A Quirky-Cool Hub for Austin Artists
Words Janine Stankus | Photos Dottiewood Studios
Dottiewood Studios is more than rentable space; it’s a playground for the imagination—a thoughtfully-curated “grownup dress-up box,” as co-founder Ellie Barclay quips, designed to help creatives realize their visions.
Ellie and her longtime friend, Lauren Levy, originally founded Dottiewood as a place to host their own pursuits. Lauren runs a furniture business with her husband, Keith, and Ellie helps startup founders launch their businesses. The space where they landed is an unassuming box of a building, tucked into a quiet industrial corner of northeast Austin.
Channeling their prowess for thrifting, navigating Facebook Marketplace, design, and fabrication, they transformed the interior to create what Ellie calls an ‘Alice in Wonderland-esque’ experience. “ You walk into this big empty white space,” she explains, “then you turn the corner, and it’s just all these little rooms and moments of impact.” For example, Shape Studio is a powder pink room with two sets of climbable stairs and a giant Pinterest-inspired archway. “We love that space because it’s a real moment of fun—deeply practical in a very unserious way. And people use it for so many different things,” she remarks.
Dottiewood attracts everything from photoshoots to panel talks to food productions and holiday parties (thanks to a fully-equipped kitchen). Their clientele has been largely female creatives, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA. “ I’m really proud that we have a very inclusive space,” adds Ellie. “One Saturday night, it’s a queer club with pole dancers and drag queens. Then Sunday, it’ll be a baby shower and Monday, a food shoot with people breastfeeding.”
Designed for fun and flexibility, Dottiewood’s amenities include dressing rooms, a natural light cycle, blackout curtains, and tons of parking. There’s also “Dots Props,” an eclectic collection of furniture, backdrops, vintage finds, and ephemera for clients to peruse. Lauren emphasizes that clients are always in the driver’s seat.“We’re not really rigid the way other event spaces and photo studios are,” she explains. “You can move things around; you can swap things in from our furniture warehouse.”
Offering a space for creatives to play has brought immense value to Lauren and Ellie’s lives—and their community. Both dog-lovers, they’ve lent the space to local rescue, Lov-a-Bull, for a Pitbull Awareness campaign. “It was the best thing ever,” Lauren beams. She’s excited about an upcoming Elder Queer Prom for those who may have missed it in high school. Dottiewood has also ignited moments of unexpected connection. A recent art event exploring Asian mother-daughter relationships deeply moved the friends, who both lost their own mothers to breast cancer.
Dottie who?
Dottiewood is named after Ellie’s dog, Dottie, a cheerful mascot who can sometimes be found sniffing around for bellyrubs.
Going forward, Lauren and Ellie plan to deepen the relationships they’ve fostered and continue building new ones. And with the holiday party season in full force, they’ll have plenty of opportunities to introduce new clients to their own brand of event production. “We always joke, ‘no more boring events,’” Ellie laughs, summing up the Dottiewood spirit. “It doesn’t have to be boring, and it doesn’t have to be ugly. But please, let’s make it pretty.”
Contact:
1601 Headway Cir.
dottiewoodstudios.com
@dottiewoodstudios
