DEEP ELLUM GLORY YEARS

Bret Stout arrived in Deep Ellum in 1986 and couldn't believe that this old brick warehouse district was relatively abandoned. Born in Los Angeles, where all warehouse space is seen as a high commodity, Bret recognized the rare opportunity to live in a warehouse loft relatively inexpensively. Bret began his renovating in the summer in this nearly abandon warehouse district just east of downtown Dallas. He would eventually live in three (3) different warehouses - 2524 Elm Street (Honest Joe's Pawn Shop), 2550 Elm Street (location of his Stout-McCourt Gallery), and later at 3809 Parry Avenue (near Exposition).



Bret spent 12 years in this area and watched it grow from virtually no businesses - to one of the most active and thriving arts and music scenes.

WHO REALLY FOUNDED "DEEP ELLUM"?

Many think that "Deep Ellum" started with the "Glory Years" of Deep Ellum back in 1986. That is not the case. And many could dispute when the "Glory Years" actually took place. Was it version one in the 1800s when former slaves owned their own businesses for the first time? Was it version two in the early 1900s with the Texas blues? Was it version three during prohibition and the Speakeasies? Or was it version four with the influx of Jewish immigrants who opened their businesses in the late 1930's? ALL of these were "Deep Ellum".

WHERE DID THE NAME "DEEP ELLUM" COME FROM?

The name "Deep Ellum" came from the 1800s - where the street name "Elm" was pronounce "Ellum".

It was once a huge entertainment area with theaters and other music venues. There was the new sounds of the blues with the famous likes of Huddie "Led Belly" Ledbetter and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Blind Lemon arrived in Deep Ellum in 1912 where he met Lead Belly (who was already performing in Deep Ellum), they quickly became friends and would perform together. These two would become some of the most legendary musical figures in Texas. These two are widely recognized as the most profound influence upon the development of the Texas blues.



That was the Deep Ellum of the early 1900s. But this new "Deep Ellum" took on its own purpose and meaning - but still founded in its historic musical past.



Often referred to as the "Glory Years of Deep Ellum", this would be a period between 1986 and 1994 - one of the most active and colorful versions of Deep Ellum.

And this is only one perspective...

THE YEAR WAS 1986 - OVER 30 YEARS AGO

Bret took over his first warehouse on Elm Street in early 1986 - the old Honest Joe's Pawn Shop which operated on Elm Street from 1936 to 1972. When Honest Joe (Rubin Goldstein) died, the family locked up the place and boarded up the windows. Yes, everything was still in there just as Honest Joe had left it. The family wouldn't go in because Honest Joe had died in his pawn shop. Bret spent nearly three years going through Honest Joe's stuff and then remodeling the building.



It's hard to believe that was over 30 years ago...

In 1986 when Bret arrived in Deep Ellum (Honest Joe's Pawn Shop), there was very little activity on Elm Street. He chose that building because of the massive "treasure hunt" into Honest Joe's past. He had to complete the "dig" before he could move on to the renovation. To find out more about his historic dig, click here.

There was only Chip Wood's Looker Hairgroup (now Green Room), Kenn Bird's Photography Studio (later became Elm Street Bar), Michael R. Moore Studio, Jay Holloway's "Ona", Tino Valdez's "Slix", and Russell Hobb's Theater Gallery and Prophet Bar - and The Starck Club on the other side of downtown in the Brewery building.



There were several borderline-legal afterhours parties in several old buildings, including the old Clearview Glass building run by Jeff Swaney, Jeff Yarbourough, and Mark Cuban (yes, that Mark Cuban).



Within a short period of time, work was started on Bart Weiss and Scott Cleland's Video Bar. Tom Henvey, Doak Boettiger and David Border started construction of the original Club Dada (which was only half the size it is now). Charles "Chumley" Hawkins' opened Dave's Art Pawn Shop, a coffee house and small live music venue. There was also State Bar and Bar of Soap on Exposition.

