The City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture (OAC), a division of the City Manager’s Office, fosters support, partnerships, and opportunities for Dallas residents, visitors, artists, and arts and cultural organizations. The Director of Arts and Culture, Martine Elyse Philippe, is responsible for the implementation of the City’s cultural policy and programs. The director reports to the Assistant City Manager for Neighborhood Quality of Life.
Vision
An equitable, diverse and connected community, whose residents and visitors thrive through meaningful arts and cultural experiences in every neighborhood across Dallas.
Mission
The Office of Arts and Culture works to enhance the vitality of the city and the quality of life for all Dallas residents by creating an equitable environment wherein artists as well as arts and cultural organizations thrive; people of all ages enjoy opportunities for creative expression; and all celebrate our multicultural heritage.
Our mission is to support and grow a sustainable cultural ecosystem that ensures all residents and visitors have opportunities to experience arts and culture throughout the city.
Commitment to Cultural Equity
In Dallas, we envision a city of people whose success and well-being are not pre-determined by their race, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, social status, zip code, or citizenship status. We recognize that artistic and cultural expression are fundamental to the development of our identity, as individuals and as a community at large. We assert the right for all people to have access to arts and cultural experiences throughout Dallas.
We recognize the historic legacies of racism, overt bias and injustice that shape our present reality. In fact, the City of Dallas’ arts funding originated to support organizations of the Western European canon, collectively referred to as “The Big Six.” Going forward, we will strive to support the broadest range of art forms and creative producers, considering inclusivity, diversity and neighborhood impact to direct resources equitably to artists and organizations. We will work to build a robust arts ecosystem that continually evolves to better reflect the diverse composition of Dallas. Towards this end, we recognize and affirm the potential of new and emerging artists and organizations.
The Office of Arts and Culture will serve as convener and connector to catalyze equity in the policies and practices of its partners across the Dallas arts ecosystem. Core to this is leading other organizations and private resource providers to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in concrete, measurable ways. Annually, the Office of Arts and Culture will summarize its own support for artists and arts organizations, highlighting measures of equity and diversity.
As we work together to create a more vibrant Dallas, the Office of Arts and Culture is committed to nurturing the wide diversity of creative culture and experiences that make up this great city.
About the Office of Arts and Culture:
The Office of Arts and Culture (OAC) is a City of Dallas department that works to enhance the vitality of the city and the quality of life for all Dallas residents by creating an equitable environment wherein artists as well as arts and cultural organizations thrive; people of all ages enjoy opportunities for creative expression; and all celebrate our multicultural heritage. OAC does this by supporting artists, arts organizations and Dallas residents through grants, partnerships and other critical resources. OAC is also the custodian of 19 city-owned cultural facilities, where a wide variety of arts and cultural programs are offered for residents and visitors. These facilities consist of many of our community’s most important cultural venues, and when combined, represent more than 1.5 million square feet of space dedicated to arts and cultural functions in our community. OAC also oversees a 300 plus-work citywide public art collection. dallasculture.org.
2018 Dallas Cultural Plan & Cultural Policy
Cultural Plan – Summary
Cultural Plan – Full Text
Cultural Plan – Appendices
Cultural Policy
Previous Cultural Plans & Policies:
2002 Cultural Policy
2001 Cultural Master Plan
