the 6,000 volumes will be Saturday, September 20 at 11:00am in the main reading room of the Oak Lawn branch of the Dallas Public Library located at 4100 Cedar Springs Road, Dallas, Texas 75219. Both receptions are open to the public to attend, although space will be limited. The receptions are part of Gay Pride Weekend in Dallas, which attracts nearly 30,000 people on Cedar Springs for the annual LGBT Pride Parade on Sunday, September 21, 2014.
Reporters, television cameras and photographers are encouraged to attend both events. Members of the media are asked to please RSVP to Cynthia Smoot, cynthia@gangwayadvertising.com, 214-232-2401.
About The Crosland Group:
The Crosland Group is a full service real estate development and investment company based in Dallas, Texas. Crosland, through its affiliated entities including Redwood Residential Properties and Sapphire Properties, has completed investment and development activity in excess of 12,000,000 square feet with a value exceeding $2 billion. Most recently, the company has completed the development of ilume® and ilume® Park, neighboring mixed use developments comprised of 556 class A multifamily residential apartments and 22,500 square feet of ground floor retail.  ilume is the first certified Green Built Texas mixed used property in the city of Dallas and demonstrates Crosland’s unique ability to create highly desirable lifestyle destinations in dynamic market locations which capitalize on under served demand. The company has investment holdings in Dallas’ Preston Center submarket including retail and office facilities, in other markets in the DFW area and nationally. For more information, visit http://www.thecroslandgroup.com.
About Stonewall Library:
Stonewall Library began in 1973 as the brainchild of Mark Silber who was a student at Florida Atlantic University. The name “Stonewall†was chosen to honor the significance of the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City in the early years of the modern gay movement. In addition to its vast collection of printed materials, patrons can also enjoy a Distinguished Author Lecture Series, literature discussion groups, an opera appreciation group, two monthly film programs, a writer’s workshop, monthly art exhibitions, and a community space that generats over eight thousand visitors a year. The Stonewall Museum is one of the only permanent spaces in the United States devoted to the display of exhibitions relating to LGBT culture and history. For more information, visit http://www.stonewallnationalmuseum.org/
