Small arts organizations in Dallas are celebrating as the Moody Fund for the Arts (MFA) revealed its 2025 grant distribution.
This year’s grants, which total $445,000, range from $3,500 to $12,000 and will benefit 66 small, emerging, and historically marginalized arts organizations across various art forms including theatre, music, dance, visual arts, film, and multimedia.
These organizations, operating on budgets of less than $1 million, receive support from the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture (OAC).
Francie Moody-Dahlberg, Chairman of the Moody Foundation, emphasized the challenges small arts groups face in securing financial support, especially during their formative years.
“These grants help support their programs, their operations, and their vision so they can continue their impactful work and contribute to the vibrant cultural tapestry across the city,” Moody-Dahlberg said.
This marks the eighth year of grant distributions by the MFA, which was established in 2017 through a $10 million endowment from the Moody Foundation, based in Galveston, Texas.
The fund aims to financially support small and emerging nonprofit arts organizations recognized by the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, which resulted in the Dallas City Performance Hall being renamed Moody Performance Hall in acknowledgment of this generosity.
In its inaugural year in 2018, the MFA distributed $150,000 to 36 organizations with the maximum grant set at $7,500. To date, the fund has awarded a total of $2,825,000 through 428 unique grants to 106 organizations, including seven new recipients this year.
Martine Elyse Phillipe, Director of OAC and a member of the MFA Executive Review Committee, remarked on the continued impact of the Moody Fund.
“The Moody Fund for the Arts continues to help small arts organizations make great strides in their programmatic and organizational growth,” Phillipe stated.
“The arts run deep in Dallas, and we’re thrilled to see so many organizations receive this critical support that will help the city’s investments go even further.”
The MFA awards flexible grants across five categories, with this year’s applicants submitting proposals in each category.
The categories include General Program and Operating Cost Support, New Works, Commissions, and Unique Presentations, Community Focus Performances/Artist-in-Residency Programs, Cultural Equity/New Initiatives, and Capacity Building.
The AT&T Performing Arts Center oversees the administration of the Moody Fund for the Arts, including its application and review process.
Award decisions undergo a rigorous two-level review process.
The first stage involves the MFA Advisory Review Panel, which conducts a peer-review judging process.
This year’s panel includes several notable members: Sylvia Bodell, a member of the Dallas Arts and Cultural Advisory Commission and President of Bodell Communications, Inc.; Glyne A. Griffith II, Vice President of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Impact at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Grant Peterson, a musician and educator; Alejandro Saucedo, an actor and director; and Elliott Trahan, a dancer and choreographer with Bruce Wood Dance Dallas.
The second level of review is executed by the MFA Executive Review Committee.
This committee comprises Stephen Gilhooly, an arts patron and advocate, Tracey Nash-Huntley, an arts patron and philanthropist, and Martine Elyse Phillipe.
A comprehensive list of the Moody Fund recipients illustrates the diverse range of organizations benefitting from this funding.
Among them are 2 Inspired Peace, A.rt Experience, Agora Artists, Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico, Art House Dallas, Artists Sans Frontières, Arts Mission Oak Cliff, Artstillery, Asian Film Festival of Dallas, Avant Chamber Ballet, B. MOORE DANCE, Ballet North Texas, Basically Beethoven, Beckles Dancing Company, Color Me Empowered, Dallas Arts District, Dallas Bach Society, Dallas Chamber Symphony, Dallas International Film Festival, Dallas Metroplex Musicians’ Assoc., Dance Council of North Texas, DFW Play, DG Fine Arts, Echo Theatre, Emerge Coalition, Inc., Flamenco Fever, Greater Dallas Choral Society, Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Indian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Infinite Arts Movement, Kitchen Dog Theater Company, kNOwBOX dance, Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Make Art with Purpose, Inc., New Texas Symphony Orchestra, No Limits Arts Theatre, OK2BX Foundation, Ollimpaxqui Ballet Co, Inc., Orchestra of New Spain, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Inc., OutLoud Dallas, Over the Bridge Arts, Pegasus Contemporary Ballet, Pegasus Media Project, Prism Movement Theater, Representa Foundation, Second Thought Theatre, Soul Rep Theatre Company, South Dallas Concert Choir, SPARK! Dallas, Swan Strings, Teatro Dallas, Texas Winds Musical Outreach, Inc., The African Film Festival (TAFF), The Artist Outreach, The Creative Movement, Inc., The Flame Foundation, The Oak Cliff Festival, The Smart Project, The Women’s Chorus of Dallas, The Writer’s Garret, Top Ten Records, Undermain Theatre, Uptown Players, Inc., USA Film Festival, and Verdigris Ensemble.
The Moody Fund for the Arts continues to serve as a crucial resource for the cultural landscape of Dallas, facilitating growth and innovation within the local arts community.
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