.png)
If You Denton Know... Now You Know!
If You Denton Know is a weekly podcast spotlighting the people, businesses, and stories that make Denton unique. Hosted by Brad Andrus, each episode shares local insights, community voices, and Denton pride.
If You Denton Know... Now You Know!
#29 - David Baker
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
If You Denton Know David Baker, now you do.
Episode Description
David Baker is the City of Denton’s creative specialist and the artist behind Onion, the big purple monster that has become the face of Denton Halloween. A UNT design graduate and muralist, David has spent years building platforms for local artists, from co-founding North Texas Makers to bringing hundreds of creatives into the city’s Halloween celebration.
In this conversation with Brad, David shares how a childhood in Bahrain and a family of working artists shaped his outlook, why getting cut from UNT’s design program twice was worth it, and how a chance conversation behind the bar at Armadillo Ale Works launched his career. He tells the unlikely story of how Onion got his name, explains the new Denton Halloween Artist Mentorship Program, and makes the case for more public art and shared creative space in Denton all year long.
Guest Bio
David Baker is a graphic designer, muralist, and creative specialist for the City of Denton, where he helps lead the creative side of Denton Halloween. A graduate of UNT’s College of Visual Arts and Design, he designed Onion and co-founded North Texas Makers in 2019. He shares Trash Alley Studios with artist Dan Black, just north of the square.
Key Topics Covered
- Growing up near Houston and spending two formative years in Bahrain
- Being raised by a family of career creatives
- Surviving UNT’s competitive communication design program
- Leaving advertising to focus on local businesses and community art
- Painting his first murals at Armadillo Ale Works
- The creation and accidental naming of Onion
- Opening Denton Halloween to local artists through pitches and mentorship
- Building a year-round arts culture and shared creative space in Denton
Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction
01:14 - From Shenandoah to Bahrain to UNT
05:37 - Inside UNT’s communication design program
13:44 - Advertising work and first murals at Armadillo
17:20 - Joining the City of Denton and launching Halloween
21:03 - The story behind Onion
26:32 - Founding North Texas Makers
30:34 - The Denton Halloween Artist Mentorship Program
37:13 - Growing Denton’s arts culture year-round
46:10 - Denton favorites
Links
If you've seen the big purple monster on the square this month, you already know his work. He's the City of Denton's creative specialist, the designer behind Onion, and one of the people working hardest to make sure local artists get a platform. On today's episode, I'm very excited to sit down with David Baker. Denton's got it all. The food, the music, the art, and of course, the people. And behind every corner, there's a story worth sharing. And that's what this podcast is all about. Denton's Best, one conversation at a time. I'm Brad, and this is If You Didn't Know, Now You Know. Welcome back to another episode of If You Didn't Know, really excited. David, welcome to the studio. Glad to have you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thanks. Excited to be here.
SPEAKER_01I'm I've I've known of you and about you, and I've seen, obviously, we've all seen Onion and your your creative work there, but really excited to sit down with you and visit with you about not only that and what the city's doing with all the Halloween stuff, but just your perspective on the arts and and kind of the impact it has on our community. So just man, can't can't wait for this. Yeah, I'm excited to get into it. Thank you. Uh well let's let's start kind of from the beginning. You grew up you didn't grow up in the Denton area, right?
SPEAKER_00No, I'm originally from uh just outside of North Houston, kind of in the Conroe Woodlands area. There's a little city called Shenandoah. I grew up right right there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Okay, very cool. And got up here for UNT.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. Loved it enough to not leave.
SPEAKER_01So it's a common theme on this, uh, at least when I'm visiting with people here on this podcast, and just in the city in general, that that the UNT will bring them here and then they just fall in love with the city.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's easy, easy place to fall in love with.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, glad you stuck around. Now, there's something interesting I found as we were kind of preparing for this, that you uh actually lived out of the country for a couple years growing up in Bahrain. Is that the country?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Bahrain, it's a little island next to Saudi Arabia. Um, yeah, that was that was a really, really great experience. Uh my dad worked in oil and gas and had the opportunity uh to take us over into the Middle East. Uh he was working in Saudi Arabia and would drive across a giant bridge every morning into work. And um he worked really hard to provide that experience for us, and so we got to do that for a few years, travel a lot, which was really awesome, and get to see a good chunk of the world while we were over there.
SPEAKER_01So that that count what what like what age were you?
SPEAKER_00Uh that was fifth and sixth grade. So I was um just before middle school, I guess. Yeah. Uh or no, that would have been middle school. Yeah. So right about there. Yeah, I was a kid.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but man, still I I don't know. I I'd had a chance to I've mentioned this before on the podcast, where I've had a chance to live out of the country for a couple of years as a younger person. And I I just think that the experience that you gain and kind of viewing the world a little bit differently and understanding that there are lots of different people and cultures, and it's all great.
SPEAKER_00It was very, yeah, it's a very like humanizing experience. I my first memory was like hopping off the plane. We had a layover in Dubai. I didn't like I had no idea. Like I just, you know, I was kind of grew up in a tiny little school, um, and we hop off the plane, and the like prayer call is playing in the airport, right? And uh everybody's in their hijabs, and like I was just like, whoa, this is crazy. And then I go to the bathroom and the bathrooms even look different, and then you know, it's like this crazy experience, but you're also a kid, and it's like hanging out with other kids that are just like living wildly different lives as you, but then you just kind of realize, man, everybody's just like human, having a good time, doing their best to like live a good life, and yeah, it was awesome. It was a really, really cool experience.
