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    Can’t we all just get along?

    Dallas sculptor Brad Oldham dips into politics with lighthearted BipartisanSeries

    Dawn McMullan
    Dec 14, 2012 | 8:49 am
    • From the Presidential Series, Oldham's two Uno characters seem to be enjoyingeach other's company, despite their political differences.
    • Who can argue politics when looking at these two playful Slide statues?
    • The same Slide statues in Presidential antique nickel-plated bronze.
    • Giggle is irresistible regardless of his voting record.
    • From the Senate Series, the two Uno statues might be enjoying their own stumpspeeches.

    Dallas sculptor Brad Oldham just wants to start a conversation. Between Republicans and Democrats. Weeks after a pivotal and ugly presidential election. With a playful elephant and a dancing donkey. Of course.

    As blue and red signs come down from local front yards and we fret over the “fiscal cliff,” Oldham’s timing is either brilliant or naïve. Regardless, it’s inspired, sincere and all sorts of fun.

    “I’m not the most political person, but I like the idea of bipartisanship,” Oldham says. “The way I would want to get into politics is by creating something like this.”

    “I like the idea of bipartisanship,” Oldham says. “The way I would want to get into politics is by creating something like this.”

    Oldham wears a lot of hats: nationally known artist, creator of the Traveling Man statues in Deep Ellum, brother of internationally famed fashion designer Todd Oldham, co-owner of Brad Oldham International Inc. (with his wife, Christy Coltrin), father of three and a kick-ass rebounder on the basketball court.

    His latest venture is his Bipartisan Collection, two series of sculpture: the Presidential Series (44 antique nickel-plated bronze pairs, one for each president) and the Senate Series (with 100 pieces, reflecting the number of U.S. Senators, in bronze with appropriate party patina — blue or red). A House Series in bronze is still a possibility.

    As the promotional material reads: “This collection of sculptures was created during the 2012 election season to celebrate the many ways our political views make us different while showing that deep down, we may be more alike than we think.”

    Odlham, a lifetime Democrat, took that seriously. The day after the 2012 election, he hired Leslie Sorrell to head up the PR for this collection. Sorrell was regional director during Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign and is founder of the Magnolia Group, a fundraising and political consulting firm in Dallas. She is also a Fox News contributor.

    When Oldham called, Sorrell admitted she was in mourning. And, deep into the idea of bipartisan, Oldham thinks Obama could do a little less gloating about his victory.

    Creating the series during the 2012 campaign was interesting for Oldham. As a rare Highland Park Democrat who often grew frustrated when his 10-year-old felt the effects of political differences, Oldham found himself noticing and aggravated when people were one-sided.

    The concept that inspired the series didn’t start out to be political at all. Oldham was doing what he does in the studio and created a series of elephant sculptures in 2011. Just fun poses — Uno (now standing on one leg to represent balance), Slide (playfully lunging forward to show compromise) and Giggles (lying on its back, laughing it up to illustrate a much-needed sense of humor).

    “Most people think you can’t get near art,” says Leslie Sorrell, who heads up PR for the collection. “Brad’s point is to make this accessible — the same as politics.”

    From that — inspired by the election — Oldham transformed the elephant into half of the Bipartisan Series.

    The pieces weigh 5.5 to 8 pounds each. And, yes, an elephant does traditionally weigh more than a donkey. But Oldham was OCD in his attempts to make all things equal, weighing down the donkey in ways you can’t see.

    Coltrin spent five months creating content for a leather-bound book to go with the pieces, mentioning bipartisan efforts such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, social security reform in 1983 and welfare reform in 1996.

    She highlighted the ways donkeys and elephants are alike — they are used for transportation, are sure-footed and have big ears, for example. She also made sure the number of words were politically balanced and even changed the color of the book’s fore edge from blue to beige so as not to offend.

    Uno, Slide and Giggles (Oldham’s favorite) don their party colors for the Senate Series but not for the Presidential: “Presidents are not supposed to be party specific,” Oldham explains. “They are supposed to be bipartisan, to make the United States work for all the people.”

