March & April 2024 Pop-Up Grant Recipients April 17, 2024

Meet the Pop-Up Grant Recipients for March & April

We are proud to announce five standout Pop-Up Grants programs for March and April! These productions included diverse artistic endeavors, challenging us to see complexity in familiar stories and immerse ourselves in the creativity of the Dallas arts community.

Bishop Arts Theatre Center & Guinn Powell

Black History Month Art Exhibit

Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant
Artist Bonus Funds: $5,000 Artist Bonus Funding

Guinn Powell’s paintings and artwork explore a range of topics from an honest and thoughtful perspective. A native of Terrell, Texas, he is a graduate of Southern Methodist University with a BFA in graphic design. His paintings are characterized using everyday themes seen through the eyes of an African American for whom recognition and a conceptual approach play an important role. His art reveals an opportunity to explore life in an East Texas rural community through the eyes of his ancestors. His focus is on the multi-layered nature of art, aiming to depict the complications of life through a combination of color, texture, and symbolism. He has exhibited at various venues in the D-FW area and his work has been frequently awarded and recognized. “I do not limit myself to one medium, style, or concept. Inspiration and ideas change. Knowledge changes. Each piece I create is simultaneously an extension of my heritage, where I’ve come from, and what I’ve learned, as well as a reflection of the challenges we still face and the hope we hold for the future.”

Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC) is an award-winning, multicultural, multidisciplinary arts institution. Founded in September of 1993, their mission is to cultivate a diverse and vibrant arts community committed to social impact, while creating opportunities for local and emerging artists to develop new, contemporary, and lasting works that celebrate the diversity and resiliency of our community. Bishop Arts Theatre Center offers a full season of theater performances, jazz concerts, a speaker series, and year-round arts education programs. Learn more about BATC on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.

Bruce Wood Dance

The 14th Anniversary Performance

Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant
Artist Bonus Funds: $5,000 Artist Bonus Funding

The 14th Anniversary Performance & Gala by Bruce Wood Dance was an extraordinary celebration featuring 2024 Grammy winner and Broadway star, NaTasha Yvette Williams,  from the Tony Award-winning show, Some Like It Hot, accompanied by the Drew Zaremba Jazz Quartet; Anything Goes by founder Bruce Wood set to the timeless music of the Great American Songbook by Cole Porter, and Nine Sinatra Songs by legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp to the romantic melodies of Frank Sinatra.

The mission of Bruce Wood Dance (BWD) is to present high-caliber, theatrical choreography that has the power to entertain, enrich, and heal. Keep in touch with Bruce Wood Dance on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Uptown Nights: It Don’t Mean A Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing

Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant

Inspired by Harlem’s famed musical hot spots like The Cotton Club and The Savoy, this swingin’ night of musical sensations focuses on Harlem’s heyday when Duke Ellington’s orchestra was the house band, and Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald and Ethel Waters showcased the classics of the Great American Songbook.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra inspires and changes lives through musical excellence. Throughout the 2020/21 Season, the Dallas Symphony has been providing weekly performances for limited audiences with a reduced orchestra in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. Members of the orchestra have also performed over 150 concerts throughout the community in neighborhoods and local parks, and the organization has invested in new digital technology to share the orchestra’s performances with the world. Keep in touch with the DSO on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Orchestra of New Spain

Angels and Devils

Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant
Artist Bonus Funds: $5,000 Artist Bonus Funding

Atlas Tango Project and Parasol Arts dancers captivated with a lyrical yet edgy production contrasting forces of light and dark in Angels and Devils based on Piazzolla’s beloved Suite. The many layered Tango production included 6 tango duos by outstanding local groups: Tango Amor and Evolution Tango, which book-ended the powerful Tango di Tango of Robert Xavier Rodriguez.

The Orchestra of New Spain is a versatile body of more than 40 instrumentalists and singers steeped in the performance of early music, with a specialty in Spanish and American Hispanic music. It’s principal repertory is drawn from manuscripts found in the court, public and cathedral archives of Spain, whence its Music Director has edited and the Orchestra has performed more than 100 little known works. It annually produces seven repertories played in some 12 concerts. The Orchestra’s theatrical, educational and touring activities offer its public a fascinating experience of a little-known aspect of Spanish musical life. Keep in touch with Orchestra of New Spain on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Verdigris Ensemble

Dust Bowl

Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant
Artist Bonus Funds: $5,000 Artist Bonus Funding

Conceived by Verdigris Ensemble Artistic Director Sam Brukhman, Dust Bowl explores Texas’ unique environmental history through a captivating mix of bluegrass, video projection, and choreographed movement. The production sheds light on the real-life Dust Bowl that transpired in the 1930s, a historic period defined by hope and perseverance amidst a man-made natural disaster.

Verdigris Ensemble is a Dallas vocal band pushing the boundaries of the choral medium through creative concert programming, unconventional use of space, and collaboration. With a mission to invest in the future generation of choral music, the organization also provides free music lessons and mentorship to the students at W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy. Keep in touch with Verdigris on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

WHAT’S A POP-UP GRANT?
We started our Pop-Up Grant program to shine a light on arts organizations creating programming that demonstrates exceptional quality, innovation, and accessibility safely, without skimping on the creative impact.

HOW DO YOU PICK THE RECIPIENTS?
Grant recipients are meticulously selected via a nomination process that incorporates 70+ anonymous volunteers. Nominations are made each month and a selection committee meets afterward to determine grantees based on our criteria above.

To learn more about Pop-Up Grants, please click here.