SPEAKER_01That is that is so awesome. So, did were you always into art growing up and and drawing, or what what did you where did you kind of start on that front?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so uh my mom and uncle are actually both career creatives. My mom is a oil painter and my uncle is a photographer, and they're both pretty successful in their own rights. And so I always grew up with that as kind of like the background. Um, and then you know, paired with this natural inclination to have to make art all of the time, like it's just like something that's ingrained into the deepest parts of my soul, you know. Uh, you know, weirdly enough though, I didn't really like think much about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I just was like sitting in the back of class and drawing all day, and um, you know, people started to kind of like take note of that, and I thought, oh, this is cool, like people are paying attention to this thing that I just feel like I have to be doing all of the time. Yeah. Um, and so I think that kind of aided in that. But then also, you know, we were talking about living overseas and getting to travel and having a mom that was super into art. You know, we got to go to the Louvre and all of these like crazy, really important um locations for the arts, like all over the world. And so, and again, I just didn't think much about it. I just knew that I liked it and did this art thing all of the time. And when it came time to like pick what I was gonna do for the rest of my life, it was just kind of a natural choice of like, well, yeah, I guess the only thing I enjoy doing is art, so I might as well pursue this. Right.
SPEAKER_01Well, I I I can't imagine uh high school David thinking that he was gonna work for the city of Denton, though. When you're thinking I want to work in art, I want to create art and and be creative, like working for a city, like yeah.
SPEAKER_00I was a I was a little punk kid too. I probably wouldn't be too excited with myself, but it ended up being really, really, really great.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, we're gonna get into that. But so it back to when you started UNT, they have a like a design or creative.
SPEAKER_00What was the college that you were uh so I was in the uh College of Visual Arts and Design uh in the communication design program there? Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Is that a competitive program?
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh, yeah. So um when I was going, it's a little different now, they still have these cuts, but um when I was going to school there, uh your freshman year, I think I started in a class with um maybe 150 to 200 students, and I graduated with about 30. Uh so the freshman year they cut about half of the students down to around 60-ish, and then um in your sophomore year they cut students again uh down to about 40, and then you people end up dropping because it's a pretty stressful intensive program.
SPEAKER_01So from your freshman year, if you're wanting to be in this program, I mean you're in it from the very beginning.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's not something you do, you're generals, and then you get in to apply for it two years in. You start from the beginning.
SPEAKER_00No, yeah, and in fact, a lot of the kids that started um with you know, two years of associates degrees under their belt ended up, you know, not saving any time, really. Uh they really want you there all four years, which it took me six. They kicked me out twice. They did, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, I was almost there longer than any other student. Apparently, there was somebody that got kicked out three times. But I I really, really, really knew what I wanted and definitely needed those extra two years. Um, and had a professor that was just like um willing to work hard with me because school was always really difficult for me, even like you know, especially when I got to college. And she knew that I really wanted to be there and I think saw something in me that I didn't at the time. Um and yeah, so I'm super grateful for getting kicked out twice in that program.
SPEAKER_01So, like when you get kicked out, what do you what do you do?
SPEAKER_00You retake the year basically. So um they only have the class, like the portfolio review class, uh once a year. And so basically you spend that next semester just taking non-graphic design classes, uh, and then you can retake the graphic design classes uh and retry to get in. So um, yep, had to do that. So kick me. Oh go ahead. No, I was gonna say they kicked me one time and then the following year um I got in and then just had like life stuff come up and had to pull away for a little bit, and so had to end up adding an extra year.
SPEAKER_01So yeah. Wow. Well, talk to a lot of people who've come, you know, have come here for the music program, but not not as many on this, but that sounds like a very not many of us leave from that program. Yeah. That's very cool.
SPEAKER_00But it's like one of the you know best for it. You know, everybody knows UNT, which I wasn't expecting when I went there. I was just like, I want to go to school for graphic design, and then it ended up being a pretty good graphic design school. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01I love it. That's awesome. Yeah. And so you you during that time and probably kind of coming out of it, you were always trying to learn and hone your craft, and uh, I mean, uh got notes so you did workshops from people like Aaron Draplin. I mean, like what I mean, tell me what you're like if you're an artist or you're a wannabe artist, people are listening, you know, like I mean, you kind of gotta grind it a little bit.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh, yeah. I mean, like it was really fortunate to grow up in a household where we were just around good art, which I think is a big part of it. Um I think a lot of people think it's like a mystery of where inspiration like comes from, but really I think about it if like if you only live in a white box, you know, like white walls, white ceilings, white floors, you're only ever gonna be able to conceive of that white box. And so I think from an early age, being exposed to so much good art definitely like helped quite a bit. Um but then also, yeah, you just like you know, I was drawing all the time as a kid. You really like have to spend a lot of time getting good at what you're doing and the craft that you want to pursue to be taken seriously. And I think there's something to be said for just doing it as a hobby and for the enjoyment of doing it, but like I get itchy if I'm not like creative all the time. Right. And so I knew that there was really only one option for me, and it is a lot of work, but you know, fortunately we have access to you know creatives like Aaron Draplin, and um I was encouraged early on to pursue opportunities to learn from creatives that are much better than you, and a lot of these people are a lot more approachable than you would think. Yeah, um, and so I would take as many workshops and stuff as I can and uh take opportunities to learn outside of the context of school because while the education was great, you have the access to the same, you know, five or six professors. Um and being able to kind of exit that and get other perspectives and learn from people that have done all of the learning already, you know, is a really great way to get a lot better really fast. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So I mean it's been my experience, at least it's somewhat limited though, but the the artists that I've kind of reached out to and wanted us, you know, learn from or just kind of understand how they do they they're they're very most are very open to sharing, you know. Oh, yeah. Like it's there's no secrets here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know. Like, God forbid somebody want me to talk about myself and my art. Right, right. Yeah, it's yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I know you share a studio with Dan Black and we'll we'll get into that. But I mean, yeah, Dan's amazing, and and uh I've had him, you know, do several things for me. And he he's I I I love his perspective. Like, there's no wrong in art, you know, you can't, it's just whatever you want it to be. And you know, now somebody may not pay you for it because they may not like it, but but for the what you're doing, there's you can't really do anything wrong. And that that's like that that feels nice compared to some professions where well I can really actually spin myself up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's cool. Well, so who were some of your you know, biggest inspirations or or just mentors? I mean, any anybody you give a shout out to on that front?
