TACA Announces $220,000 in Grants for An Unprecedented Seven New Works, Four Innovative Artist Residencies in 2019 September 5, 2019

Media Contact: Brett Gray, Brett@BrettGrayPR.com, 214.557.6233

DALLAS – TACA – The Arts Community Alliance – has announced the 2019 recipients of the TACA New Works Fund and the TACA Artist Residency Fund. A diverse group of nine arts organizations – representing dance, instrumental music, choral music and theater – will receive 11 grants totaling $220,000 to create new works or to support artist residencies in North Texas.

“TACA is thrilled to announce a record $220,000 to support the creation of new works and fund artist residencies in North Texas,” said Wolford McCue, TACA Carlson president and executive director. “We offer our deepest gratitude to the Hersh Foundation, Sapphire Foundation, and Donna Wilhelm Family Fund for their support of the New Works Fund and the Bowdon Family Foundation and Rea Charitable Trust for their support of the Artist Residency Fund.”

“This year, we’re thrilled to be funding a record seven New Works Fund grant recipients, including first-time grantees Cry Havoc Theater Co., Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, and Junior Players,” McCue added.  “We’re also increasing our distribution to the Artist Residency Fund to $70,000, a 40 percent increase from last year.  Avant Chamber Ballet and Dallas Symphony Orchestra are receiving the grant for the first time.”

Bruce Wood Dance – “Chasing Home” by Albert Drake (photo credit: Sharon Bradford)

Launched in 2012, the TACA New Works Fund was established to support the development and performance of innovative new works of music, dance, and theater in Dallas County. To date, the New Works Fund has provided $900,000 in grants to support 28 new works including Everest by Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer at The Dallas Opera and Chasing Home by Albert Drake and Joseph Thalken at Bruce Wood Dance.

The seven 2019 New Works Fund grantees are:

Cry Havoc Theater Co. – $25,000
H2O, by Mara Richards Bim

Dallas Children’s Theater – $25,000
Last Stop on Market Street, by Gloria Bond Clunie, Matt de la Peña, vickie washington, M. Denise Lee, and Robyn Flatt

Dallas Symphony Orchestra – $15,000
Negotiating Dialogues, by Carmen Menza, Mark Menza, Eric Farrar, Joel Olivas, and musicians of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; as part of the DSO’s Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family SOLUNA International Music & Arts Festival

Dallas Theater Center – $20,000
The Supreme Leader, by Don X. Nguyen

Dark Circles Contemporary Dance – $25,000
PETE: A New Dance Musical, by Joshua L. Peugh

Junior Players – $15,000
Junior Players Presents: The Aftermath, by Erin Burdette and Michael Federico

Undermain Theatre – $25,000
He’s Born, He’s Borne, by David Rabe

“In our upcoming documentary/verbatim piece, H2O, the teens of Cry Havoc and I will collect interviews from across the country and from across the political spectrum on the pressing issue of climate change. The immediacy of the topic and the resulting outcry of youth from across the globe makes this project particularly relevant at this moment,” said Founder Mara Richards Bim.  “Creating new work like H2O takes time and resources and champions like TACA and the funders who support the New Works Program.  I’m profoundly grateful for their vision and dedication to the development of new work and for their support of this project.”

“The grant from the TACA New Work Fund will allow our vision and our impact to expand, giving our community more opportunities to see their stories reflected on stage; for them to feel, experience, and participate in the practice of art-making in their own classrooms and neighborhoods,” stated Chadi El-Khoury, executive director of Dark Circles Contemporary Dance.

“Junior Players is excited for the opportunity to expand their artistic repertoire by nurturing the voice of our youth and community artists.  Thanks to TACA and their generous donors, Junior Players will be able to create a new work that expounds on the topics and conversations highlighted in our recently piloted initiative titled: Junior Players Champions and Challenges – a broadcast journalism program,” said Junior Players’ Rosaura Cruz, Executive Director. “This production, The Aftermath, focuses on local stories that reflect our everyday lives.  You will embark on a journey of turning points, choices, decisions from the lens of the next generation of change agents. These stories are not a vehicle of answers, but a request to question and create social change. Inevitable, universally meaningful, and illuminating, this is The Aftermath.”

Dallas Black Dance Theatre – “What to Say” by Jamal Story

In 2015, TACA developed the TACA Artist Residency Fund in response to the 2014 TACA Perforum symposium when the local arts community expressed a need for greater support of unique artist-community engagement opportunities. To date, the fund has distributed $370,000 to 17 residencies including Jamal Story’s residency with Dallas Black Dance Theatre and playwright Jonathan Norton’s current residency at Dallas Theater Center.  The fund supports the development of innovative artistic residency programs in Dallas County while fostering meaningful interaction among arts organizations, artists, and the greater community.