BRET OPENS THE STOUT-MCCOURT GALLERY

The opening of the Stout-McCourt Gallery in Deep Ellum (14 September 1989) would be in Bret's second building at 2550 Elm Street. Bret had identified a huge gap between the abundance of artistic talent and gallery representation. - and the gallery would provided him the opportunity to foster, mentor, and promote unknown artists and their work. Bret thought the best way to do this was to also represent nationally-known and internationally-known artists - with artwork shown side-by-side to elevate the level of the unknown artist's work. Bret had hoped that the well-known artists, who also lived here locally, would bring in the traffic - and those buyers would see and buy the lessor known artists work. And it worked.

By the time Bret opened the Stout-McCourt Gallery in September of 1989 (at his second building at 2550 Elm Street), Deep Ellum had exploded in art and live music - and Elm Street was the center of it all. The Stout-McCourt Gallery was in the right place at the right time.





His focus was clear: represent only local artists. His nationally-known and internationally-known artists included Betsy Dillard Stroud, George Demmerle, Don E. Sweetland, Kenn Bird, James W. Johnson, Dan Pirraro, and more. They loved the idea to be around younger artists and guide them in the right direction. And their work would be exhibited side-by-side with the lessor or unknown artists.



The lessor known and unknown artists were amazingly talented and included Preston Jones, Pamela Austin, Gregor Landis, T. Scott Stromberg, Eddie Winterhawk, James Scott Lattrell, Giselle Castro, Sue Davis, Gregory Malphurs, Chris Brown, Julia McClain, Geoff Garza, Tom Pribyl, Carol Estes, Rosemary Mesa, James Charles, D.C. Morale, Heather Gorman, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Melissa Watt, Mark Murphy, and many, many others.

BRET BUILT A PLATFORM FOR ARTIST COLLABORATION (AND STAIRS)

Bret's mission with the Stout-McCourt Gallery was to bring together the fragmented Dallas art scene and bring artists together to communicate and collaborate. Bret knew that most artists work alone, at home or in a studio and rarely have artistic interaction - so he would organize and host "Artist Get Togethers", including represented gallery artists and potential gallery artists to eat, drink and TALK. The artists loved it. Even the well-established gallery artists found it to be refreshing, invigorating, and inspiring. The younger artists could finally, for the first time, actually TALK to famous local artists to find out how they got there and what was it like.

Bret even converted most of his upstairs loft living space (5,000 square feet) into artists studios where artists could come alone or together and paint and sculpt. But this wasn't just open-it-up-for-artists - there was no direct street access for the upstairs space, so Bret made architectural drawings and got approved by the city, cut through the floor, reconfigured with joists, and built a 29-step staircase, by himself, just for the artists.

BRET GAVE UNKNOWN ARTISTS A PLATFORM FOR EXPOSURE

These artists just needed reputable representation and a gallery environment to sell their work. These artists needed someone to mentor and promote them. Of course they're older now - and almost all of them are now well-known artists who exhibit in galleries all across the country and consistently sell their work.



This is only a small group of 16 of the so many talented artists represented by the Stout-McCourt Gallery, or selected for a special gallery exhibit or competition. Bret is very proud of these artists and what they have gone on to accomplished.



(please right-click-the artist grids above to view full image and see the details)

Other high end Dallas galleries would approach Bret to see if he would be okay with them representing specific Stout-McCourt artists - and Bret always allowed it - and those artists would actually apologize to Bret - but Bret would just smile and explain to them that THIS was THE PURPOSE for the Stout-McCourt Gallery - to get them the exposure they needed and deserved - to GET the attention of the big galleries.

Yes, Bret filled a huge gap in the Dallas art scene with the Stout-McCourt Gallery.

BRET FOREVER CHANGED THE DALLAS ART SCENE

Bret's impact on the Dallas and Fort Worth art scene would forever change how local unknown artists would be viewed and represented in the metroplex. Galleries who would had only represented nationally and internationally-known artists, were now willing to take a chance with unknown local talent. Why? Because they were very talented and profitable - just unknown until now.



Many artists got their first real break and exposure with the Stout-McCourt Gallery and many have gone on to become nationally-known - and even internationally-known for their outstanding work.

BRET MADE UP HIS OWN RULES - AND CONNECTED THE DOTS

Bret started things that had not happened in the Dallas art scene before - like partnering with the Dallas Museum of Art's Professional Members (known as the "PM League") and giving them the opportunity to preview the featured work the night BEFORE the actual gallery opening - and he brought in the featured artists to talk about their work and answer questions. He worked with the then younger Bart Weiss, the founder of the new Dallas Video Festival and Bret featured video artists in his gallery during gallery openings.