SPEAKER_00I mean, I have I have such a corny answer to this question, but like I really feel very inspired by life, you know, generally. I'm gonna back this my corny answer up though. We were talking earlier about like how um, you know, if you only ever exist in a white box, you can only ever conceive of a white box. And so I think I have this kind of um approach to being inspired that is very broad and that like I'm seeking out opportunities provided by like the creative people in our world that like are kind of at the top of their game, you know, whether it's good movies or good food, um really anything I've been able to kind of pull inspiration from. And I think really who I feel the most inspired by are these people. Um, well, Basquiat, obviously, you know, um uh Keith Herring, Andy Warhol, just like maybe less so for their art and more of just like the kind of lifestyle they lived as artists. I think there's a lot of like problematic things with all of those artists, but like like the fact that they were these kind of like brands in and of themselves, I think is really interesting. And then you see that more so in like the music industry now with these people that like are kind of creative in every single direction. Like uh you got this guy like Action Bronson that just like makes art and is an amazing cook and has a TV show. Yeah, um, and I just think it's really interesting to like watch these people that are creative in a lot of different avenues, and I think that's kind of what I strive for myself. Like, I love art and that's my job, but I also love to cook and I love you know um design and good film and like really any creative project I'm a part of, I feel like I can excel out because I've taken this kind of broad approach to um just creativity as a whole. I just eat it up.
SPEAKER_01So well, you'd be good in real estate too. Oh, you think so? I mean, you know, really I I that's the way I like to approach uh a project, you know, is trying to be really a little more. I mean, there's certain types of real estate we do, like storage facilities. I mean there's not a lot of creativity that necessarily goes there, but even the colors and the branding that matters. But yeah, as far as what I'm trying to do in some of the downtown projects in particular, you know, trying to come at it with a little unique angle and creativity.
SPEAKER_00I mean, y'all been killing it with your properties downtown. I mean, I'm so excited about the fine arts. Like that's gonna be really cool. But um, yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, it's like what story are you trying to tell? And I think I could definitely see how that comes into play in a major way with real estate.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So you got out of out of school and started working, were you working for an agency? Is that where you started your career?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was working at um actually before I graduated, I was working at Armadillo Aleworks and this guy came in and uh he was drinking at like 10 a.m. on a Tuesday. And I was like, sure, why not? You know, the people came in and did it all the time. But I got to talking to this guy because he was the only person in the bar and he was drinking a beer. I was like, what's going on, dude? Um and he was like, Oh, I'm a graphic designer, I work in the ad in the ad space. He told me where he worked. I was like, oh, cool. And he was like, I was like, oh, I'm going to school for graphic design. He's like, Oh, we're looking to hire somebody. He looked at my portfolio like while I was on shift and basically gave me the job, um, which was super cool. And then I started commuting from you know, Dallas or Denton to Dallas, and started actually working in advertising, and it quickly became, you know, not my thing. I get why people enjoy it, but that's that's where I got my start. I bounced around um in different advertising spaces, worked for an event company for a little bit, uh, did a lot of freelance. Um, but yeah, that's kind of how I got my start.
SPEAKER_01And during during some of that, you were is when you started kind of doing some murals, mural work?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, actually. So um by about the time uh I'd met the guy that offered me a job, uh Armadillo was kind of on its way out, you know, and I was graduating, so it was kind of perfect timing for me. But um during the pandemic, when I was working at Armadillo Aleworks, um the owner, Bobby Mullins, one of my favorite people, uh, you know, I was like desperate. I was living in a garage at the time, needed money, was willing to do whatever. He got the payroll protection program and was like, man, if you want to come, I can give you, you know, a very slim hourly wage just to come out and paint. And I was like, great, yeah, awesome. Um and that's how I painted my first like eight or nine murals, maybe. Um and then, which was really cool because it was in this environment where like we were closed, nobody was there. If I messed up, I could repaint over the whole thing. I could kind of trial and error stuff. And then I did the mural on the outside of the building where the Union Bear mural is now. Um, and like by that time I had really figured it out, honed in my craft, and like was able to do something that like was outside and really like kind of launched my career from there, at least as far as murals go. Right.
SPEAKER_01And and and did work on some larger national brands that we'd we're not gonna name, but we'd recognize, right? And did some mural work for them as well.
