DALLAS — John LaRue looked around the Deep Ellum Art Company’s yard Thursday night as guests slowly trickled into his art gallery and music venue’s reopening.
The venue’s 15,000-square foot “art yard” was lined with about a dozen plywood murals painted by local artists that, until recently, covered the windows of Deep Ellum’s businesses, bars, and restaurants. The plywood went up after riots ripped through this area in late May, following protests against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Guests arrived early in the evening to stroll the yard and to get a closer look at the murals on display. The Deep Ellum Foundation, a nonprofit organization made up of local businesses and community members, organized the event as a way to show the community’s continued creative spirit, even in trying times.
“The exhibit coincides nicely with our reopening, and we’ve got the space to do it here, so we are happy to,” LaRue said. “But honestly, we’re reopening now because of survival.”
Like many local businesses across Texas and the United States, this year has been challenging for entertainment venues like LaRue’s. This has been particularly devastating for Deep Ellum, one of Dallas’ premier entertainment districts, famed for its live music venues, bars, and eateries.
Such businesses rely on live audiences and, without them, it’s been difficult to pay the bills
Throughout the pandemic, Deep Ellum Art Company has hosted live-streamed events in an effort to stay connected with its customers and community. But without being able to bring in real revenue, the venue, along with other Deep Ellum businesses, amassed tens of thousands in debt during the pandemic.
It’s pure mathematics, LaRue said about why he and his wife, Karie LaRue, with whom he co-owns the space, decided to reopen this week.
“We’re looking at about $90,000 in debt. All of us down here are in the same boat. We really need as much help as we can get, and it’s a waiting game with the aid money being discussed.”
Many venues are hoping for relief from a proposed Save Our Stages bill, or SOS, a bipartisan effort introduced by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Texas Sen. John Cornyn as part of pandemic relief bills being debated in Congress.
Passage of that bill and other similar aid packages are stalled in DC, meaning venue owners are still searching for ways to keep their businesses open.
In Austin, the city council passed a resolution this week to search for untapped funding sources for area restaurants, bars, music venues, and child care facilities through the Save Austin's Vital Economic Sectors Act.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced this week that, starting Sept. 21, restaurants, retail stores, and office buildings will now be able to operate at 75% capacity. The current limit is 50 percent capacity. Bars must remain closed, however.
Deep Ellum is a unique community, both because of its history and its creative local businesses and residents. In the 1870s, it was designated as a “freedmen’s town,” one of the few places where Black Americans could live. Through the years, the district became home the home to the city’s industries and manufacturing plants.
Then came the live music shows through which Deep Ellum has become famous. Great Blues artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, and T-Bone Walker got their start here.
Today, it’s a source of pride for up-and-coming bands to play in one of the district’s famed venues such as Trees or the Bomb Factory.
“Deep Ellum was one of the places in Dallas that, early on, was where racial inequality didn’t exist, because everyone was coming for the music,” said Kari LaRue.
After the May riots in Dallas, local artists, many of them well-known for their wall murals scattered on the sides of buildings and brick walls of Deep Ellum, picked up their brushes and spray paints to create images and messages of America’s struggle with racial inequality.
The murals lining the perimeter of the art yard with images of George Floyd, quotes from John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. were “canvases to reframe the conversation about equality, injustice, police brutality, and more,” according to a statement from Deep Ellum 100, one of the organizers of the event. Deep Ellum 100 is a fund created in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis to raise money for individuals and businesses affected economically by the pandemic.
Business owners have relied on each other during the pandemic, both for support and as a place for camaraderie in commiserating about the difficult situation they are shared, LaRue said.
As the sun began to fade and a DJ started, guests in the Deep Elum Art Company’s yard claimed their spots at the dozen or so picnic tables spaced about five yards apart from each other.
Social distancing and mask rules were in place and will be for the foreseeable future as the Deep Ellum Art Company plans out a fall lineup of live music and events in its art yard.
“We want to do this safely and be smart about it,” LaRue said.
The bar was open, and beer, cider, and cocktails were flowing. Guests were encouraged to order take-out from local eateries and bring it back to enjoy in the yard.
After months of staying at home, there were no audible complaints about the social distancing measures in place. Many of Thursday’s guests said they were happy to have a place to go that felt safe enough to socialize with familiar faces again.
“When it comes down to it, Dallas is really just a small town disguised as a big city,” LaRue said.
The plywood murals will be on display at Deep Ellum Art Company until Oct. 17.