The four 2019 Artist Residency Fund grantees are:

Avant Chamber Ballet – $15,000
Residency of choreographer and dance artist Jennifer Mabus

Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas – $10,000
Residency of Dallas Black Dance Theatre: Encore!, Orpheus Chamber Singers, cellist Gayane Manasjan and her string quartet, and storyteller Deecee Cornish

Dallas Symphony Orchestra – $13,000
Residency of musician and composer Julia Wolfe

Junior Players – $32,000
Residency of Shelby Doroshow, Shannon Hart and Yolanda Williams

“Avant Chamber Ballet is honored to receive the Artist in Residency grant for the first time. The funding will not only fund the creation of a new work by Jennifer Mabus for Women’s Choreography Project but also fund her residency with local youth non-profits. The new work will be a true collaboration of our dancers, musicians, choreographer and the community,” said Katie Cooper, Artistic Director.

“We are honored to be a first-time recipient of the TACA Artist Residency Fund,” said Kim Noltemy, Dallas Symphony Orchestra President & CEO. “This award will support the work of our Composer-in-Residence Julia Wolfe. The DSO is a co-commissioner of Wolfe’s new work, Fountain of Youth, which will receive its Dallas premiere in January 2020 with Music Director Designate Fabio Luisi. She will also play a central role in this April’s Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family SOLUNA International Music & Arts Festival, both in performances of her works and in educational opportunities with Dallas students. We are grateful to TACA for their visionary leadership in bringing new work and thought-provoking performances to the Dallas community.”

A panel of local and national artists and arts managers narrowed applicant organizations through a competitive application and review process followed by interviews by local nonprofit and arts experts.  Panelists selected the recipients based on the innovativeness and merit of their project, the inclusion of artistic collaborations, and the quality of engagement of target audiences.

In addition to these two funds, TACA provided $750,000 in general operating grants to 48 performing and visual arts organizations in January 2019. Since its founding in 1967, TACA has distributed more than $29 million to over 160 arts organizations.

2019 TACA Artist Residency Fund Jurors
Adam Adolfo – Director of Marketing & Community Engagement, Bishop Arts Theatre Center
Laura Barbee – Dance Teaching Artist, Texas Christian University
Ariel Bradler – Executive Director, Theatre Puget Sound
Sam Brukhman – Artistic Director, Verdigris Ensemble
Lily Cabatu Weiss – Executive Director, Dallas Arts District
William George-Twyman – Head of Choral Studies, Booker T. Washington HSPVA
Leonard Hayes – Head of Piano Studies, Booker T. Washington HSPVA
Brea Heidelberg – Assistant Professor and Associate Program Director, Drexel University
Denise Lee – CEO Denise Lee Onstage and Change the Perception
Carmen Menza – Artist, Menza Art Studio
Rachel Naomi Wade – Director, Arlington Heights Dance Department, Fort Worth ISD
Ilknur Ozgur – Founder, Artstillery
Suzanne Smith – Founder and CEO, Social Impact Architects
Alex Turrini – Chair of Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship, Southern Methodist University
Anna Wittstruck Gottlieb – Director of Orchestra, University of Puget Sound

2019 TACA New Works Fund Jurors
Matthew Albert – Chair of Chamber Music, University of Michigan
Susan Douglas Roberts – Professor of Dance, Texas Christian University
Emily Ernst – Professor of theatre, University of Nebraska
Erica Felicella – Owner, Cella Arts
Danielle Georgiou – Artistic Director, Danielle Georgiou Dance Group
Leah Harris – Director of Community Engagement, Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Dr. Samuel Holland – Dean and Professor of Music, Southern Methodist University
Parisa Khobdeh – Principal Dancer, Paul Taylor American Modern Dance Company; Artistic Director and Choreographer, Parisa Khobdeh Dance Company
Peter Kupfer – Associate Professor of Musicology, Southern Methodist University
Bridget L. Moore – Artistic Director, B. Moore Dance
Clint Riley – Nonprofit Arts Executive
Liz Sankarsingh – Program Manager, Ignite Arts Dallas, Southern Methodist University
Joanie Schultz-Milioto – Theater Director
Audra Scott – Head of Opera Studies, Booker T. Washington HSPVA
Regina Taylor – Writer, Actor, Director, Producer
Christopher Treviño – Assistant Technical Director, University of Texas at Dallas
Corinne Woods – Director of Programs, Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York

About TACA
TACA – The Arts Community Alliance – supports excellence and impact in the arts through grant-making, capacity building, and thought leadership. 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 more information about TACA, call 214-520-3930 or visit taca-arts.org. Connect with TACA on Facebook at facebook.com/tacadallas, Twitter at @TACADallas or on Instagram at @TACADallas.