SPEAKER_00Uh that was all advertising, actually. So um a lot of the larger brands that I've worked with uh were all through the advertising space. A lot of what I did for them was like um just like email mailers, uh light campaign stuff. I was still like there's very much a hierarchy in the advertising space. So a lot of what you do, especially if you're working for like kind of mid to large size agencies like I was, is kind of just the grunt work for the first few years. Kind of towards the end of my time in advertising, I was able to do like cooler stuff. Yeah, yeah. Um work for some cooler brands, but yeah, it just really got over that pretty quick, especially with some of those bigger brands. You just kind of end up doing some stuff that rubs you the wrong way a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You can kind of you've learned pretty quick how easy it is to like, or all of the different ways to market to people, and I think that like it gets to feel a little icky, you know. Like I want to take these skills and support local businesses and people that I know and that are cool guys, so that's kind of where I've directed my efforts now. Got it. I see.
SPEAKER_01So uh you started with City of Denton a couple of years ago, right? Summer or so of 24?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh it's been about two and a half years. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and so your your title now is creative specialist, is that right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's what I tell people. I technically got hired on as a marketing specialist, but I change it to like on everything but like official, you know, City of Denton paperwork. I tell people I'm creative specialists because the marketing side is like very s a very small portion of what I do. Because that's what my other I got also got a minor in marketing, and so I do a little bit of both.
SPEAKER_01So did did they have this? I guess they had a marketing people in their marketing department before this, but kind of with this little more slant of that creative side of things, is that kind of where you're trying to take it that's a little bit new or different from what they've had?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I mean, they had a couple graphic designers working uh prior to me. Um, and so I came in to fill that role. Uh I think they probably largely brought me on because I had event marketing experience um and experience running events here in town and um in addition to a portfolio that I had worked really hard on. And some um I mean the cool part about working for big brands is that you have big brands in your portfolio that people are like, oh cool, maybe I can work for, you know, whoever. Um good enough for them. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So um it was a lot of people that apply to that job. I was really fortunate to, you know, come out with it. Um and uh it came at the right time too, because I was like kind of rebuilding my life and trying to find my way back to Denton. I had moved out for a little bit and just like wasn't doing well and knew I needed to get back here, and that city job opened up and um yeah, dove in head first.
SPEAKER_01But you you basically got here here right in time for the first kind of 31 days of Halloween for the city, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, and in my interview, uh Dustin, Stringbeck we talked to um kind of mentioned it and um was like, Yeah, we kind of have this Halloween thing that we're working on. I was like, Oh, that's cool. I used to do events, like that sounds like a lot of fun. Um and then I got to the city and they were like, here, kid. You know, no, this is real now.
SPEAKER_01You run the city.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and so like I mean, within the first couple months, you know, it built out the website, which was just like scotch taped together. I had really no idea what I was doing. But then, you know, the logo and the first line of merch and a lot of the signage, you know, we just like slammed together in that first couple months there to get the thing launched because I started, I guess it would have been right before July. So yeah, it was really only a couple months to launch the first thing, and we just had no idea like how you know, there's like a lot of people contributing to that project in the first year to make it happen and a lot of crazy ideas being flown around, and then like October first hit, and it was just like, oh my gosh, there's a lot of people here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and people are it's well received, and yeah, and then and then it was really after that year that we kind of went to the state and said, All right, we want to become officially the Halloween capital of Texas. And so that kind of uh I think last year when I was talking to them, they were talking about it's just it really is a kind of a 10-year commitment with the state.
SPEAKER_00It is, yeah, yeah. We've got to do this eight more times. So good or bad. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01No, what I think is and and I'm trying to participate in any way I can, but really pretty much from an outsider's perspective of of it, I I'm just amazed at what's happening in in such a short amount of time. You know, just really the third official year, but second year it is kind of really saying we are the Halloween Capitol. And like you say, we've got eight more in every year it's getting better and better and bigger and and so many cool things. So yeah, really. Excited to see see what uh what's to come of it. So it's a lot of fun. D diving into that. I mean, so onion, where did the onion happen? I mean, the monster, I was this wearing your city hat or was this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, so that's what's cool about the job. And I I from my understanding, this is the case for a lot of people that work for the city. I'm I imagine a lot of local governments is that like there's just so much to do, and so many like moving parts to running a city that like I think on a lot of people's contracts uh for like their role requirements, it's like other duties as assigned. And so we all joke about how it's like a lot of other duties as assigned. And so I came in with some event experience and also doing the marketing and stuff, and so um, or sorry, uh murals, yeah. Um, which was outside of the scope of what I got hired to do, obviously. Um, and so some being able to apply to that skill has come in handy more often than I would have thought and been a really gratifying and fun part of the job. But uh yeah, so the onion was um definitely city hack. That's something I made for them. The city owns onion. That's all their guy. Um it wasn't onion. It was just a creature. Yes. The files on my computer for the longest time were just like big purple monster. Um yeah. So initially they came to me uh to do something on that brick wall where the uh mini mall used to be. Right. And initially it was gonna be a vinyl wall wrap, which are fine, love a vinyl wall wrap, but like me and as a muralist, I'm like, I can do something cool. And then you you have to tear them down and throw them away at the end season. So I was like, well, we've got a CNC. The parks department has a CNC machine. I've seen people make crazy sculptures on this before. What if uh I was like, I've got another idea, just give me a few weeks. And I was really struggling with it for a long time, and my girlfriend was like, just sit down and draw something. And so I sat down and draw something and almost immediately came up with onion. Um, and so uh I came up with a design, sent it off to our parks team with pretty specific instructions of like how I want it to look. Uh they cut everything, glued it all together. Um, and then I took uh I had two volunteers, these sweet little ladies that were helping us last year, they helped me paint it. Uh, and then I had onion's head filling up like the entirety of my itty bitty little apartment uh at the time. Um yeah, painting the hands and head while they helped with the kind of flat sign part. Yeah. Um but yeah, and then the naming thing happened and it got crazy.
