Launching for the 2025-26 fiscal year, ArtsActivate 2026 is the City of Dallas’ project-based cultural support program. The City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture will contract for cultural services which establish a thriving cultural ecosystem that ensures all Dallas residents and visitors have an opportunity to experience the finest in arts and culture. The goal of this program is to activate Dallas communities through the arts and demonstrate our mission to create a thriving arts environment for all Dallas artists and residents. Each proposal must include an event open to the public.
ArtsActivate calls for arts and cultural projects by our Dallas arts and culture non-profit organizations, social service organizations, individual artists, and artist collectives to engage with communities, old and new, to provide a more creative, artistic, and cultural arts ecosystem for the City of Dallas.
ArtsActivate 2025-2026
ArtsActivate 2026 Round 2 is OPEN and will close on September 29, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. CST.
Please use the buttons below to access the 2026 ArtsActivate portals.
Virtual Information Sessions – Round 2:
- Monday, September 15th – 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | LINK
- Wednesday, September 17th – 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | LINK
- Friday, September 19th – 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | LINK
Virtual, Drop-In Office Hours – Round 2:
- Monday, September 22nd – 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | LINK
- Wednesday, September 24th – 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | LINK
- Friday, September 26th – 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | LINK
- Friday, September 26th – 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | LINK
Please follow us on Facebook for updates.
ArtsActivate 2026:
- Is a project-based cultural funding program
- Combines and replaces all previous project-based funding programs
- Is open for proposals from non-profit arts/cultural organizations, social services organizations, individual artists, artist collectives and other eligible non-profit organizations
- ArtsActivate 2026 will open for three rounds of applications during the 2025-26 fiscal year (October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026). Individual Artists and Group A eligible applicants may apply in any and all rounds and can get funded twice. Group B, C, & D and applicants who are in COP can apply in all rounds but only be funded once.
- Applicants who are currently funded in the Cultural Organizations Program (COP) for FY 2024-25 or 2025-26 may apply if they receive less than $100,000 through COP or through operating and maintenance support and that the proposed project is not currently a part of the organization’s current COP scope of services
Download – ArtsActivate 2026 Guidelines – Updated 9.10.2025
Download – ArtsActivate 2026 Guidelines ESPANOL
Plan Your Application:
Utilize the PDF’s below to preview and plan your application. *Please note, the PDF’s are for planning purposes only, all applications will need to be submitted through the application portal above.
View Dallas Cultural Plan Typology Map
(Note: the map does not guarantee that a location within the typologies falls in Dallas city limits since some of the census block groups straddle the city limit lines. Please double check all locations to confirm they are within Dallas city limits.)
Round 1
Application Period:
June 4 – July 7, 2025
Notification Date:
November 7, 2025
Earliest Project Start Date:
December 1, 2025
Round 2
Application Period:
September 10 – September 29, 2025
Notification Date:
December 5, 2025
Earliest Project Start Date:
January 13, 2026
Round 3
Application Period:
February 2, 2026 – March 1, 2026
Notification Date:
May 8, 2026
Earliest Project Start Date:
June 1, 2026
ArtsActivate 2025
ROUNDS 1, 2 & 3
Through the web portal, you can access previously submitted ArtsActivate 2025 applications. If you are recommended for funding, applicants will also use these web portals to submit a revised budget and final report.
Guidelines & Resources
Review the complete ArtsActivate 2025 Guidelines
Download Dallas Cultural Plan 2018 Summary
View Dallas Cultural Plan Priorities & Strategies
(All strategies that apply to the ArtsActivate 2025 application process are highlighted in yellow)
ArtsActivate 2024
ROUNDS 1, 2 & 3
Through the web portal, you can access previously submitted ArtsActivate 2024 applications. If you are recommended for funding, applicants will also use these web portals to submit a revised budget and final report.
Guidelines & Resources
Review the complete ArtsActivate 2024 Guidelines
ArtsActivate 2023
ROUNDS 1, 2 & 3
Through the web portal, you can access previously submitted ArtsActivate 2023 applications. If you are recommended for funding, applicants will also use these web portals to submit a revised budget and final report.
Guidelines & Resources
Review the complete ArtsActivate 2023 Guidelines
ArtsActivate 2022
ROUNDS 1, 2 & 3
Through the web portal, you can access previously submitted ArtsActivate 2022 applications. If you are recommended for funding, applicants will also use these web portals to submit a revised budget and final report.
Guidelines & Resources
Review the complete ArtsActivate 2022 Guidelines
ArtsActivate 2021
Web Portal
Through the web portal, you can apply when the application period is open. It will also give you access to previously submitted ArtsActivate 2021 applications. If you are recommended for funding, applicants will also use the web portal to submit a revised budget and final report.
Guidelines & Resources
Review the complete ArtsActivate 2021Guidelines
Funding Recipientsoca-media.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/…/ArtsAct-2021-Project-Summaries-Organizations-funded.pdf
Individual Artists / Non-Profit Organizations
ArtsActivate 2020
Web Portal
Applicants recommended for funding through ArtsActivate 2020 during the 2019-20 fiscal year (October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020), will find links to the ArtsActivate 2020 portals here. These links will stay live through the following year for postponed projects due to COVID-19.
The ArtsActivate 2020 web-portal will give applicants access to previously submitted applications, along with subsequent steps of the funding process such as revised budget and final report submissions.
Funding Recipients
Round 1 – Individual Artists / Non-profit Organizations
Round 2 – Individual Artists / Non-profit Organizations
Round 3 – Individual Artists / Non-profit Organizations
