Mother And Daughter To Share Their Artistic Vision In Killeen

By Elisabeth Treadwell

Monique Stone and daughter, Ursula Cimone have chosen Killeen to open their new business, Endeavors Performing Arts and Special Events Venue.

The Killeen Chamber of Commerce will welcome the business owners to the area with a formal Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at noon on June 18 at 868 S. Fort Hood Street in the 440 Plaza (formerly Phileo’s).

The Grand Opening Ceremony will continue after the ribbon cutting until 6pm, offering tours of the venue and a chance to book an event at a low introductory rate.

The Killeen/Fort Hood community is invited to attend the festivities and to meet Monique and Ursula.

On Saturday, the 19th of June, enjoy a full line-up of local and visiting Juneteenth performers from 11am-4pm. FREE food, drinks, music and give-a-ways will greet you upon your arrival.

Activities continue through Sunday, June 20 starting with a Chicken & Waffles Brunch on Father’s Day from 11am to 3pm where “FATHERS EAT FREE!”

The Grand Opening weekend celebration ends with “Sunday Night Jazz” from 5pm-9pm and will feature Killeen-known Jazz saxophonist Jeff Aycock and Company.

The Endeavors artistic duo will regularly offer Saturday adult community yoga, and youth classes in dance, drama, voice and percussion. All youth and adult classes will be FREE for the entire month of July.

In addition to offering the venue to the public for private celebrations, Endeavors will also be home to a recurring 1st Friday Spoken Word Night hosted by Shake the Poet, along with Karaoke, Comedy, Wine and Watercolors, Professional and Business Networking, Live Music; and their signature Performing Arts and Dance Productions.

Ms. Stone is the daughter of Charles E. Stone, a 25-year serviceman of the Air Force. Raised in Corpus Christi, she graduated from Roy Miller High School and pursued the Performing Arts in Atlanta, Ga.

In 1980, she joined The Dallas Minority Repertory Company and over the next 40 years produced and performed in a multitude of stage and film productions. She can most recently be seen in False Profits, The Jim Jones Story, Queen of the South, Flip & Move and two national commercials, Verizon 5G and Pepsi with Dax Prescott, Dion Sanders and Rob Corddrey.

In 2003, Ms. Stone, then founder and Executive Director of Angel Faces, Inc., opened a Performing Arts Center in the Oak Cliff community of Dallas. There she provided free acting and dance training for disadvantaged youth. In 2006 she developed ENCORE, a safe-haven after school and summer camp program which was adopted in over 100 schools, churches and community centers by 2009. In 2010, Ms. Stone was named “Woman of the Year” by the SDBPW Club. That year she also received a “Decade of Excellent Community Service” recognition from the City of Dallas and was named one of the city’s top entrepreneur’s in “The 2012 Who’s Who in Black Dallas” magazine.

Ms. Stone is the phenomenal jewelry artist behind HIP-NIQUE. A unique line of repurposed jewelry creations that will be available at Endeavors along with her autobiography “Renaissance Queen” and her other children’s books. As a seasoned writer, Ms. Stone has written several stage-plays and screenplays and was previously a lifestyle writer for Texas Metro News prior to Covid-19. Ms. Stone, an IMDb and Women in Film member, produced and released two uplifting documentaries. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow in 2015 and Homeless to Hired in 2017. Her feature film, Deep In, is currently getting rave reviews in the screenwriting completion circuit.

Ms. Cimone is a 2012 graduate of Booker T. Washington Arts Magnet (BTWHSPVA) in Dallas. She began acting, singing and dancing at age 5 and carries on now as a performer, writer, educator and community organizer. She has received a multitude of awards and recognition’s throughout her journey, including, becoming the youngest recipient of The SDBPWC Trailblazer Award in 2012.

As a teenager, she was co-lead singer and dancer with AFX, an Angel Faces X-treme performing group. She later became lead singer with the Afro-Caribbean Soul Collective, connecting the community with artistic traditions of the African Diaspora. She was also the first student at BTWHSPVA to receive the Gates Millennium Scholarship, in 2012. This prestigious Gates award offered her a fully-funded higher education and in 2016 she received her Bachelor’s degree from UT Austin in Theatre and Dance.

Since graduating, Ms. Cimone has taught theatre and dance to elementary through high school students in Austin ISD. She was Assistant Director of the Austin ISD Summer Theatre production of In The Heights. In 2020, Ursula started her own organization, Soul Arts Collective. She then established her signature event, “Open Mic for the Soul,” offering virtual creative and networking opportunities with other artists, throughout the pandemic.

“Open Mic for the Soul” will take place at Endeavors initially every 1st Saturday of the month and Ms. Cimone will also be hosting and performing. Her first Killeen (virtual and in-person) show will be July 3rd at Endeavors from 6-9pm and is open for the community to attend or perform.

A licensed Yoga instructor, Ms. Cimone will also bring yoga, meditation and healing experiences for adults and youth in the community. Besides bringing enriching wellness and inspiring performing arts projects to Endeavors, she will return to UT in the Fall to begin the Cultural Studies in Education Master’s program.

Ms. Stone’s son Claude McIver is the behind-the-scenes talent who has helped develop the Endeavors brand and will co-manage the backend of the business. Also an award-winning screenwriter who studied at the University of Arts Screenwriting and Directing program in San Francisco, he is a talented musician and producer whose music can be heard on Sound Cloud and in several film projects.

Ms. Stone said, “This ‘endeavor’ is truly a family affair, and we are ecstatic to bring our vision and passion to the Killeen/Fort Hood community which has already welcomed us with opened arms.”

To request a venue tour, book an event, RSVP or purchase tickets to any upcoming events visit their website at www.endeavorsvenue.com or call 254.262.5710. Endeavors is asking for all patrons to observe general mask policies until further notice.