SPEAKER_01So was that was that your idea, or was I mean the that was that always part of the plan? Whatever we do, we're gonna let the community name it.
SPEAKER_00So actually, I I don't think I had any idea that they were gonna do that. It was just um my now boss, Kayla, and uh our social media girl McKinley were just like, we'll do one of those like public naming things and see how it goes. And um, I was just like, I saw that they had posted that, I was like, oh, this is funny. And then I scrolled to the comments and like two people commented onion. I was like, oh, that's hilarious. Or maybe it was a couple people who commented on by that point. I'm like, oh that this is like where the bandwagon starts. And so I was like, onion's funny. Um, and then a couple of my friends like went on and also commented the the onion, and uh something happened. I know what happened, but uh and onion got left off of the final poll. Um and so it was like three other names. Uh he's not here anymore. Dustin hated the name, so that's okay. Uh Destin, if you're listening, I love you. Um but he uh yeah, so it got left off, and then people are just like DMing us, like what happened to Onion? Like people were furious about it, which was so funny. I think so. I felt like we couldn't have like orchestrated that any better. It's so organic. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it really was.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I when it when that name first came out, I was like, that's what they chose, but now it's grown on me. It's like that is just no denying.
SPEAKER_00It's just it really is, it really couldn't have been any more dead than that, I don't think. So perfect. And people leave onions in front of them now, like every once in a while ago, and there's like a stack of onions out there. Like, all right, cool.
SPEAKER_01And you know, that that that monster, that creature, onion, I mean, he's really kind of become synonymous with the 31 Days now. And it's so cool. Just I mean, you you're seeing other people from outside of Denton, you know, that are you know, sharing on social media, you know, saying, Oh, there's this town in Denton or in Texas that's doing you know, Halloween and they're doing it big, and and onion's always kind of right there, front and center.
SPEAKER_00It's neat, yeah. It's really it's gotta be rewarding, yeah. It really is. And I mean, like, from a marketing spec perspective alone, like user-generated content is kind of the gold standard because it's authentic and it's real, but which is really cool to see how many people are coming out and like do we don't pay, like we'll high bring a couple influencers out, but a lot of these people are just like coming out here because they love it, which is super gratifying to like build something that people on their own are coming out and participating in and showing off and like kind of in some ways doing our job for us to get people to come out there. Um, it's just nice to know that we're building something that people really enjoy. Yeah, like onion just kind of being a weird part of that is so fun. I mean, like a lot of my art is just like kind of I do for the community and I kind of do for fun. I don't really take a lot of it very seriously. I love a funny little bit, and I feel like onion is the pinnacle of that. And now people that I don't know are like, hey, you're the onion guy. I'm like, I guess this is my legacy now. That's your legacy.
SPEAKER_01But I mean, he's all over the place. Stickers, t-shirts. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, it would have been a missed opportunity to not put him on t-shirts this year. So I drew up the little onion design, and yeah, so I've seen a couple people walking around with that. It's awesome.
SPEAKER_01Well, I want to go back in time a little bit and then tie it back to what you're doing. But uh what in tw 2019 you started North Texas Makers, right? Uh Madison Schmidt. So tell me about that and what what what that was, kind of what it's become, or what are you doing with it now?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so uh Armadill or uh sorry, North Texas Makers started at Armadill Aleworks. Uh there was this really cool show going on there for a couple of years called Fold Festival. Okay. Um it's kind of like the OG big like print and makersine fair. Uh and the guy that was running that moved to Dallas. Um and so Maddie and I were bartending at Armadillo at the time, and so we took that um concept. We, with the guy's permission, said, Hey, we want to keep doing a show here. Uh, do you mind if we kind of take the same concept and run it under a different name? Um, which originally I think was Denton Makers Festival. Um and he gave us his blessing. We planned this cool show. We were gonna have four or five bands, like 30 plus artists. Uh, and then the pandemic happened and we had to postpone by two years. Uh but during that time, uh, we expanded what the show was. We kind of got all our ducks in the row, got it more organized. And so by the time that it actually happened, we ended up having, I think, close to 80 artists and more live bands, food trucks. Um, and so it really grew during the pandemic. Uh, and we were also kind of able to grow like our following of artists and turn it more into like an arts organization and less of a show, which was kind of my first experience, like really like coordinating the arts, which was really cool, and I found a real passion for.
SPEAKER_01So, yeah, cool. So now there's uh I'm I I mean, for those that don't know, I don't I don't know if people don't know, but makers, like what is that's anything that you're creating, or I mean, kind of what falls under the makers category.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so um, or do you mean like just generally? Yeah, like generally, yeah. I mean, we were open at the time to really anybody and everybody that had something to sell. Um, I think obviously if you're doing a show, we're kind of looking for uh like a certain kind of quality to go in those particular shows, but then we'd also kind of run smaller markets that just anybody could be a part of. Um, but yeah, we were really just trying to give uh artists that were kind of new and up and coming in their career like a stepping stone from what uh we were doing, so like markets for that was more accessible to kind of everybody uh into that kind of permanent, like larger show space. So um there are a lot of like really big art shows all around the country, and a lot of those artists like travel around the world following these big shows around. I see. And it can be really hard to break into those shows without a stepping stone, and so that was kind of our solution of like this is a very viable way to make money as a living. That's where like I hung out with my mom growing up, was seeing those artists like hang out and doing that, and then I'd see the same people at like you know, Arts and Jazz Festival a handful of years ago, and um cool. But yeah, so we just wanted to be like an entry point into that, kind of on a larger organized scale. Uh, because there's a lot of art markets around town, there still are, but there wasn't any that were at the scale that we were operating at that were accessible to newer artists.