Bret partnered with the Texas Visual Arts Asociation (TVAA) to host the "Censorship Show" - a collection of work that had been censored from other exhibits in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. Bret even got his Marine buddies who were also Dallas Police officers to have their patrol cars parked in front of the gallery on the very busy Elm Street with their lights on - which attracted even more traffic.



Bret discovered there were syndicated cartoonists who lived right here in Dallas and Fort Worth - and he contacted them to find out if they also had paintings, which most of them did, and he hosted a show called "The Dallas Fort Worth Syndicated Cartoonists Exhibit" - cartoonists included Buddy Hickerson (The Quigmans), Dan Pirraro (Bizarro), and Harold LeDoux (Judge Parker). Note: Cathy Guisewite from Fort Worth and the creator of the cartoon strip "Cathy" was contacted but unavailable for scheduled date.



Bret educated the art buying public on photographs-as-art with limited-edition-hand-numbered photography of local photographers like George Wada, Steve Anderson, Joan Siebens, and Kenn Bird. He also brought in local, unknown musicians to play the openings, like Rhett Miller, and Arts Magnet students playing classical music.

This period from 1986 to 1994 would later be known as Deep Ellum's "Glory Years" with bands like Ten Hands from Denton, Reverend Horton Heat, Brave Combo, Tripping Daisy, Meat Puppets, Dead Kennedys, the Toadies, Sarah Hickman, and fresh out of Booker T's Arts Magnet, The New Bohemians with Eddie Brickell (she would later appear on Saturday Night Live and marry Paul Simon). This is before Rhett Miller became well-know with the Old 97's (he was in his last year of high school).

The below characters are only a portion of those VISIONARIES who shaped what is now referred to as the "Glory Years of Deep Ellum".



While each one of the above had a forever changing impact in defining Deep Ellum (independently AND collectively), in a brief window of glory, Deep Ellum also defined them to shape them into who they are today.

And yes, we all get older.

DEEP ELLUM GAINS NATIONAL ATTENTION

Emerging bands from all over began performing here at Club Dada, Trees, The Bomb Factory, and Club Clearview (the legal one) and Blind Lemon, Frank Campagna's Studio D, and Hermann Hall, including Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and more. Bret was even on the balcony with friends at Trees when Kurt Cobain with Nirvana got punched by a Trees employee in the confusion of a mosh pit and refused to play on. Country music and hair bands were performing at Adair's Saloon - with the very best cheeseburgers anywhere.

BRET CONNECTED WITH EVERYONE FOR A TRUE COMMUNITY

In addition to the artists and gallery owners, Bret was friends with nearly everyone - the property owners, the night club owners, the club staff, and the local musicians. Bret would lend ladders and scaffling for their construction. Owners and staff of the Deep Ellum Cafe let Bret's dog Shogun into the restaurant - she was a part of the family. The doorman at Club Dada John "Beard" Brewer (originally "Red Beard" before it turned gray), and several other business and studio owners, even wrote Bret during the war. A local club owner agreed to watch Bret's dog during his deployment.

There grew a wide range of artists and galleries within this huge artistBrewert community called Deep Ellum - and incredible mural artists Frank Campagna, Greg "G" and "Ozone" Contestabile, David "Mosquito" Holly, and Trippy Thompson - with their one-eyed animals, joint-smoking pimps, gun-toting astronauts and other awesome murals on the building walls and the Good-Latimer tunnel - which could be scene from the front of the Stout-McCourt Gallery back then, but has since been torn down. These fantastic images put the first real color in Deep Ellum's character.



There were also prominent galleries including Nancy Whitenack's Conduit Gallery, the Barry Whistler Gallery, the Eugene Binder Gallery, and alternative exhibit space like 500X and the other smaller venues. Artists included Frank X. Tolbert, Vincent Falsetta, Frances Bagley, Tom Orr, Greg Malphurs, George Lacy, and more.



