Photo Credit: Breonny Lee
BY Taylor Adams Cogan
For Imani Black as a daughter, loving Dallas came naturally — with parents who adored the city (and its football team). For Imani Black as an artist, Deep Ellum kept drawing her back, helping her hone her craft and making her feel at home.
Her gateway to the historic Cultural District came in 2017, when she was just about to graduate from the University of North Texas, by way of the unsurprising Deep Ellum Arts Festival. She shares the story of many: the neighborhood was the setting for the first bar scene she ever experienced. In pursuing art and photography, she landed an internship that allowed her to professionally immerse herself in the creative scene of the neighborhood.
A few months after her first arts festival, her gig assigned her to Lit Hop, leading her deeper into the area. Walking along Commerce and Main streets sparked her curiosity.
“There, I also went to Kettle Art. That was my first time ever seeing it, and I knew I wanted to have my photography in here someday,” Black says.
She continued photography projects, including one in 2018 where she documented the lives of “go-getters making things happen.” Her preferred backdrop often included the vibrant murals of the neighborhood. She built her community by spending time in third spaces and eventually connected with Trinity Cider in 2019. It was around this time you would’ve started to see her work in the area, usually featuring a vibrant pegasus.
Black was the third artist the local cidery displayed in its intimate space, marking a turning point in her artistic journey, giving her the opportunity to branch out beyond photography.
“Lauren Kalstad mentioned doing something for women empowerment in Deep Ellum, and I thought it was a great idea, so I gathered a bunch of girls to do the project, which became the Deep Ellum Black Series,” she says. “And then, I got to exhibit my work at Trinity Cider throughout my journey as a photographer.
“And on one random day in June of 2021, I walked up to Kettle Art, and I was like, ‘Hey, how do I get in this gallery?’” she says. “They had been in the back of my mind since 2017, but I wanted to build myself up because I saw the quality. It was always a goal of mine. They looked at my work, they liked it, and they were like, ‘Yeah, let’s do that.’”
We all know Frank Campagna has an eye for art and a passion for supporting local artists, and Black quickly became part of his roster. She connected with neighbor Steve Reeves to create prints for the gallery.
“I was also working the wine walks [at Kettle] – that was so impactful. I did that for about a year and some change. Being at those wine walks every month was a great way to meet people, connect with other artists, and expand my reach as an artist,” she says.
And in 2021, her red pegasus landed on one of those wine glasses, complete with art deco-inspired touches framing her design. The next year, her work appeared on the giant walls of the then-coffee shop Land of a Thousand Hills at Malcom X Boulevard and Canton Street.
“It was going to be a showcase with my art and photo project. Then I was like, ‘What if we expand the reach?’ By 2022, I was feeling a bit burned out on traditional gallery shows, and these walls were huge,” she says.
She asked the manager if the project could include the whole community, and Black got the go-ahead to curate the project from top to bottom.
“I learned so much about project management with that. There were a lot of artists that I chose who had never shown in a gallery before, and they got a lot of exposure, and I got a lot of exposure,” she says.
Since 2023, Black has been fortunate to make her living by pursuing photography, always coming back to the neighborhood — either as a backdrop or a home base for her community.
“I’m always proud to represent it. Deep Ellum has always been one of the places I go to as my backdrop because it’s a beautiful place and space, and it’s a part of my story,” she says. “I was doing this work here when I was younger, just starting out and new to the scene. It’s just crazy. I love the full-circle-ness of all of this.”