SPEAKER_01Is that still a void?
SPEAKER_00Uh I think so. Um I think that we, you know, we launched a art market for Denton Halloween this year that kind of meets that need. Um, there's a lot of stuff around town, but I mean it's exceptionally hard to do that though, which is what we found is that like there's a lot of cost associated with running a show of that size. And if you're trying to keep things cheap for your vendors, then like you're volunteering really, unless you have big sponsorships, which are really hard to get, um, with shows meant for kind of newer and up-and-artists. So there's a there's a lot of like it was a lot of time, effort, and love that went into that show, and we, you know, we got a lot of out of it, but it's hard to you know put thousands of hours into something and also need to pay the bills with it. Right. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay, cool. Well, so this this year, I know last year the uh like going back to Dan Black, I know he created did it had a large hand in that maze and kind of the the entry of that, and uh maybe it seemed like from my perspective, maybe a little more concentrated on fewer artists creating things uh last year. This year you've really opened it up, right? Kind of partnered with uh with Paper Chair Studios, and I guess you're calling it DAMP, or what it was Halloween artists mentorship program. Yes. Talk to me about this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so we're kind of or is being strategic in how um I went about like involving the artists on the Halloween thing. Like, I think year one, it was just me making a lot of the stuff by necessity, and then I mean, to nobody's surprise, people really responded to all of the like arts and creative aspects of Halloween and thinking about like okay, this is an event for the community. How do we build things that exemplify the kind of vibe of our community, both as like a selling point to get people here for Halloween, but also as a like thing that we're doing because for the love of our community, you know. Um and so, you know, in year two, I knew that I wanted to bring on more artists, but it's hard to get artists involved um in something uh that kind of early on. You need to build a little bit of momentum of momentum for that. And so I tapped uh Dan Black, uh Claire Morales, and a couple of the other artists in town just so we could start building a reputation because you know, Click Claire, sorry, Claire and Dan are both like pretty big names here in the community. I knew that um their artist, local artist following would see them uh doing stuff for Halloween, then they would start getting the gears turning, and then that led us into year three where we opened up an artist pitch program where anybody could send us their ideas, and we uh oh boy, did we get them, you know. That's cool. Uh yeah, we got a lot of really great ideas, and then uh one of which was the uh DHAMP uh program. Uh-huh. Okay, DHAMP. I I don't know how to pronounce it. The Halloween artist mentorship program.
SPEAKER_01Uh somebody submitted that idea. Yeah, that was paper chairs. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So they submitted that idea to us through our pitch program, which is kind of where all of our things have to come first. Okay. Consider them if we if they want funding from the city. Uh-huh. Um, and so yeah, they hit us with that idea. And like one of our core goals was just to work with as many artists as possible. And that like checked that box and also like offered this really opportunity to do what I think my vision for Denton has always been to like provide more equitable equitable spaces for artists to like be able to kind of move up in Denton without having to go to like Dallas or Austin or LA or New York or these places that have like larger scenes. We want people to be able to ha spend more time here. Right. Hopefully stay, but at least like take some of the college students who may not have opportunities to like leave their impact on Denton and give them more opportunities to do so, at least the creatives. And so this was just like the perfect opportunity for that, where um established artists in the community worked with um, you know, up-and-coming artists in the community to create these things for local businesses under the kind of scope of cool Halloween decorations.
SPEAKER_01So, like, give me an example. When when we're out there this month in October, like what kinds of things are we gonna see that were kind of created through through this program?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so uh Dan Black and Sid, forgive me, I don't remember their last name, but they uh have a piece outside of Barn Hart's. It's just these really cool kind of uh hand-painted, like almost Day of the Dead style like skeletons that are really neat. Um the uh Beard and Monk has these really awesome kind of like alien-looking plant setup. Uh there's also uh more to see at Brownthumb, Harvest House, and oh, there's one more. There's five of them. I'm forgetting. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's all right. You get a lot on your mind.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um but yeah, they're out there. It's super, super, super cool.
SPEAKER_01That is it. So really great response from the artists. Yeah. People wanting to participate in this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I mean, every time we do something like this in year one, especially through Halloween, is kind of the trial phase. So we're really hoping that this is a bigger program next year. Because it went well, people really, really seem to receive it. It's getting a lot of attention from you know local media organizations and stuff.
SPEAKER_01So that's kind of I think it's so cool because I mean, there's lots of, you know, you can go on the internet and find a lot of stuff that you can buy for Halloween decorations or whatever, and there is some of that. You'll see some of that in town, but the more just authentic, you know, one-off creative things that are being done for this really kind of expand what it is. It's more than just, you know, we're we love Halloween. It's like we're really embracing local art and yeah, culture.
SPEAKER_00And that was, you know, always a sense um kind of from the get-go, is like this is you know, a way to drive tourism, sure. It's a community event, sure, but really it's also just a massive community art project, you know. Like this year, I think we've I'm still crunching the numbers, but I think we've worked with over 300 artists in different like through the kind of arms that extend out during Denton Halloween. And that's just the stuff that like we've had direct involvement in. It doesn't really like count all of the countless other things that our local art centers and stuff are doing. And so it's just been like a really cool project to like whether it's like people just building a chair for the cherry orchard or one of our paid like yeah mentorship programs or like some of the chalk art.
