Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing series for Arts Access examining the health and well-being of our North Texas arts economy.
On Thursday morning, graffiti artist Khadafy “DAP” Branch received an email from the city of Dallas’ Office of Arts and Culture saying that funding he was hoping to receive could be in jeopardy.
Branch is one of several artists and arts groups in North Texas who at the end of last week received an email saying their funding from the city could be affected by Dallas City Council’s recent halt of programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
“The Office of Arts and Culture (OAC) is working diligently with City leadership to determine how these directives may impact various programs and services provided by OAC,” the email said.
The uncertainty could throw off Branch’s plans for the fourth annual Styles Fest in Pleasant Grove, a free community event featuring mural art. He applied for funding this year, but has not received an awards notice.
The city’s OAC declined a request for comment. Instead, the office sent a policy review document titled “Ensuring Federal Compliance While Driving Opportunity: City of Dallas Policy Review.” The document details the timeline to halt DEI initiatives and outlines some next steps but does not give details on how this new policy would affect the arts.
According to the OAC email, the changes could impact the future of programs such as the Culture of Value, Community Artist Program, Cultural Organizations Program and Arts Activate, which have supported cultural programming from diverse communities.
Arts Access was a recipient of the Arts Activate grant last year and receives funding from the Dallas OAC.
In the email, the OAC noted how the decision could affect funding decisions for current applications.
“This email serves as an official notification that current timelines for application review and funding notifications may be delayed as a result of our review process.”
However, grants awarded before April 22 will be fulfilled without changes.
In past years, Branch received about $8,000 through the city’s ArtsActivate program. While that funding wasn’t enough to cover the roughly $17,000 to $21,000 it costs to put on the event, the support helped minimize how much he had to dip into his own funds or search for outside support.
“My reaction was, I might have to start a GoFundMe or I might need to ask more people for help,” he said.
Styles Fest isn’t just an event for Branch. The graffiti artist said it’s a way to inspire youth in Pleasant Grove where he grew up.
“It’s basically telling them, you don’t have to go to Deep Ellum to see artwork. You don’t need to go to the Oak Cliff Bishop Arts District to see artwork. Artwork is here in your community and you can go and check it out without having to drive miles and miles,” he said.
Ultimately, Branch is concerned about what the changes mean for the arts in the city.
“It’s going to hurt Dallas a lot because we have [few] resources to begin with and as a starving artist, it just puts us more steps behind the rest of the world,” he said.
Ilknur Ozgur, founder and director of Artstillery, also received the OAC email. She’s worried about what will happen to Dallas’ small and mid-size arts organizations.
“When funding is put on hold, as it has been under our current administration, time and time again, we set ourselves on a path to erode, and eventually erase, these essential cultural voices,” she said in a written statement.
While she prepares to lead Artstillery, which focuses on performance art and social justice, through another change, she said the larger question Dallasites need to ask is “what do we want our city to look like?”
An OAC representative said the office is collecting questions at OACGeneral@dallas.gov.
Arts Access was a recipient of the Arts Activate grant last year and receives funding from the Dallas OAC.
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, The University of Texas at Dallas, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.