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 to buy booze and take it back to […]
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 through that rudimentary list of events the […]
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 Ellum in 2009 carrying the conservative […]
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 stories herself. While several people’s first encounters with the […]
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 again.” He came to Dallas in 1981 after growing […]
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 it’s the fact that he was […]
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 soon after, as an artist […]
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 home for similar reasons, but the entertainment district felt different. In 2002, the […]
Deep Ellum People: Kaia Bellanca
Photo Credit: Breonny Lee BY Taylor Adams Cogan While most people know Three Links is a destination for live music, people in the neighborhood know the spot is more than that, offering a third space for drinks, art, and community. And that’s due, in part, to Kaia Bellanca. Kaia grew up spending time in Deep […]
Deep Ellum People: Eric Bradford
Photo Credit: Breonny Lee BY Taylor Adams Cogan In 2009, just a handful of spots brought people to Elm Street in Deep Ellum. And a few people wanted to add in one more, reopening a spot that had thrived in the 1990s. Clint and Whitney Barlow reopened the legendary music venue Trees that year, along […]