Audio By Carbonatix
Last May I sat staring into my laptop and a blank document stared back. One hundred can seem like such a daunting number. But some of the Observer‘s sister papers in cities like Phoenix and Miami had come up with 100 creative people to feature in an ongoing series, so Dallas could too.
Initially, the struggle was explaining what we were trying to accomplish. First to ourselves, and then to the people we were planning to feature. It wasn’t an award — we have the annual Mastermind awards for creative types — and we had no precedent for it to be any kind of honor. They were just interviews, opportunities for the writer and the reader to peek behind the curtain in the life of someone whose work we admire. When you’re in a job like I have, you feel pretty lucky to have an excuse to knock heads with some of the city’s greatest minds.
Then, I had to figure what we were talking about when we said the word “creative.” How would we know whom to include? Certainly even accountants have traits or work styles that in context would be considered inventive or original. Being “a creative” is just another one of those buzzwords that’s empty as a standalone term. In conversation with one of the first creatives, Art Peña (who, incidentally, I began to date months later), he said it sounded like I was describing a series on Dallas’ “cultural entrepreneurs.” It was perfect.
The list became about the leaders of the creative class. Who are the people creating opportunities? For themselves and for others? Those are the people I wanted to talk to. I also wanted the list to be variegated and surprising. I wanted to recontextualize what we talk about when we talk about creativity. That Lisa Robison uses her design skills to run her company Dwell with Dignity shares the creative realm with Matthew Posey leading his band of misfits to create beautiful theater at Ochre House. And isn’t far fetched to put the political cipher Wylie H Dallas back to back with video artist Carolyn Sortor. Each of the people on the list are responsible for leading Dallas into a more interesting future. There are names on the list belonging to up and comers, such as Kelsey Leigh Ervi, an emerging theater director, and there are veterans such as John Pomora, a go-to painter who mentors a new generation of artists at University of Texas at Dallas. It quickly became a kaleidoscope of artists (Celia Eberle, Ryder Richards , Stephen Lapthisophon), actors (Van Quattro, Adam A Anderson), curators (Brandy Michele Adams, Lauren Gray, Michael Mazurk and Jesse Morgan Barnett), magicians (Trigg Watson, Edward Ruiz), comedians (Paul Varghese, Noa Gavin), choreographers (Katie Puder, Joshua Peugh), musicians (Nathan Olson, Matt Tolentino) and more. Every entry on the list generously shared their secrets to sustaining their creativity, what inspires them, what they wish would change, and why they continue to call Dallas home.
The easy part was finding 100 people whose brains we wanted to pick. The struggle was settling on just 100. There are countless people I wish we would’ve included. And now that we’ve reached our final entry in the series, I can say without question that if my boss told me to start the countdown again it wouldn’t be a problem. To everyone in Dallas whose work could be classified as creative, thank you. You’re making our city an inspiring place to call home.
Mixmaster presents “100 Creatives,” in which we feature cultural entrepreneurs of Dallas in random order.
