Texas To-Do List: Upstairs Circus
DALLAS - A business in Dallas’ Deep Ellum Entertainment District offers people a place to get creative. The experience is catered toward adults, but children are welcome too.
"You have that experience to do and create something of your own," said Treva Gilkey, the product and environmental manager at Upstairs Circus.
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You won’t find clowns, acrobats, or ringleaders at this circus. But what you will find is your sense of creativity.
"Upstairs Circus is a do-it-yourself art workshop that meets bar," Gilkey said.
The social crafting experience offers over 30 projects, such as jewelry, leather wallets, concrete coasters, and nail and string art, just to name a few.
"Because it is a DIY, you're doing it yourself. So, we provide instructions for you to follow. But we will not be doing the project for you," Gilkey said.
Each project comes with step-by-step instructions.
Everyone can choose their own project and work on it at the same time, since no one is teaching a class on how to make your particular craft.
"We have what's called ‘creative assistance’ here. And so, they go around, and they touch tables and make sure that you're not getting stuck on any of the instructions. And we're also here to help make sure that your project runs smoothly because we're all about the experience. Not so much the steps in the tutorial of a project," said Diandria Robertson, the store’s manager and head of customer success.
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Crafters can find a difficulty meter on each project label.
"Each project has its own ‘challenge level’, is what we like to call it. Some are a little bit more challenging than others, like Nail and String and the beaded wrap necklace. That takes a little bit more thought in your Upstairs Circus. That's why we call it that. And then there's other projects that don't require as much thought. So, there's literally something here for everybody, whether you're an artsy-fartsy person or if you have no idea what's going on," Robertson said.
Each project social timeslot is three hours long, and reservations are encouraged but not required.
"So, sometimes you are able to do a second project within that timeframe. If you want to do a second project, it is half off," Gilkey said.
While there isn’t an age limit, parents or guardians must accompany minors since Upstairs Circus is technically a bar.
"We have our own specialty cocktails, but we also have mocktails because sometimes we have minors here. So obviously there's something here for everybody to be able to sip on while they create," Robertson said.
"On our beers, it's mainly local. We try to do a lot of Texas beers and a lot of craft beers here," Gilkey added.
They don’t serve food, but there are tons of restaurants in the area that crafters can order from and eat while they’re working.
"We have all of the local menus that you can choose from," Gilkey said.
People don’t need to be artistic to enjoy the experience. In fact, it’s a great place to try something new.
"We're not your typical paint and sip. What's great about Upstairs Circus is that you can leave here with something memorable, something meaningful, and something useful, rather than just a painting that you will just probably put in your garage," Robertson said.