SPEAKER_01The chalk art festival.
SPEAKER_00We hired a few artists. Um, there's a Gresham Studios uh does stuff for the Perot and Meow Wolf, and we brought them out to do stuff in our garden walk this year. So it's just like doesn't matter where you are, there's something to do. So it's been really cool.
SPEAKER_01Man, so cool. Well, we we're uh we're dropping this, I guess, what on the 10th or 11th of October, but there's still plenty of time, lots of lots of time for people to check things out, and lots of great activity still coming. And and and I've said this on the podcast before and talking to different people, it really matters to these businesses that are downtown. I mean the impact it's had for them. I mean, I know it's it is great for tourism in general, and just bringing awareness of of Denton to those outside of the city, but for these local businesses, uh and and not just downtown. I mean, you're seeing businesses throughout the city. Yeah, everywhere.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Buckeyes does really well every year. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01So that's such a great thing. And can't wait to see what the next eight years bring.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, us too. We're excited to see where it goes and how it grows. But yeah, it's just cool that we can invest in the arts and show off what like the community loves and that people flock to Denton to see that. I think it really says something about you know the unique culture of our community.
SPEAKER_01How do you think that this um experience and kind of what we've what we y'all everybody's creating around Halloween? How do you think it can springboard and kind of live in throughout the the rest of the year?
SPEAKER_00Or are there ways you think we can kind of hope that we have is that it people see how uh supporting the arts can impact the community, you know, just like financially, we were talking about how the businesses really benefit from this. You know, we don't spend a whole ton of money to put this thing on when it all said and done, you know. So like with just like a little bit of support, I think that like we can really see a massive impact from that. And I hope that that extends outside of Halloween, and I think there's real opportunity for it too. It's kind of what I tell people is that like if you've got a crazy idea, you know, try and make it happen during Halloween because you're gonna have a captive audience, you know, and so I think that it's just kind of like this cool like space to do new and unique things, and if it doesn't work, you don't have to do it again, but it might work, you know. Right. So, like the man that you know the paper chairs program is something that I'd really love to see extend out to the rest of the year and some of the art things that we're doing. I think I'd really love to see just year-round, you know, more venue spaces, everybody's opened up venue spaces, doing gallery stuff. Like, I think that's all stuff that it could exist outside of Halloween.
SPEAKER_01So I think so too. I I I you know, we talked a little bit about it before we jumped on here, just that I think there's a lot of I don't know, I don't know if I'd call them wannabe artists. There's just people out there that I mean, I'm one. I'm guilty, you know. Like I do like to doodle, yeah. I think kind of, you know, love to try my hand at something, but I I'm a little it's not that I'm scared, but I don't really know any technique to it. You know, I think create if they if we could create a space where you kind of like what paper chairs have done here, you know, create a place not just for Halloween, but beyond where there's a real environment where established or or you know, well-seasoned artists can kind of you can rub shoulders with them and like if I go in there and I want to try something, I want to ask you, you know, David, what how do how should I think about doing this? How should I come out? What tools do I use? You know?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that that's that's definitely like a need here in our community of just like more spaces for artists to like exist kind of publicly. You know, my girlfriend and I are really fortunate to be able to travel some and we you know specifically seek out cities with um really you know well-funded, well-attended arts and cultural programming. Um and I make it a point to go and visit these spaces that other cities have. I was in St. Louis recently and they've got an incredible, incredible, incredible like multi-use art space that's in an old warehouse. And so like I think that's something that like Denton could really use as like a space for artists to do work specifically because we've got a lot of really amazing spaces for art to exist. Like, you know, we've got the Greater Denton Arts Council, we've got the Photos Do Not Bend Gallery, which is a great place for artists to like art to exist, but maybe not a great place for artists to like create together, which I think is is something that would really, really, really benefit the city of Denton.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. Well, and like you say, I I'm the same way. I don't probably I don't even know some of these places exist in other cities, but I I I recognize when I see it. You know, I'm walking around, we were in Denver recently, and just all the murals and just public art, it's like wow, this really feels special. It's yeah, it you want to be you want to spend more time there, you know, when you see it. And so I think we can, I mean, as great as we've done, and I think what we're starting to do, see kind of the fruits of from Halloween, like if we really you know carry that forward, I think it can become even stronger part of our culture here.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, that's what's cool is that like a lot of it just comes from like the city infrastructure, you know, like with a few tweaks to kind of rules about murals or even just a little bit of funding for you know, murals. Like a lot of these cities have a lot of public art, it's programs put on by the city to specifically like you know build out that side of the kind of art cultural programming that they do. And so I think that there's a lot that um you know the people of Denton and the city of Denton can do together to kind of build those cultural elements. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_01So you you and Dan share a studio off of uh what's the street back there, sorry.
SPEAKER_00Uh Pecan Street, kind of behind.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah, on Pecan, yeah, on just on the north side of the square. So you you've got kind of a name to that little area.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So Dan came up with it. Um it's like behind where so we we have the big uh basement of West Oak. West Oak lets us use the basement. Um and our window faces out into the alley where everybody dumps their trash. There's like a giant dumpster out there right now, and so we call it Trash Alley Studios, okay, which uh we just think is hilarious. I yeah, it was he said that, I was like, that's that's the one, that's what we need to name this thing. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01Is that do can people come and check out what you're doing in there? Or is that kind of like, hey, we're under lock and key, don't even look at what we're trying to do.
