Stephanie Adelina is persistently innovative. Just last year, she started a tattoo program, teaching a select group of high schoolers a viable (not to mention cool) job skill.
Next week, Adelina will be relaunching Pegasus Studios, a space in Oak Cliff owned by a feminist collective made up of four women, including tattoo artists Morgan Wright and Betty Rodriguez, and aesthetician Amy Thornhill, in addition to Adelina.
“My private studio has always been a feminist space, and has catered to a clientele wanting a serene, inclusive, LGBTQ+ friendly environment — especially with running my business out of Sunset Art Studios, a nonprofit and social practice gallery,” Adelina says. “But I had the idea of expanding the space back in December when working on a project with my good friend and fellow tattoo artist Morgan Wright. On a whim, I basically asked her to move in with me and take over the extra available studio space and see what happened.”
After recruiting Wright, Adelina says she reached out to fellow Booker T. Washington high school alumna Rodriguez.
“We knew she was not only an incredible artist, but also a perfect fit for what we were realizing we wanted to create there,” Adelina says of Rodriguez.
The group was completed with Thornhill, an aesthetician and feminist theater entrepreneur (of Lily and Joan Theater Company) who was already working in the space, "so bringing her officially onto the project was an obvious and seamless final step to forming the current team," Adelina says.
“We didn’t set out, initially, with the idea of creating a feminist collective. It just came together that way, naturally, around common attitudes and values that we share," Adelina says. "The more we discussed them, the more important we realized they were to whatever space we were creating.""We’re simply creating a space that’s as close as possible to what we’ve always wanted to see in Dallas.” — Stephanie Adelina
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One of the tattoo artist's clients, J.P., who is non-binary, is looking forward to the relaunch party, happening on Monday, Feb. 3. "Stephanie has created a wonderfully welcoming environment of rich artistic dimension," they say of Adelina. "The vibe is completely expressive."
A feminist space, to Adelina, means an uplifting, productive environment for women, as well as a safe space for other marginalized groups.
"We are women supporting women in art and business by putting our efforts together to build something unique that meets a need in our community," she says. "We hope that by creating spaces run by women, that we can build a platform for women in the tattoo industry, as well as visibility and opportunity for all female-owned businesses, especially artists."
Adelina is quick to clarify that while Pegasus is founded on inclusive values, it’s not necessarily the first space of its kind in Dallas.
”To be clear, though, we aren’t saying other spaces aren’t also these things — feminist, LGBTQ+ friendly, inclusive, etc.," she says. "We’re simply creating a space that’s as close as possible to what we’ve always wanted to see in Dallas.”