Black Meetings and Tourism

Black Meetings & Tourism June/July 2009: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 46 ings for meeting groups through its sum- mer rate program this year. The Convention & Visitors Bureau will provide a free visitor information center for groups booking 75 rooms or more through the CVB. Other services include distributing RFPs, preparing and distribut- ing news releases, and arranging tours. For more information call (800) 264- 4884. DALLAS, TX Largest meeting venue: Dallas Convent- ion Center — 1 million+ sq. ft. of exhibit space, 96 meeting rooms, a 986-seat arena Number of area guestrooms: 70,000+ With free admission to several out- standing attractions and a variety of cul- tural amenities clustered together in the nation's largest urban arts district, Dallas is a prime location for cost-conscious trav- elers. The African American Museum, where admission is free, boasts a major collec- tion of Black folk art. Two other notable Black heritage attractions are the Dallas Black Dance Theatre and the Freedman's Cemetery Memorial, featuring a bronze sculpture by African-American artist David Newton. The Dallas Arts District includes the Dallas Museum of Art, the Crow Collection of Asian Art and the I.M. Pei- designed Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, which offers free tours. At the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University, which houses a large collection of Spanish art, admission is free on Thursdays after 5:00 p.m. Art lovers can also stroll through the sculpture Garden at the Trammell Crow Center at no charge. For history buffs, visits to the John F. Kennedy Memorial and the Farmer's Branch Historical Park are free. Other places to see the past preserved include the living history museum Dallas Heritage Village, the Dallas Holocaust Museum and the Sixth Floor Museum in the Texas School Book Depository Building from which the shot that felled JFK was fired. Sports enthusiasts might enjoy watch- ing one of Dallas' six professional sports Dallas_Convention_Center. Photo Credit: Dallas CVB

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