Make art? Need money? Apply now!

By Drew Eubanks

The nonprofit AT&T Performing Arts Center just announced that applications for the second year of grants awarded by the Moody Fund for the Arts (MFA) will be accepted online beginning at noon on Monday, Feb. 17 until noon on Friday, March 13 at moodyartsfund.org.  

MFA was created to provide grants to small and emerging Dallas arts groups that are supported by the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture and have annual budgets of less than $1 million. In 2019, MFA awarded $175,000 in grants. 

Grants may be awarded for:  

• Commissions of original works and artistic collaborations. 

• Support for new works, innovative programs and offsetting rent and production costs at Moody Performance Hall. 

• Programs, projects and exhibitions that address important issues of cultural equity and community access to the arts. 

• Programs that create and deliver cultural experiences to all parts of Dallas.

• Operating, staff and marketing support for new initiatives. 

• Support of production costs and capacity building. 

• Hosting artist-in-residency programs. 

• Other projects deemed important to the vibrancy of the arts in the city. 

Submissions will be reviewed through a two-tiered panel selection process, which will include arts educators, managers, advocates, philanthropists, an Arts and Culture Advisory Commission member and the director of the Office of Arts and Culture. Grants will be announced in June 2020. 

The Moody Fund for the Arts is a $10 million endowment that is part of a $22 million gift from the Moody Foundation to the arts in Dallas, including a $12 million gift to the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s capital campaign. When fully vested, the endowment is expected to award about $400,000 annually. 

The City of Dallas changed the name of Dallas City Performance Hall to Moody Performance Hall in 2017. 

Applicants can e-mail questions about the grant submission process to [email protected].