SPEAKER_00Kind of gonna run walk by at the right time. Dan and there's Dan and I are typically there every Tuesday, like all day, every day. Um, or all day on Tuesday, sorry. And then we're pretty much always open during the first Friday events. We'll have an open studio. So that's normally when people come and visit. Um, sometimes people kind of wander in on a Tuesday, especially when the weather's nice. I'll have the door open. It's a little bit easier to see where it's at. But um yeah, hidden gem. It is a little hidden gem. Yeah, but like a lot of those businesses back there are like some art-related thing, anyways. Like you and Decote Labs over there, there's two tattoo shops. Barn Hart's is down there. So yeah, it's like the back of a bunch of really cool creative businesses.
SPEAKER_02So yeah.
SPEAKER_01Man, you're doing so much great stuff. Really, really I just amazed by all you guys that are just in the and and gals that are out there doing creating stuff. And and you know, I know sometimes it it's a little vulnerable to put it out there and try, and like, oh, is this anybody gonna like this? But you know, you just gotta try. So I appreciate y'all doing it and just embracing it and and the culture you're kind of you know, establishing and creating here.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, it's a great it's a great place to be able to do it. I think that's like you you wouldn't be able to get away with all this in Denton uh or places outside of Denton, I don't think. So it's a really special community to be a part of.
SPEAKER_01Well, I think we're we're really fortunate to have somebody like you at the city and appreciate you because it really As much as organically these things can and should happen and they do happen, to have somebody at the city that really understands it and gets it and is kind of championing it from the inside of uh that's important.
SPEAKER_00Like there's uh we have such a talented uh staff, you know. We went to a uh communications conference in Austin not too long ago, and like I think that like the team in Denton on the communication side is really, really special. Like there's other graphic designers, we got an amazing social media person, like all of those people make that possible. And I just feel really fortunate to be a part of like such a great organization, you know. Like I wouldn't have thought that like working for a city would have been the most creatively freeing job I've ever had. But um, you know, it's like it's just cool that I get to be able to, you know, like there's a lot of kind of day-to-day stuff that I do. Uh it's also cool that like uh they you know give me a little bit of time in my days to kind of focus on the projects that I think will benefit the community that like align with my skill set.
SPEAKER_01So but again, wouldn't be possible without our the pumpkin head talking, talking pumpkin head thing. That's a great question. Something else is it?
SPEAKER_00The like the it was on the square. No, no, it was the video. Oh my gosh. Yeah, okay. So that was Steve. He's uh one of our D TV guys. We've got a um that we've got a department that's that's kind of under the uh communications department that oversees making a lot of the like videos that you see on our social media channels and uh YouTube channels. And Steve Steve just has like the funniest, craziest ideas, um, and that was one of them. But there's also uh Zach and Ryan. Um Zach and Ryan both produce like incredible, incredible, incredible work too. But like a lot of the like really amazing photography you see is Zach, he's just an in-house guy. So like it's also cool to be on a team where like it's like a city job, but like there's massively talented creative people on there. The social media girl and the other graphic designer like produce just astounding work too. Like, it's cool to be a part of like a that's great team and genuinely like it's it's uh great people to work with and for.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, that's great. All right. Well, in wrapping up, I always like to give my guests kind of an opportunity to shout out your favorite. And I know it's hard because you don't want to leave anybody out, but favorite restaurant or place to grab a coffee, or what would anywhere any place you'd like to give a shout out to.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, I mean, or coffee. How long do you have? Coffee. I'm I'm a big record coffee fan. You can if I'm not at home or at work or at my studio, I'm probably uh hanging out in the alleyway working on my bike. I'm part of the biking community here. Uh or drinking coffee and record. Uh love bullseye as well. Um I think as far as food goes, Alios is awesome. Uh Alios. Alios the uh pizza pizza in uh Aglio's Alios Congress on Congress, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01Yes, okay, yeah, that is great.
SPEAKER_00I don't think I've had better pizza than that anywhere. But the pony, oh my gosh, they've what a what a spot, man. Yeah, they they killed it. They I think that like that a million and one businesses, you know, five businesses under one roof is just like super I'm sure it's everywhere, but like it's a thing in Denton and it's a thing that I love a lot. And that just like checked a bunch of boxes of things that like they did a great job there. It's it's so cool. Um, I got to paint the mural for them. That was a lot of fun. That was like a really cool project to work on. Uh somebody gives me enough mural money. Obviously, we go to Osteria if we can but that's uh that's a few and far between treat for us there.
SPEAKER_01Let's go. Who needs a murals? Dave.
SPEAKER_00Send me to Austeria. Osteria if you need a mural. Yeah, love food.
SPEAKER_01Will work for food. Yeah, yeah. That's funny. Well, man, uh, you also get a uh a hat from Norman Roscoe here, so you get to pick your your favorite hat.
SPEAKER_00I was eyeing this one the other one. That's a cool hat. Yeah, I think I gotta go home with that one.
SPEAKER_01Go go grab it. All right, David, thanks so much for joining us and man, keep up the great work. Really excited what else y'all y'all can come up with from the city and just your personal you know art and everything you're doing. Oh, thanks, man.
SPEAKER_00Well, I appreciate you hiring highlighting local stories, man. I'm like genuinely a fan of the podcast, so it's cool to be here.
SPEAKER_01Man, that's so awesome. I appreciate the sport. Well, if you didn't know David Baker before now, now you do. Thanks for joining us.