The Arts Community Alliance—founded in 1967 to establish North Texas’ cultural community as one of the strongest in the nation—just strengthened it further by announcing $670,000 in Catalyst Grant funding for the year. The new funding brings its total investment in the arts to over $1 million in 2023-2024.
TACA said its Catalyst grants are distributed without restrictions and designed to support “high-performing arts organizations that are strengthening Dallas’ vibrant arts identity.” In its 2023-2024 fiscal year, TACA has also provided financial support for the arts community through its New Works Fund, Pop-Up Grant program, Arts Accelerator Program, and other arts partner investments for its other events and programs, the nonprofit added.
“Since the re-opening of many arts organizations following the pandemic, we’ve seen an upsurge in the need for unrestricted funding for the arts in our community,” Maura Sheffler, Donna Wilhelm Family President & Executive Director, said in a statement. “We’re happy to meet that need thanks to our generous donors. This year, we’re thrilled to announce 2024 Catalyst Grant support for 50 organizations representing music, theater, dance, visual arts, and literature, each contributing to our city’s vibrancy as an important center for arts and culture.”
Arts Mission Oak Cliff [Photo: Boy Howdy Co. via TACA]
Here are the 2024 TACA Catalyst grantees:
Agora Artists
Arts Mission Oak Cliff
Avant Chamber Ballet
Bishop Arts Theatre Center
Bombshell Dance Project*
Bruce Wood Dance
Cara Mía Theatre
The Cedars Union
Chamber Music International*
Dallas Black Dance Theatre
Dallas Chamber Symphony
Dallas Children’s Theater [Photo: Lawrence Jenkins via TACA]
Dallas Children’s Theater
Dallas Contemporary
Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Opera
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Theater Center
Dallas Winds
Deep Vellum
Echo Theatre
Emerge Coalition
Fine Arts Chamber Players
Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra
Junior Players
Kitchen Dog Theater Company
kNOwBOX Dance
Lumedia Musicworks
Nasher Sculpture Center
New Texas Symphony Orchestra*
Orpheus Chamber Singers
OutLoud Dallas*
Pegasus Contemporary Ballet
Pegasus Media Project
Prism Movement Theater
Sammons Center for the Arts
Second Thought Theatre
Shakespeare Dallas
Soul Rep Theatre Company
Sweet Pass Sculpture Park
Teatro Dallas
Texas Ballet Theater
Texas Winds Musical Outreach
Theatre Three
TITAS/Dance Unbound
Turtle Creek Chorale
Undermain Theatre
Uptown Players
Verdigris Ensemble
WaterTower Theatre
The Writer’s Garret
*New or not recently funded TACA Catalyst grant recipient
Keeping local arts nonprofits ‘in the mind and heart of our community’
Rosaura Cruz, executive director of 2024 grantee Junior Players—a nonprofit founded in 1955 that transforms kids’ lives through the arts—said that TACA “helps keep local arts nonprofits in the mind and heart of our community.”
“TACA’s new initiatives like District Socials foster collaboration and partnerships, empower unexpected conversations, and ignite creative new ways for the Dallas arts scene to engage with our vibrant neighborhoods,” Cruz added in a statement. “While all nonprofits understand the importance of financial support, especially ongoing financial support, special thanks must be given to TACA for their emphasis on continuing their Catalyst grants, which provide unrestricted funding to nonprofit arts organizations to use as we see fit. Their support coupled with their trust in arts organizations allows us the financial and creative freedom to bring innovative new programs to Dallas, ensuring that our arts landscape continues to grow and flourish.”
Emily Bernet, executive director of first-time Catalyst grant recipient Bombshell Dance Project, said “the magic of the Catalyst Grant is that it will allow us to use funds however they are needed as we bring new projects to life this year. This crucial support comes alongside TACA’s Arts Accelerator program, Pop Up Grants, and events that have connected us to other Dallas organizations, helping Bombshell enter an exciting phase of growth that will increase our impact in the Dallas community.”
Since the Catalyst Grants were rebranded in 2021, TACA has awarded nearly $2 million in funding as a complement to its ongoing Pop-Up Grant program and the TACA New Works Fund focusing on new artistic works by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and/or female artists, the nonprofit noted.
For more information about TACA including how you can support it, go here.
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