DTPHX Spotlight: How Chad Campbell of dialog Fosters Creative Community Over Coffee
“The foundation of dialog is community, conversation and connection,” says Chad Campbell, co-owner of the modern, inclusive coffee and art space on the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Roosevelt Street in Downtown Phoenix. “We know food is part of what makes those things happen, so we wanted coffee as part of our foundation. We want a space that is conversational. We like to call this the living room of Roosevelt Row.”
The dialog space was designed by renowned Phoenix-based architect Wendell Burnette, with the distinction of being the first retail space he has designed. “I think our space is cerebral in the sense that it is a creative space.” For Campbell, approachability is just as important as creativity.”We are so proud when we hear that creative people work on their projects at dialog.”
Indeed, coffee shops have a long history of being places that stir up conversation and creative exchange. Going back to the 16th Century Ottoman Empire, through 1960’s Greenwich Village in New York City, where novelists like Jack Kerouac and musicians like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez began performing in small cafes.
In present-day Downtown Phoenix, a neighborhood known for its artistic history, dialog aims to continue this legacy of being a place where people can come together to have inspired exchanges, make friends, and meet people they might not otherwise cross paths with. “At dialog, we want to enhance creative community,” says Campbell.
In addition to its coffee, tea and snack menu, dialog offers a library of gorgeous art books to peruse, as well as intentional local design, furniture, and objets d’art. They host regular events, which aspire to foster local connections, including Type Thursdays, focusing on graphic design and fonts, as well as art drawing with live nude models after regular cafe hours. Other opportunities to engage include regular panel discussions and talks with local artists and changemakers.
“We recently partnered with local queer publication LOOKOUT to do a panel discussion about the power and history of sex work in Phoenix’s old Fruit Loop,” Campbell recalls. “We had sex workers from when they worked Roosevelt Row speak about their experiences. It was a candid conversation, about how they were also part of the community. It is about the bigger picture of where we came from. Cruising on Central, which was a few doors down, was one of the first trans bars in the Valley. We also had a conversation about safety for queer people in Downtown Phoenix then and safety now.”
“I have a social justice background,” he adds. “I want people to feel included, I want people to have freedom of expression.”
Campbell’s journey to co-owner of dialog along with his business partner, Shawn Silberblatt, has been a unique one. Campbell originally moved to Phoenix from Missouri in 2008, to take a position with the Arizona Supreme Court. “I was with the judicial college, which is what brought me to Arizona,” says Campbell. “Then I was the Director of Juvenile Justice Services for many years, until I left the courts to help start and reorganize the new Department of Child Safety, where I was Deputy Director. When I worked in juvenile justice, so many kids were incredibly talented through writing or art, but they didn't have opportunities to express it.”
While working in state government, Campbell and his business partner Silberblatt, started a small space in an old vintage Melrose shop with some Mid-Century Modern furniture they collected as a hobby. Campbell says, “Then we actually started selling stuff, and it was so much fun!”Inspired, they bought a 500 square-foot showroom-style space called For The People at The Union at the Biltmore Fashion Park. From there, they expanded to a much larger space in Uptown Phoenix with For The People, on Central and Camelback. “After a few years, we were approached about moving to Downtown Phoenix,” says Campbell. “Eventually we decided we could move Downtown, and help set the tone for what we believed Downtown Phoenix could look, feel, and be like.”
Campbell left Arizona State government in 2019. “I wanted to retire and just focus on the shop,” says Campbell. “Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. At the same time, we had already signed a contract to develop dialog. That ended up taking three years.”
Fortunately, in that time Downtown Phoenix has both recovered and continued to grow. Campbell says, “The coffee culture now in Downtown Phoenix has many different coffee shops within a walkable distance from each other. I firmly believe that coffee is not about competition, we are all offering a different taste, a different roast, a different vibe. I want to help introduce people to all those places. Every coffee spot has their own personality.”
Campbell remains steadfastly dedicated to fostering an inclusive, safe space at dialog and opening their doors to everyone from the neighborhood, and beyond. Campbell’s genuine passion and care for the diversity of his regulars is heartwarming and palpable.
He shares, “We have many regulars who are elderly, or dealing with being unhoused, or differently abled. They can always come in here to just sit and feel safe. Then we also have artsy influencers from Scottsdale coming in to do posts about the space. I love the juxtaposition of those people who might never meet in their daily lives, who now may have a conversation over a coffee. Those people coming together with different perspectives and being able to share space, that’s what makes me excited.”
Royal Young (@theroyalyoung on Instagram) is a non-binary poet and author from downtown New York City, who now lives and creates in the desert. Their work has appeared in Interview Magazine, New York Times, The Rumpus, Phoenix Magazine, Phoenix New Times, LOOKOUT, and DTPHX, among others.