The Stout-McCourt drew a lot of attention from the very beginning - and Bret's artists enjoyed and embraced that exposure. Dallas Morning News writer Joyce Saenz Harris, who had written "Stout Offerings" for DMN High Profile about Bret and his art gallery, continued to follow Bret during his military deployment and printed updates under the title "Our Man in Saudi".

Major art collectors in Dallas began frequenting and purchasing entire collections of the local artist work.

THE COMMUNITY BACKED BRET WHEN HE GOT DEPLOYED FOR WAR

Bret Stout received his orders for deployment and had only seven days to organize his gallery staff to run it without him. He had no idea when he would be back. It would be eight months before he returned from the Middle East. Several members of the gallery staff really stepped up in Bret's absence, including Jason Hill, Tiffany Briggs, and Lisa Cummings, and led by Pamela Eubanks. They kept the gallery open - and after Bret returned from the war, the SMU Daily Campus wrote an article titled,
"Homecoming: Deep Ellum Art Dealer Returns from Persian Gulf".



After an overwhelming victory in the war, Bret returned and was interviewed by the Dallas and Fort Worth television stations. In the photos above, you can see Bret in Kuwait (left photo), being interviewed by CBS Channel 11 while his mother cried tears of joy (center photo).

CAN YOU CONNECT THE WAR TO THE ART SCENE?

The first gallery opening upon his return was titled "Reflections of War & Peace" with amazing installations by George Demmerle (the well-known New York hippie/radical of the late 60s and early 70s, and sculptor), Don E. Sweetland (the extroverted Fort Worth sculptor), and Kenn Bird (rated by Kodak at the time as one of the top 25 photographers in the world) and his amazing and rare studio photograph of Abbie Hoffman (the most famous New York hippie/radical of the 60s and 70s - who happened to be connected to George Demmerle), plus several other local artists. The invitation had a message from the gallery owner that started with:
"Thank God I'm Bullet-Proof".



The writer of Dallas Morning News High Profile's "Stout Offerings", Joyce Saenz Harris, would later print one of Bret Stout's quotes from a letter, "If it wasn't for the continual small-arms fire and roaring jets above my head (not to mention unexpected, unexplained explosions) - I would not be able to keep my sanity. Why? Because these are the 'Sounds of Deep Ellum'!".

Bret's Stout-McCourt Gallery was featured in Dallas Morning News (the Today Section and High Profile three times), D Magazine, the Dallas Observer, the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and others. His gallery was also featured in Detour Magazine and Art News and attracted buyers from as far east as NYC and as far west as Los Angeles. His gallery also received a very positive review by Dallas Art Critic Lawson Tate from the radio station WRR 101.1. He was awarded the 1993 Multi-Ethnic Heritage Foundation Cultural Philanthropy Award, beating out two other nominees, EDS and JCPenney.

BRET IS INVITED TO THE ADULT TABLE

Bret would first be asked to become a part of the upper-echelon Dallas Art Dealers Association (DADA). This was a great honor and he enjoyed have conversations with the likes of David Dike, Beverly Gordon, Edith Baker, Nancy Whitenack, and others.

This was a highly-respected collection of gallery owners who were sincerely excited to hear fresh ideas and acknowledged the impact Bret was having on the Dallas art scene. Bret would invite them to visit his gallery afterhours and review and discuss the emerging artists work. They were amazed in how much talent was right here locally.

Membership into DADA was nearly impossible - one member has to make the recommendation - and then every single DADA member had to say yes. One 'no' and you weren't invited. It was also the very first time DADA would bypass the minimum requirement of five years in business - the Stout-McCourt Gallery had been open for less than two years. Bret would later be elected and served as the Vice President of the Dallas Art Dealers Association and it was at this time, the Dallas Art Dealers coordinated with the Fort Worth Art Dealers to have their "Gallery Nights" run over a two-day period rather than on the same night - this way art lovers could see ALL the galleries over the two-day, joint-marketed event.



There has been several phases and "versions" of Deep Ellum before and after the "Glory Years", and while the main 1980s characters are mostly gone (except maybe artist Frank Campagna and property owner Don Cass), you can still go down there and feel the 1980s ghosts of Deep Ellum past.



This has only been one perspective of the "Glory Years" of Deep Ellum.


Bret Stout is ready to help YOU take your Fort Worth business to the next level.