Deep Ellum People: Allen Falkner

By Taylor Adams Cogan Allen Falkner is not your average small business owner. He’s the kind of man a lot of people know from varying circles of interest. Some know him from his years of work ridding their bodies of tattoos they don’t want – fading away unwanted...

Deep Ellum People: Madison King Gray

By Taylor Adams Cogan When Madison King Gray picked up a guitar at age 8, she was taking a simple step that would shape her future in Dallas, first as a musician, then as a culinary talent. Going to a private school downtown, Madison and her group of musician friends...

Deep Ellum People: Chris Lewellyn

By Taylor Adams Cogan When Chris Lewellyn was a teenager growing up in Rockwall, his path to Deep Ellum wasn’t exactly direct, but it was magnetic. Eventually, it would become the place that helped him rebuild his life. “When we were young, we’d come into East Dallas...

Deep Ellum People: Paula Harris

BY Taylor Adams Cogan In 2009, Paula Harris picked up the Dallas Observer's “Best of Dallas” issue and paused at a certain listing. “There was this gallery, and I thought, ‘That’s an interesting name,’” she says. “We were still in the MySpace days, so I was going...

Deep Ellum People: Joel Triska

BY Taylor Adams Cogan It’s often the case that a pastor hopes to guide and teach, shaping beliefs and offering a path forward. But try that in Deep Ellum, and the neighborhood just might change the pastor instead. That was the case for Joel Triska, who came to Deep...

Deep Ellum People: Cathryn Colcer

BY Taylor Adams Cogan Many people in Deep Ellum know Cathryn Colcer: Her warm nature is welcoming, she’s an integral part of the art scene, and her passion for history helps her keep this important neighborhood’s stories alive. And, of course, she’s part of those...

Deep Ellum People: Jeff Swaney

BY Taylor Adams Cogan Back when Deep Ellum was boarded-up buildings and shopping carts, Jeff Swaney saw more than potential — he saw possibility. The kind that burns at both ends, then tosses the candle into a warehouse party with 2,500 people and says, “Let’s go...

Deep Ellum People: Don Cass

Photo Credit: Breonny Lee BY Taylor Adams Cogan Plenty of people aspire to the American dream, but Don Cass has pursued a bit of the Texas version, going from working the fields of a farm as a 6-year-old to developing real estate in the best parts of Dallas. Maybe...

Deep Ellum People: Keisha Hunter

Photo Credit: Breonny Lee BY Taylor Adams Cogan Born in McKinney and raised in Plano and Garland, Keisha Hunter admits she’s “from the ‘burbs.” But it didn’t take long for her to find her way to Deep Ellum — first as a young adult club-hopping in the early 2000s, and...

Deep Ellum People: Karen Fitzgerald

Photo Credit: Breonny Lee BY Taylor Adams Cogan Living in Deep Ellum today means having the privilege of provocative art, blossoming music, creative food, and wonderful people. More than 20 years ago, Karen and Sean Fitzgerald made the neighborhood their permanent...