Big Thought just revealed some big news. Back in late November National Endowment for the Arts Chair Jane Chu visited Dallas for a couple of days touring the Arts District and checking in at Big Thought. The Oklahoma native, who did graduate work at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, just provided Big Thought with a very nice Christmas gift — a $100,000 Arts Works grant for Big Thought’s Dallas City of Learning project.
Art Works, National Endowment for the Arts and Big Thought*
The funds will “help provide in-person and internet-based creative educational experiences for students across Dallas during the summer months.”
Gigi Antoni*
It was just last January at this time that Big Thought hosted a meeting of concerned educational, political and community leaders to address the issue of “the Dallas education system having gone dormant during summer.”
According to Big Thought President/CEO Gigi Antoni, “We are so grateful and appreciative of Chair Chu and the National Endowment for the Arts. We as an organization and as a city have been committed to stemming summer learning loss in our quest to close the opportunity gap and improve the academic and socio-emotional outcomes of our children. This community has come together for our kids, and with the NEA’s generous support we can make an important impact in their lives.”
Other local groups receiving Art Works grants from the National Endowment for the Arts include:
- Chamberlain Performing Arts — $10,000
- Dallas Black Dance Theatre — $10,000
- The Dallas Opera — $45,000
- Dallas Symphony Orchestra — $20,000
- Kitchen Dog Theater — $10,000
- Matt Morton — $25,000
- Nasher Sculpture Center — $40,000
- Shakespeare Festival of Dallas — $10,000
- The Cliburn — $10,000
* Graphic and photo provided by Big Thought