The Deep Ellum News

“I feel so lucky to be part of Deep Ellum. The longer I live here, the more things that are happening. The pillars are looking great. Can’t wait to see the finished product,” said Richard Blackburn. Richard is just one of the 8,000+ fans on the Official Deep Ellum Facebook Page. Pillar Park, part of the Deep Ellum Beautification Project, is just one of the many ways that The Deep Ellum Foundation is working to leave its mark on the neighborhood.

A group effort

Working side-by-side with the City of Dallas and sponsored by Glidden Professional, The Deep Ellum Foundation plans to add murals to forty-eight of the TXDOT highway pillars under I‐75 along Good Latimer Expressway, Canton Street, and Commerce Street. Thirty of these pillars have already been completed to make up Pillar Park. The mural images on the pillars are eleven feet high and represent the unique work of local mural artists.

volunteers priming the pillars

Frank Campagna, owner of Kettle Art Gallery, was contracted to spearhead the project. Frank Campagna is a prominent name in the Deep Ellum community. Not only does he own Kettle Art, but he also is part of the Deep Ellum Community Association, as well as the Deep Ellum Enrichment Project, and he has painted an unrivaled number of murals throughout the neighborhood.

Richard Ross

Gathered at Kettle Art Gallery for an open call for artists, Frank finally cut down the list to eleven people, including himself. The plan was to paint twenty of the pillars to look like trees, and then each artist would receive a pillar to adopt as their own creation. On September 11th, all of the artists gathered to begin an assembly line for the tree murals, each artist adding their own personal touch. Throughout the week, the individual murals were completed.

Dallas Police Officer Cat Lafitte

A Dallas Police Officer that is also a mural artist? Yep. Cat Lafitte, our own neighborhood Dallas Police Officer is also a recognized local artist. The Dallas Police Department sponsored a pillar that welcomes drivers as they pass under the freeway and enter the Deep Ellum neighborhood.

Group Effort

“It’s incredible to see how this neighborhood really comes together whenever we have a new project. I couldn’t ask for better community involvement. I’m very pleased with the outcome of Pillar Park, and we’ve only just begun,” says Barry Annino, President of the Deep Ellum Foundation. Today one can drive or walk through Pillar Park and not be surrounded by overbearing cement columns, but be encompassed by the unique artwork that we all know and love about Deep Ellum.

Pillar Park Artists: Frank Campagna, Tyson Summers, Dan Colcer, Judith Lea Perkins, Clint Scism, Isaac Davies, Jerod Davies, Richard Ross, Jose Sparks Ramirez, Amber Campagna, and Cat Lafitte.

Sponsors
Deep Ellum Foundation
Glidden Professional Paint
Deep Ellum Community Association
Deep Ellum Enrichment Project