    What response is Oldham looking for? A simple conversation. Pick up the pieces, feel their weight, talk about them, talk about politics. Just talk.

    “Most people think you can’t get near art,” Sorrell says. “Brad’s point is to make this accessible — the same as politics.”

    And he’d like you to do your part too. Oldham is expanding his concept to other creatives he knows, starting with chef John Tesar of the crazy popular restaurant Spoon, who is apparently as into politics as he is into food. Stay tuned to hear how Tesar steps into the bipartisan movement Oldham is creating.

    If this fits someone on your Christmas list, it’ll run you $3,500 for the Presidential Series (sold only in pairs because, Oldham says, the president represents everyone) or $1,600 for individual Senate Series pieces, which are $2,500 when purchased together. (Yep, you get a 22 percent bipartisan discount.)

    The actual pieces won’t be delivered in their stately birch boxes until Inauguration Day, January 21. Each piece has about 15 hours into it, and it is signed and numbered.

    One already has a destination. Oldham plans to send a set to the White House — No. 44, of course.

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    Dallas bookstore and publisher gets federal arts funding axed

    Luciana Gomez
    May 7, 2025 | 12:17 pm
    Deep Vellum stack of books
    Deep Vellum
    Stack of books at Deep Vellum

    A Dallas arts organization got its budget chopped by the federal government: Deep Vellum, the bookstore and publisher at 3000 Commerce St., lost a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant due to federal government budget cuts.

    According to owner Will Evans, the award, which is granted annually, has been terminated as of May 31. The bookstore had received $20,000 for the past six years.

    Deep Ellum started as a publisher in 2013 and opened their bookstore in Deep Ellum in 2015. Since then, they have become a center for literature lovers. Evans is a translator whose mission has been to translate the world’s best novels into English for American audiences.

    Evans was notified on May 2 via an email that was reportedly sent to grant recipients nationwide. The note read:

    "The NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President. Consequently, we are terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities."

    The new priorities included projects that elevate the Nation's HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions, celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster AI competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.

    The Grants and Public Affairs departments at NEA did not respond to a request for comment. On Monday May 5, the Literary Staff was laid off, and the agency is facing possible elimination entirely, as part of the 2026 Discretionary Budget Request presented to Congress on May 2.

    This year's grant to Deep Vellum was earmarked to fund the translation, publishing, and marketing costs of four books:

    • Carapace Dancer by Natalia Toledo, translated from Zapotec, published trilingually with Spanish and English translations alongside the original, translated by Clare Sullivan
    • Juvenilia by Hera Lindsay Bird of New Zealand, making her US debut, illustrated by Dallas artist Gino Dal Cin
    • Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz, translated from the German by Max Lawton, a 1001-page masterpiece and English-language debut
    • The Ruins by Ye Hui, translated from Chinese by Dong Li, the English-language debut from one of China's most distinguished and independent poets

    The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency established by Congress in 1965 as a funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide anxd a catalyst of public and private support for the arts with the goal of advancing opportunities for arts participation and practice, according to their website.

    In their last stats document updated in November 2024, their FY’24 budget was outlined as $207M (representing 0.03 percent of the total federal budget), with 80 percent of their budget supporting grants and awards to organizations and individuals across the country. They typically offer over 2,000 grants each year.

    "It’s been a strange few days for us, and for countless other nonprofit publishers, magazines, and arts organizations," Evans said.

    Despite the cut, Deep Vellum plans to continue to promote literacy through unique books translated to the English language.

    “This is not going to imperil our future but it’s something we need to consider as we move forward. These books are extraordinary, and they add so much for readers and culture. We just need to find additional revenue to fund them," Evans said.

    Evans was first to reveal the funding cut but a number of organizations across Dallas and Texas have seen similar cuts including Ballet North Texas, Flamenco Fever, Dallas Theater Center, and Bishop Arts Theatre Center, as well as a number of groups in Austin.

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