100 Creatives:
100. Theater Mastermind Matt Posey
99. Comedy Queen Amanda Austin
98. Deep Ellum Enterpriser Brandon Castillo
97. Humanitarian Artist Willie Baronet
96. Funny Man Paul Varghese
95. Painting Provocateur Art Peña
94. Magic Man Trigg Watson
93. Enigmatic Musician George Quartz
92. Artistic Luminary Joshua King
91. Inventive Director Rene Moreno
90. Color Mavens Marianne Newsom and Sunny Sliger
89. Literary Lion Thea Temple
88. Movie Maestro Eric Steele
87. Storytelling Dynamo Nicole Stewart
86. Collaborative Artist Ryder Richards
85. Party Planning Print maker Raymond Butler
84. Avant-gardist Publisher Javier Valadez
83. Movie Nerd James Wallace
82. Artistic Tastemakers Elissa & Erin Stafford
81. Pioneering Arts Advocates Mark Lowry & Michael Warner
80. Imaginative Director Jeremy Bartel
79. Behind-the-Scenes Teacher Rachel Hull
78. Kaleidoscopic Artist Taylor “Effin” Cleveland
77. Filmmaker & Environmentalist Michael Cain
76. Music Activist Salim Nourallah
75. Underground Entrepreneur Daniel Yanez
74. Original Talent Celia Eberle
73. Comic Artist Aaron Aryanpur
72. Classical Thespian Raphael Parry
71. Dance Captain Valerie Shelton Tabor
70. Underground Culture Mainstay Karen X. Minzer
69. Effervescent Gallerist Brandy Michele Adams
68. Birthday Party Enthusiast Paige Chenault
67. Community Architect Monica Diodati
66. Intrepid Publisher Will Evans
65. Writerly Wit Noa Gavin
64. Maverick Artist Roberto Munguia
63. Fresh Perspective Kelsey Leigh Ervi
62. Virtuosic Violinist Nathan Olson
61. Open Classical’s Dynamic Duo Mark Landson & Patricia Yakesch
60. Rising Talent Michelle Rawlings
59. Adventurous Filmmaker Toby Halbrooks
58. Man of Mystery Edward Ruiz
57. Inquisitive Sculptor Val Curry
56. Offbeat Intellect Thomas Riccio
55. Doers and Makers Shannon Driscoll & Kayli House Cusick
54. Performance Pioneer Katherine Owens
53. Experimental Filmmaker and Video Artist Mike Morris
52. Flowering Fashioner Lucy Dang
51. Insightful Artist Stephen Lapthisophon
50. Dallas Arts District
49. Farmer’s Market Localvore Sarah Perry
48. Technological Painter John Pomara
47. Progressive Playmakers Christopher Carlos & Tina Parker
46. Purposive Chef Chad Houser
45. Absorbing Artist Jeff Gibbons
44. Artistic Integrator Erica Felicella
43. Multi-talented Director Tre Garrett
42. Anachronistic Musician Matt Tolentino
41. Emerging Veteran Actor Van Quattro
40. Festival Orchestrator Anna Sophia van Zweden
39. Literary Framer Karen Weiner
38. Man Behind the Music Gavin Mulloy
37. The Godfather of Dallas Art Frank Campagna
36. Rising Star Adam A. Anderson
35. Artist Organizer Heyd Fontenot
34. Music Innovator Stefan Gonzalez
33. Triple Threat Giovanni Valderas
32. Cultural Connector Lauren Cross
31. Critical Artist Thor Johnson
30. Delicate Touch Margaret Meehan
29. Fashion Forward Charles Smith II
28. Dedicated Artist Carolyn Sortor
27. Political Cyber Banksy Wylie H Dallas
26. Dance Preserver Lisa Mesa Rogers
25. Rob ‘Ain’t No Creative Like A Bow-Tie-Wearing Creative’ Shearer
24. Scholar of the Stage Susan Sargeant
23. Photographer of Record Justin Terveen
22. Music Man Jeffrey Liles
21. Keeper of the Safe Room Lauren Gray
20. Playwright Jonathan Norton, Man of Many Words
19. Filmmaker and Funniest Comic in Texas Linda Stogner
18. Gallerist Jordan Roth, the Art Scene Cheerleader
17. Artful Advocate Vicki Meek
16. Ballet Queen Katie Puder
15. Carlos Alejandro Guajardo-Molina, the Book Guy
14. Janeil Engelstad, an Artist with Purpose
13. Will Power, Playwright and Mentor
12. Gallerists Gina & Dustin Orlando, Boundary Pushers
11. Moody Fuqua, Music Community Organizer
10. Joshua Peugh, Choreographer to Watch
9. Allison Davidson, Advocate for Art Accessibility
8. Ben Fountain, Man of Letters
7. Fashion Maven Julie McCullough
6. Contemporary Curator and Artist Danielle Avram Morgan
5. Irreverent Art World Organizer Kevin Ruben Jacobs
4. Dwell with Dignity’s Lisa Robison
3. Artists/Curators Michael Mazurek and Jesse Morgan Barnett
2. Rodney Dobbs, Man Behind the Scenes
1. Shay Youngblood, Writer About Town
