A church-funded arts center

More on Deep Ellum Live in Dallas.

Dallas Morning News, 1/26/07 - Deep Ellum is getting a sonic boost, too: "Onstage opened last Saturday in a drab-green 26,000-square-foot warehouse space at 2803 Taylor St., just south of Canton Street (about a block south of the now-closed Deep Ellum Live building). The music venue is part of Life in Deep Ellum, a $3 million community project funded by Deep Ellum Church that also includes a coffee shop, adult learning center, child-care facility and art gallery.

It's well-funded as an arm of the nonprofit, nondenominational church.

The rectangular, low-ceilinged hall can hold 1,100 people and boasts an all-new, 25,000-watt sound system and industrial-grade air conditioning. Bookings are solid through mid-March and feature young emo-rock bands and local indie standouts such as Salim Nourallah and Nate Bolling.

Yes, Christian acts such as John Reuben are part of the schedule, and some people are automatically skeptical of the quality and nature of music acts that would be booked at a place with a spiritual foundation. But Ellum: Onstage's approach isn't faith-centered; it's community-centered.

'It's a new idea, and this is a community that needs new ideas,' says artistic director Rocky Presley. 'This is a diverse community, and I want to partner with everything that makes sense for our community.'

Besides, Ellum: Onstage's first major concert event should offer a rebuttal to any naysayers. The Ellum: Music Festival will bring in dozens of national bands on their way to Austin for South by Southwest in March. Big names already on board include the Polyphonic Spree on March 10, Mates of State on March 12 and Snowden on March 13."

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