Six LGBTQ+ organizations among those awarded grants by Moody Fund for the Arts

At the end of June,the Moody Fund for the Arts (MFA) announced its grant recipients
which totaled $475,000 awarded to 70 small Dallas arts organizations. This set a record for both the award amount and the number of recipients. After this cycle, this brings the MFA award total to $3.3M over its nine years of grantmaking.

“We set out to create a unique endowment that would support the growing, diverse and
vibrant small arts community in Dallas,” Francie Moody-Dahlberg, Moody Foundation chairman said in a press release. “We wanted to help these organizations realize their creative vision with projects and programs across our city. We are beyond pleased by the results, and excited at what’s ahead.”

MFA recipients must be based in Dallas and be supported by the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture (OAC).

To qualify, an organization’s budget must be less than $1 million. Through an annual
competitive process, the endowment provides flexible grants supporting a range of
opportunities, including new works and commissions, general operating and rent
support, capacity building, projects taking art into under-served areas, cultural equity
programs and more.

“The MFA grants amplify the work of Dallas artists and boost the impact of the funding
investment we provide these groups through the Office of Arts and Culture,” Martine Elyse Philippe, Office of Arts and Culture Director mentioned. “It is exciting to see so much vibrancy in our cultural ecosystem. It really sets Dallas apart.”

This year, the fund increased the maximum grant per organization to $15,000, up from
$12,000 in the previous four grant cycles. This year’s portfolio of small and emerging
organizations covers a broad swath of art forms including theater, music, dance, visual
arts, film, literature and multimedia.

These also include organizations and projects giving voice to historically underrepresented themes in Black communities, Hispanic, LGBTQ+, women and more.

Six LGBTQ+ organizations were named as MFA grant recipients. They include:

• Badge Of Pride: A queer-led organization that stewards a major LGBTQ+ artifact collection and repository of queer history, creating public exhibitions, programs, and performances to elevate queer narratives.
• Oak Lawn Band: Founded in 1980, this historic nonprofit symphonic and jazz band specifically serves the LGBTQ+ community and its allies, performing locally and nationally (including at Dallas Pride and the Texas Freedom Parade).
• OK2BX Foundation: Established to foster kindness and inclusion through the arts, this foundation heavily focuses on supporting diversity and the LGBTQIA+ community via cultural programs, a film festival, and youth scholarships.
• Texas Latino Pride: An organization dedicated to celebrating and empowering the intersection of Latino/a/x culture and the LGBTQ+ community, famous for hosting the annual Texas Latino Pride Festival in Dallas.
• The Women’s Chorus of Dallas: Founded in 1989, this ensemble has a foundational history rooted in the Dallas gay and lesbian community, originally emerging as a vital safe space and continuing to support LGBTQ+ causes.
• Uptown Players: The city’s premier professional theater group explicitly focused on the LGBTQ+ community. One of the largest theaters of its kind in the nation, they produce contemporary theater exploring themes of identity, tolerance, and diverse relationships.

“Every grant and dollar in today’s world surrounding queer funding — especially in Texas — is so important,” Uptown Players’ co-founder and producer Jeff Rane said. “We’re so honored to receive these funds and appreciate that there is still funding in Dallas that uplift and support the LGBTQ+ community.”

See the full list of grant recipients here.

–Rich Lopez