May & June 2022 Pop-Up Grant Announcement
Celebrating Our May & June Pop-Up Grant Recipients
Spring in North Texas was filled with abundant creativity and vibrant collaboration. These five arts programs rose to the top out of 60+ unique arts opportunities across the city to become TACA’s Pop-Up Grant recipients for May and June.
AT&T Performing Arts Center’s presentation of Bandan Koro’s “Griots.” Photo courtesy of the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
AT&T Performing Arts Center
Griots: Celebrating a Compilation of Dallas’ Cultural Storytellers of the African Diaspora by Bandan Koro African Drum & Dance Ensemble
Learn more about AT&T Performing Arts Center
Unrestricted Grant: $2,000
Artist Bonus Funds: $4,000
Bandan Koro African Drum & Dance Ensemble pays homage to an array of Dallas’ key artistic and cultural storytellers such as Erykah Badu, Vicki Meek, Michelle Gibson, Baba Hassan, the late Afiah Bey, Bandon Koro’s own Tony Browne and Nana Kweku, plus many, many more! Through sensory immersion in traditional West African drum, dance, cultural ceremonies, and a spectrum of inventive artistic expressions, Bandan Koro honors, highlights and navigates the pathways of cultural lineage to keep the history of the African Diaspora in the DFW Metroplex everlasting. On the scheduled evening of this performance, a sudden rainstorm required an impromptu relocation from the Annette Strauss Artist Square indoors to Hamon Hall. Despite the circumstances, the performance was described by attendees as electric, exciting, and powerful. This performance was presented as part of AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project and is rescheduled for August.
The AT&T Performing Arts Center’s mission is to provide a public gathering place that strengthens community and fosters creativity through the presentation of performing arts and arts education programs. In 2014, the AT&T Performing Arts Center created the Elevator Project to provide small, emerging and historically marginalized arts organizations and artists with a performance platform in the Dallas Arts District. It has evolved into an exciting, curated season of work stretching across genres, with the projects chosen through a competitive process by a panel of arts professionals and advocates. Keep in touch with AT&T Performing Arts Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s “Yanga.” Photo by Sylvia Elzafon.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Yanga
Presented in partnership with the Latino Arts Project and the African-American Museum
Unrestricted Grant: $2,000
On June 7, 2022, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and the Latino Arts Project partnered on a performance of music in celebration of the Yanga! exhibit at the African-American Museum. Central to that performance was the Dallas premiere of Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz’s Yanga which featured the DSO, the Dallas Chamber Choir and acclaimed percussion ensemble Tambuco. Yanga tells the story of Gaspar Yanga, a freed slave who established one of the first free Black settlements in the Americas.
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.
Fair Assembly’s “Macbeth.” Photo by Shafkat Anowar.
Fair Assembly
Macbeth
Learn more about fair assembly
Unrestricted Grant: $2,000
Artist Bonus Funds: $4,000 to 12 Key Artists and 8 Supporting Artists
Fair Assembly took an interdisciplinary approach to Shakespeare’s most psychological tragedy: Macbeth. Performed in the intimate Arts Mission Oak Cliff, Macbeth featured original music by Ivan Dillard, movement and dance by Emily Bernet, and though co-directed and conceived by Emily Ernst and Morgan Garrett, Macbeth was staged as a team with significant input from all artists involved.
Fair Assembly is an actor-driven theatre company based in Dallas, Texas. Founded by SMU grads Emily Ernst, Christopher Rutherford, and Joshua Peugh, we are heavily influenced by the collaborative, interdisciplinary nature of Lecoq training and Shakespeare’s own company. All productions feature live sound and original music, and are directed as a team. Keep in touch with Fair Assembly on Facebook, Instagram, and Vimeo.
Orchestra of New Spain’s “Celebrating Juneteenth.” Photo by Drew Sutherland.
Orchestra of New Spain
Celebrating Juneteenth
Learn more about orchestra of new spain
Unrestricted Grant: $2,000
Artist Bonus Funds: $4,000 to 3 Key Artists and 10 Supporting Artists
Orchestra of New Spain’s second annual Celebrating Juneteenth presented a creative program featuring the music of legendary Black composers Darius Milhaud, Florence Price and Afro-Cuban composer Jose White along with the musical talent of local music talent, Quinn Mason. This moving concert was performed in three communities across Dallas and met with enthusiastic standing ovations.
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.
Theatre Three’s “Stede Bonnet.” Photo by Jeffrey Schmidt.
Theatre Three
Stede Bonnet: A F*cking Pirate Musical
Learn more about theatre three
Unrestricted Grant: $2,000
Artist Bonus Funds: $4,000 to 13 Key Artists and 14 Supporting Artists
Theatre Three’s all-new musical, Stede Bonnet: A F*cking Pirate Musical is a hilarious, touching tale based on the true story of the Gentleman Pirate. This tale of grief and loss uses humor to entice audiences on their own journey of self-discovery.
Theatre Three is a 59-year Dallas institution whose mission is to illuminate the human experience with exemplary intimate theatre by nurturing authors, artists, and audiences. Under the leadership of Jeffrey Schmidt, Theatre Three has rekindled its support of new work and committed the organization to fostering local talent. Theatre Three: locally impactful, nationally significant. Keep in touch with Theatre Three on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
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 45+ 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.
HEADER PHOTO: Theatre Three’s “Stede Bonnet: A F*cking Pirate Musical.” Photo by Jeffrey Schmidt.