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What’s the story of 'The Traveling Man' in Deep Ellum? Curious Texas takes a stroll

This question is a part of Curious Texas, an ongoing project from The Dallas Morning News that invites readers to join in our reporting process. When you ask questions, our journalists track down answers.

"He's inviting and he's friendly," says Chinenye "Chinny" Ekwulugo. "He sparks the imagination and creativity I want to see in the city."

Ekwulugo is describing The Traveling Man — Walking Tall, a stainless steel sculpture that stands 40 feet tall in Deep Ellum. When Ekwulugo drives by this specific piece, she says she feels joy.

"I like the fluidity of his limbs; he just looks so free," she says.

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Ekwulugo moved to Dallas by way of New York City and Chicago, two cities with arts and culture on almost every corner. She's been looking for the "soulful, artistic side of Dallas" ever since she moved here.

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Then she began to wonder: "What's the story of The Traveling Man?"

Her question is a part of Curious Texas, an ongoing project from The Dallas Morning News that invites readers to join in our reporting process. When you ask questions, our journalists track down answers.

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We met up with Brad Oldham and Brandon Oldenburg, the artists behind "The Traveling Man" series.

In 2005, DART built a new rail station in Deep Ellum, and it required the demolition of a mural-covered tunnel, Oldenburg tells us. To make up for the demolition, DART commissioned an art contest for the neighborhood.

Oldenburg is a founding member of Reel FX Creative Studios in Deep Ellum, a company that specializes in animation and production. The studio came up with the concept of a happy, giant stainless steel robot who walks through Deep Ellum. But Oldenburg and his team had never built a sculpture before — they called Brad Oldham, a Dallas-based sculptor, to do the job.

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Brandon Oldenburg and Brad Oldham were  the artists behind the making of the three-part...
Brandon Oldenburg and Brad Oldham were the artists behind the making of the three-part sculpture series in Deep Ellum. Behind them is the friendly face of The Traveling Man — Walking Tall.(Carly Geraci / Staff Photographer)

"We were told by DART on July 7, 2007, that we were being awarded the contract — we were so excited," Oldham says. The budget for the project was $1.4 million, and it took seven to 10 months for it to be engineered before the building could start.

"On August 9, 2009, we took all the construction fences down and Traveling Man was gifted to the city of Dallas," says Oldham.

There are three "Traveling Man" sculptures on Good Latimer Expressway, and all three stem from different narratives Oldenburg and Oldham created. One story starts with a blues musician sitting underneath an elm tree. The musician spills his canister of gin, which soaks down to the roots of the tree and touches a train car buried deep underground.

"The gin and the iron mixed together," explains Oldenburg. "It permeated and is magically activated by the music of the blues that came out of the neighborhood."

That magic, mixed with the steel of the train, adds Oldham, created "The Traveling Man."

The Traveling Man — Waiting On a Train isn't "a panhandler or a busker — he's just there...
The Traveling Man — Waiting On a Train isn't "a panhandler or a busker — he's just there playing his guitar," says Oldenburg. (Carly Geraci / Staff Photographer)
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Awakening, the sculpture on the corner of Elm Street and Good Latimer, shows the top half of the robot's head rising from the ground as he is surrounded by his bird friends. It represents The Traveling Man waking up his underground slumber.

The second installation is Waiting on a Train, and it sits on the corner of Good Latimer and Gaston Avenue. The Traveling Man is completely emerged from the ground and leans on a slab of concrete with a guitar in his hands. "He's there with his instrument, sharing his art," Oldenburg says. "He's not a panhandler or a busker — he's just there playing his guitar."

The third sculpture, located at Good Latimer and Swiss Avenue, is called Walking Tall. The Traveling Man towers over Deep Ellum, and he's in the middle of taking big strides with a smile on his face, a bird on his arm and a hole in the middle of his chest.

"We wanted to create a figure that represents the spirit of the artists," Oldenburg says. "We all have creative expression, and the hole in the chest represents the place where the spirit of their art comes from. The bird represents their art that they're letting take flight in their community."

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Why doesn't Dallas have more art and sculptures around the city like 'The Traveling Man' in Deep Ellum?

Ekwulugo asked Curious Texas a follow-up question: "Why doesn't Dallas have more art and sculptures around the city?"

We spoke to Kay Kallos, public art program manager at the Office of Cultural Affairs. The OCA commissions six to seven public art pieces a year, but they usually have about 35 in the commission process, says Kallos. The projects are funded through city bonds funds, and the location and scope of the projects depend on what parts of the city have money available.

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Curious Texas went to an OCA meeting with Ekwulugo to show her how public art is commissioned. This meeting was for a project that will honor the life of Santos Rodriguez in Pike Park, and OCA was there to gather feedback from the community.

Ekwulugo left with answers, but she also left with a few more questions.

"The project — it's cultural, it's political, it's social and it's civil rights," she says. "Is there other artwork around the city that honors a civil rights issue or person or an event or a movement that has happened in Dallas?"

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Kallos says Dallas has almost 300 public art works sprawled throughout the city, and some of them can be found on this map. Some of the works are decorative, like the peach sculptures at the Dallas Farmers Market, and others are dedicated to prolific Texan figures, but not many have a political force that is similar to the one being commissioned in Pike Park.

"I feel like in Dallas, you have to dig deep to search for art," Ekwulugo says. "I didn't know about this story until I came here, so I wonder how it can be more easily accessible without having to search for it in this way."

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