Moody Fund for the Arts

Overview

The Moody Fund for the Arts (MFA) was created in 2017 as a permanent endowment that would help fund the work and projects of small and emerging arts organizations supported by the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture (OAC).

MFA aspires to be a transformative fund that will raise the scope of engagement with the arts throughout the Dallas community. Through flexible grant-making, MFA will encourage enterprising and diverse cultural offerings and help sustain the mission of Moody Performance Hall to provide a stage in the Dallas Arts District for small and mid-sized groups.

MFA grants are made possible through a generous $10 million gift from The Moody Foundation, based in Galveston, TX. In 2018, its first year of grant-making, MFA awarded $150,000 in grants through an online application and multi-level peer review process. In 2023, its sixth year, MFA distributed $400,000 in grants to 65 Dallas arts organizations, reaching a total of $1,930,000 with 303 grants, touching 92 unique organizations.

On May 24, 2017, in recognition of this visionary gift, the Dallas City Council voted to rename the 750-seat Dallas City Performance Hall in the Arts District as Moody Performance Hall.