Gayle Halperin and Jim Nugent to be Honored at the 2025 TACA Silver Cup Award Luncheon October 2, 2024

The annual event recognizes two philanthropists for their volunteerism and support for arts and culture in North Texas

DALLAS, TX (October 2, 2024) – TACA – The Arts Community Alliance – announced that Gayle Halperin and Jim Nugent will be honored as next year’s 47th TACA Silver Cup Award recipients. The announcement was made at a reception hosted at the home of Mary McDermott Cook, also known as DumpTop, and attended by board members, former Silver Cup Honorees, and close colleagues and friends of the 2025 Honorees. 

Co-chairs for next year’s Silver Cup Luncheon are Phil Clemmons, John Dayton, Tara Lewis, and Donna Wilhelm. The event will take place on Wednesday, May 7, at the Omni Dallas Hotel.   

“We are excited to celebrate Gayle and Jim at next year’s TACA Silver Cup luncheon for their years of passionate, selfless dedication to our arts community,” added Maura Sheffler, Donna Wilhelm Family President & Executive Director.  “Our community is stronger and more dynamic because of their contributions.” 

“Gayle Halperin, Executive Director of Bruce Wood Dance Dallas, has achieved an enlightened vision – to spotlight Dallas, Texas as an incubator-center for contemporary dance,” said Donna Wilhelm, 2021 Silver Cup Luncheon honoree. “Her dance leadership infused with heart and soul, her dedicated civic engagement, and strong personal integrity will be celebrated in 2025 as a recipient of the 2025 TACA Silver Cup Award.”

Co-chair John Dayton, 1996 recipient of the Silver Cup stated, “For more than four decades Jim Nugent has been one of Dallas’ foremost arts advocate. He devotes countless nights and weekends to attending performances across the spectrum of arts organizations and dedicates his days volunteering in support of the same.” 

ABOUT THE HONOREES 

Gayle Halperin I 2025 Silver Cup Award Honoree

Gayle Halperin is the executive director of Bruce Wood Dance Dallas. Gayle has had an extensive career in dance as a performer, educator, advocate, and philanthropist. Halperin and Bruce Wood were business partners and launched Bruce Wood Dance Project in 2010 with a group of investors in Dallas. 

Gayle was born and raised in West Haven, Connecticut. She received her BA in Dance from Connecticut College. From 1976 to 1984, she performed professionally with the Mel Wong Dance Company in New York and taught dance at Yale University and Southern Connecticut State University. 

Gayle and her husband Jim met in 1982. They married in 1984 and Gayle relocated to Dallas that year. She received an MFA in Dance Performance & Choreography at Texas Woman’s University in 1987 and was an Assistant Professor of Dance at Texas Woman’s University from 1988 to 1995. 

Gayle has been active in the nonprofit arts community over the past 25 years in various capacities. She is currently on the Dallas Area Cultural Advocacy Coalition Steering Committee, emeritus board of directors of the Sammons Center for the Arts and TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND, and a member of The Charter 100 of Dallas. She was a board member of the Dance Council of North Texas from 1996-2017, during which she and her colleague Linda James spearheaded the free, annual, multicultural Dance Planet Festival from 1997 to 2017. In 2001 Gayle co-chaired the search committee for a new Executive Director of TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND and served on its board from 1999-2021. 

Gayle received the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award from Texas Woman’s University;  2021 Arts Leadership Award from Dallas Historical Society Award;  2023 Women Who STEAM Award in the arts from The Dallas (TX) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated; 2023 Obelisk Award for Visionary Nonprofit Arts Leadership from the Business Council for the Arts; and, a 2024 Distinguished Woman for the “In Her Shoes” by the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.

In 2011, Gayle and James Halperin received the Tom Adams Award of Appreciation for Dedication to TITAS.

Gayle & James are the proud parents of David and Michael (deceased). The Halperin Foundation supports health and wellness, and arts and culture. The Halperin Foundation received the 2014 Sammons Center for the Arts Benefactor of the Year Award and the 2021 AIDS Interfaith Network Crystal Hope Award. 

Jim Nugent | 2025 Silver Cup Award Honoree

Jim Nugent, a highly respected figure in the Dallas arts and nonprofit communities, brings decades of financial expertise and leadership to the various organizations he serves. He is currently the Treasurer for Pegasus Media Project, the Video Festival of Dallas, For Oak Cliff, and Schreiber Expanded Neighborhood Patrol. Jim’s long-standing service extends to his former role as Treasurer of TACA (The Arts Community Alliance), an organization he continues to support as a member of the Board of Directors.

In addition to his role at TACA, Jim remains an active board member of Second Thought Theatre, a theater company in Dallas. Over the years, Jim has also served on the boards of the Dallas Film Society, Undermain Theatre, and the USA Film Festival, where he held the prestigious position of Chairperson. His deep commitment to supporting the arts has not gone unnoticed, as he was appointed by Dallas City Council Member Gay Donnell Willis to the Dallas Office of Arts and Culture Commission.

Jim is a retired CPA, having spent the majority of his career at Thompson Coe. His expertise in financial management extends to pro bono work, as he continues to provide bookkeeping services for Pegasus Media Project, the Video Festival of Dallas, Dallas Film Society, Schreiber Expanded Neighborhood Patrol, and others.

Jim has been married to Deborah Nugent, the CFO of Best Associates and Treasurer of Undermain Theatre, for 42 years. Together, they share a deep commitment to the arts and community engagement.

 About TACA  
TACA – The Arts Community Alliance – invests in the vibrancy and resilience of a diverse Dallas arts community.

TACA envisions an innovative, inclusive, sustainable cultural sector recognized for its essential contribution to a vibrant, prosperous community. Since its founding in 1967, TACA has worked to establish North Texas’ cultural community as one of the strongest in the nation. TACA’s growing investment in the arts translates to new premieres and productions, impactful residencies and community initiatives, and more opportunities for artists and audiences to connect – all striving to make Dallas a dynamic city and a great place to live and work.

For over 50 years, TACA has been dedicated to making North Texas’ arts community one of the strongest in the nation. We invest in (60+) arts organizations of all shapes and sizes to support an arts community brimming with cultures and stories, that cares about the health and well-being of Dallas citizens, and is building a sustainable future for our creative community  –  all to ensure that North Texas remains a vibrant place to live, work, and play. 

For more information about TACA, call 214-520-3930 or visit taca-arts.org. Connect with TACA on Facebook at facebook.com/tacadallas, LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/tacadallas, or on Instagram at @TACADallas.

Media Contact: Monica Cordova, Monica@Allynmedia.com, 214.434.0030