If you’re following the arts and entertainment scene in Dallas, the name Ahava Silkey-Jones may already be familiar to you. She’s a Midwest transplant with her fingerprints on today’s events and installations, while shaping the future of the local arts industry.

Jones moved to Dallas with her husband and two children in 2022, from Minneapolis.

“I was looking for a unique arts and education opportunity. I wanted a few different things, including a big scope of impact,” said Silkey-Jones.

She was open to any location where the opportunity was right and imagined that would be in a big city like Chicago or New York.

“Dallas was not on my radar when clearly it should have been, I came to learn that the entire state population of Minnesota is smaller than the DFW region,” she said, laughing.

But lured by the opportunity of being vice-provost of the School of Creative Arts, Entertainment, and Design at Dallas College, she started learning more about the area and realized it checked most boxes. The area has also provided some great surprises.

“I pictured cowboy hats and country music, and that’s here, but Dallas is actually very layered, very multicultural, and very metropolitan. I knew I was stepping into a role where I would be promoting and working in the arts, but I had no idea how vibrant and dynamic the art scene is—I mean, number one in the nation two years in a row. Dallas is a force.”

Finding a new home base

Her family settled in Oak Cliff.

“It was an interesting area for us to pick because it has a lot of elements that feel familiar. It’s got a lot of big trees – and we feel connected to nature—the vibe is very down to earth.”

In fact, she says being outdoorsy has taken a bigger role in their lives since it’s so accessible.

“There’s a ‘dads club’ that our kids take part in—they do a camp out three times a year. They earn badges and they go fishing and hiking and do ropes courses and things like that that.”

Jones’ primary office is at the Mountain View Campus, but her work takes her to all seven of Dallas College’s campuses, and soon, she’ll have two kids in school, so she appreciates the proximity to everything. She describes her family as an adventurous bunch and they love soaking up the different experiences the region serves up: festivals, the arboretum, Klyde Warren Park, and the State Fair in the fall.

“We do a lot of road trips too—like down to Hill Country near Austin, where we go hiking. But we’ve gone in all directions—Houston, Florida, New Mexico. And even just staying close to home, there’s more chance to do something outside because it’s great weather most of the year.”

She points to rollerblading, which she loves, but is tougher to keep up with in Minnesota, where there’s only a few months out of the year without snow on the trails.

For her husband, who grew up in Arlington, moving back to DFW was familiar, though the region had changed a lot in his absence. Meanwhile, her daughter and son found their groove quickly—her son joined a competitive all-boys hip-hop dance team, and her youngest had a great first impression of Dallas with her first school experience at the Dallas Zoo preschool.

“And I’ve really felt embraced by the community. I’m excited by how many people are driven and ambitious—and leveraging that ambition to do good for the community.”