Archive for the ‘Deep Ellum’ Category

Frank Campagna from Kettle Art Gallery in Deep Ellum is promoting the “Max Payne” movie.

I know you want to meet Mark Wahlberg and Ludacris, stars of the upcoming feature, they will be at the Door promoting the new flick at 5pm tonight.

ACHTUNG: Do not call him Marky Mark, he does not dig it!

Studio Fling is going to be having a very interesting 24 hours beginning tonite at 8p.

For the next 24 hours (thru 11p Saturday), they will be having a show called Live Long Day.

George Fowler, Jason Ice, and Jimmy Martinez, will work on individual art projects starting at 8pm Friday night and they will work throughout the night and show are finished works Saturday night at 8pm.

The reception starts at 7pm on Friday and ends at 11pm Saturday. We hope to see all of you there.

Studio Fling is located at:
2924 Main Street
Suite 102
Dallas, TX.
75226

A group of Hispanic activists that pushed for Industrial Boulevard to be renamed after labor leader César Chávez has a new target: Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas.

The César Chávez Task Force agreed in June to go along with naming Industrial Boulevard something other than “César Chávez,” provided the city name another street for the Latino rights icon.

Ross Avenue is a major street originating in East Dallas and cutting right through the Arts District and into the West End.

The activists fancy that since the Cathedral de Guadalupe is at the corner of Ross & Pearl and that there are about 5 blocks of Hispanic businesses between Washington and Greenville Avenue, that it makes sense to rename Ross for Chavez.

Not so fast dear activists.

There are major office buildings along Ross Avenue so it’s not just a simple case of having the local latin 7-day candle store and immigration photo place redoing their business cards with a new street name. You’re talking about thousands of people being affected and companies based in the high rises having to redo ALL of their marketing materials and letterhead and business cards.

Not to mention the influx of marketing done by everyone from all museums in the Arts District to the West End having to redo and get the word out about the name change on marketing materials and maps.

And further, have they not noticed how developers have been buying up tracts along Ross to demolish the run down Hispanic based businesses and put in business and retailers catering to those buying the $300k + townhomes in the general area of Baylor Hospital?

Changing a street name is not like changing a pair of socks.

It was challenging enough when a certain former mayor shoved Malcom X down our collective throats by having Oakland Avenue running through Deep Ellum named for the radical. Businesses along Oakland were NOT happy about having to endure this change so there is no way that everyone along Ross Avenue is going to go along with this.

The Hispanic community is just missing the boat.

Until such Dallas icons as Stevie Ray Vaughan, who embraced equality and gave amazing music to the world, is properly respected in his own hometown, the population as a whole is not going to support any initiative to have a major street named after an activist that didn’t live or work in Texas let alone Dallas.

In fact, let’s end this on a positive note for those of us that respect our hometown. Sign the Stevie Ray Vaughan petition asking the City of Dallas to honor our Pride & Joy.

An investment group is negotiating to buy blocks and blocks of Dallas’ Deep Ellum district with plans to redevelop the area. Dallas-based Beck Ventures – a firm with a track record of investing in real estate, finance and energy – has quietly contracted to acquire as much as 10 acres in the commercial and residential district just east of downtown Dallas.

Many of the properties Beck Ventures has contracted to purchase are along Main and Elm streets in the heart of Deep Ellum.

Real estate brokers have said the investment group has been working for several months to tie up a large chunk of the district.

Beck Ventures’ potential plans for redevelopment of the properties also surfaced at a recent shopping center trade show, property brokers say. Fort Worth-based retail developer Trademark Properties was part of a team that put together information about the project at the International Council of Shopping Centers convention.

Beginning next year, the neighborhood will be served by two new light rail stations linking Deep Ellum with downtown and other parts of the city. The rail connection is expected to be a big boost for the area, which has been in decline in recent years. While much of the property in Deep Ellum is controlled by a handful of longtime investors, large numbers of buildings are held by small owners. Some of the larger landlords have also expressed an interest in selling out.

A number of long time residents of Deep Ellum are justifiably concerned about the direction the area might go in.

Yet another Dallas talent can be found in the catchy lyrics of Robbie Van Winkle a.k.a. Vanilla Ice.

Ice used to be valet at 2826 back in it’s hey-day and this video was shot in Deep Ellum. Granted the riff was snagged from David Bowie & Queen’s “Under Pressure” and lawsuits ensured, but the song is still devilishly popular in certain segments.

If you were in Deep Ellum this past Friday and saw massive amounts of cameras outside of Elm Street Tattoo, it was because it was Friday the 13th and Oliver Peck who owns the place always goes a little wild tattooing “13” on that day.

From midnight Thursday to midnight Friday, Oliver completed 415 tattoos, applying the unlucky number 13 to scores of arms, legs, ankles, backs, thighs and even some rear ends. Some of Peck’s customers included firefighters, police officers, bartenders, a vehicle inspector, a nurse and a surgeon. By the time the marathon began, a line of customers snaked out the door and onto Elm Street.

In order to secure the record, the tattoos had to be a minimum of 1″ x 3″ and in 2-colors.

Peck claimed a mention in the Guinness Book of Records for drawing the most tattoos in a 24-hour period. He was awarded the honor by Guinness adjudicator Danny Girton Jr.

For those of you that don’t know Oliver but are trying to place his name, he was married to a certain Kat Von D. Kat was the former record holder.

Way to go Oliver — you’re a legend in your own time!

DART is planning to add $1.3 million worth of artwork to its newest light rail station in Deep Ellum. While this plan has some riders asking questions, the reality is that Deep Ellum is not Plano so khaki concrete pillars are not going to cut it.

Private development is already underway at the Deep Ellum line in Dallas, but the planned $1.3 million of money from the public will be spent on items that have little to do with public transportation. A ride on the rails in Dallas will also be a tour of an art display.

Generally, between $50,000 to $100,000 is spent on artwork at DART stops. But this $1.3 million will be spent on just one location.

Why spend that much money on sculptures? A tunnel featuring artwork in Deep Ellum was destroyed by construction. Consider this artistic payback. “Deep Ellum is an important destination for us,” said Morgan Lyons, a DART spokesman. “We had to do a lot to get into that community, and we wanted to connect with the community and celebrate the artistic tradition. We feel that’s a good investment.”

“You will know you’ve arrived when you see what they’re doing,” said Barry Aninno with the Deep Ellum Improvement District. “It’s going to be fantastic.”

Construction is still taking place on the station. It should be completed by next September.

Kudos to DART for doing the right thing by Deep Ellum.