By now, you’ve probably noticed the bold blue banners throughout the city — on buildings, billboards, DART transport and more — emblazoned with the phrase “We Do Can-Do.” These eye-catching artworks are creative expressions of the new Dallas brand, “A Maverick, Can-Do Spirit,” which was unveiled at the AT&T Discovery District in Downtown Dallas this March. Developed by Visit Dallas in partnership with community stakeholders, advocate organizations, local businesses and Dallas residents, the brand identity is designed to mirror the unique energy of our city and redefine its image as a dynamic global player.
Celebrating local artists
One of the key pillars of the new brand is the city’s unwavering commitment to the arts and cultural advancement. That’s why Visit Dallas asked local artists to depict key community figures and create images for the brand that represent the diverse range of people that call the city home.
Blake Wright, a multimedia artist, was tasked with creating images to reflect the five key pillars of the Dallas destination brand:
- Our diverse community of people
- Our creative culinary influence
- Our unwavering commitment to arts and entertainment
- Our future-facing innovative audacity
- Our iconic sports culture
But Wright says it was impossible to represent such a diverse community in only five images — so he took a step back and addressed the subject more broadly. The result is a masterpiece of collage-like images, each with a specific, Dallas-centered meaning and each designed to reflect every possible resident of the city.
A key component of Wright’s artistic process was to look at his designs and consider who was missing from the representation, who was not pictured. This meant seeking out diversity not only in race and ethnicity but in orientation, interests and ability. Wright used fashion to give dimension and relatability to the characters he created. “I find by injecting fashion into my work the characters become more self-expressive. Self-actualized. Believable. Relatable. Charming!” he says. “It also better helps tell Dallas’s image of true diversity when everyone isn’t wearing a uniform, but is radically unique.”
The branding project was established with a focus on diversity and representation. The message “we see you” is ubiquitous in the campaign in its focus on representing the public and representing public figures.
Highlighting community leaders
Visit Dallas chose five artists to paint portraits of local luminaries and game-changers, “Can-Doers” who embody the essence of the new brand and who have impacted different parts of the city’s culture.
Artist Armando Sebastian created the portrait of Anastacia Quinones-Pittman, the executive chef at José. Meaningful details are included throughout the image, meant to show the depth and breadth of Quinones-Pittman’s experience as a Dallasite. The star embroidered on her apron represents her love for the Dallas Cowboys and the cilantro leaves in the background of the image were chosen because she frequently uses them in her recipes. Sebastian approaches his art as though it is theater: every element is included for a reason. “I like to create stories in my work,” he says.
Haylee Ryan, another local artist, was tasked with capturing Michelle Carpenter, the executive chef and owner of Beatrice and Zen Sushi restaurants in Oak Cliff. The colors Ryan chose for the portrait had specific meaning: “The background blue is a hat tip to the napkins that are used in both restaurants that have passed through so many hands and wiped so many happy mouths and been folded and refolded after the crowd changes over.” Like the other artists who contributed to the Dallas brand, Ryan feels that it showcased an important message. “This campaign has lifted the value of community and diversity to the celebrated place where it should be,” she says.
Three additional artists completed portraits for the Dallas brand. Jeremy Biggers created art to represent Cynt Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, and Arike Ogunbowale, WNBA star of the Dallas Wings. Michelle Dekkers depicted Daisha Board, the owner of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ Daisha Board Gallery. Hatziel Flores, who depicted brothers Tim and Terrence Maiden, founders of the Maiden Foundation, and Daron Babcock, founder of Bonton Farms, says some elements of his art were included to reflect the history of change in Dallas. “It was a great honor to have a small part in the representation of a wonderful city that adopted me as its own,” Flores says.
Telling the Dallas story around town
Visit Dallas has also commissioned artist Tex Morton to create a mural in Deep Ellum inspired by the new brand. The work of local artists will be visible throughout the city and convey the “Maverick, Can-Do Spirit” that the campaign centers around.
For Wright, the artist tasked with depicting the five pillars of the Dallas destination brand, the choice to use local artists for the campaign demonstrated an authentic commitment to the arts. In a landscape where artificial intelligence has challenged the importance of artists’ work, Wright feels it was a decision that positively affected him personally, his peers and the broader arts community. “I draw on a little piece of paper, I draw very intimately,” he says, adding that seeing his small-scale work amplified in the campaign has made a significant impact on him.
Learn more about the new Dallas brand at DallasCanDo.com.