Moody Performance Hall Signage Illuminated In Dallas Arts District

Moody Performance Hall's LED neon-esque sign was officially illuminated for the first time Monday night in a ceremony outside the building on Flora Street in the Dallas Arts District. The event featured remarks from Mayor Mike Rawlings and Matrice Ellis-Kirk, chair of the AT&T Performing Arts Center board, and Francie Moody-Dahlberg, chair and executive director of the Moody Foundation.

"On behalf of the Moody Foundation, my brother Ross and I are so proud to be part of the city of Dallas' vibrant and diverse arts community," said Ms. Moody-Dahlberg. "We are incredibly honored to have our name alongside this amazing group of benefactors that made the Arts District possible."

Also at the event, Mayor Rawlings announced that the Moody Foundation accelerated the payments on their gift establishing a $10 million endowment, the newly created Moody Fund for the Arts (MFA) to support small Dallas arts organizations. Originally, the endowment was to be funded at $1 million a year over ten years, awarding about $100,000 in the first few years. The acceleration means the MFA will likely be funding about $400,000 a year by 2020, years ahead of schedule.

"This is like a shot in the arm for these small arts organizations," said Mayor Rawlings. "They are innovating and creating incredible work, all on a shoestring. I think getting more of these funds awarded even sooner is going to have an incredible impact on the works and performances we see in the years to come."

This gift made last May, was part of $80 million in grants awarded across Texas by the Moody Foundation in 2017.

"The Moody Foundation understands the importance of the arts to our state," said Ross Moody, trustee of the Moody Foundation and CEO of National Western Life Group. "The arts sector has a powerful economic impact in every community, but even more important, it feeds the creative and cultural identity that makes our state so unique."

Monday night's event, which was also attended by City Councilmembers and members of the Cultural Affairs Commission, was an opportunity for the community to thank the Moody Foundation for their many gifts to Dallas and to see the new illuminated sign stretching across the front windows of the theatre.

Each letter is 43 inches high and the total length of the sign is 72 feet. The sign is designed to look like neon lights, but uses LED for easier maintenance and less energy use. It was designed by 2 x 4 which also designed the signage for the Winspear Opera House, Wyly Theatre and Nasher Sculpture Center. McCarthy Construction, who built Moody Performance Hall, is the general contractor of the sign. Good Fulton Farrell is the architect of record. The sign was manufactured by ASI, with electrical work by JMEG. Another smaller sign will be installed later this year on the Ross Avenue side of the building.

Formerly Dallas City Performance Hall, the Dallas City Council voted in May to officially change the name to Moody Performance Hall in recognition of a generous $22 million gift to the arts in Dallas from The Moody Foundation. It is one of the largest gifts the Galveston-based foundation has made in the city of Dallas.

In addition to the $10 million endowment to establish the MFA, the Moody Foundation also made a $12 million gift to support the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Fulfilling the Vision capital campaign. The Moody Foundation accelerated that gift as well, fulling funding the $12 million.

"The generosity of the Moody Foundation and Moody family to the Center, the arts community, to Dallas and to Texas is just astounding," said Ms. Ellis-Kirk. "We are so thrilled to have the Moody name on this wonderful hall in the Dallas Arts District."

The former Dallas City Performance Hall opened in September 2012. It was the most recent performance venue to be built in the Dallas Arts District and was created to ensure performance space was available in the district for emerging and midsize performing arts groups. The 750-seat venue with its strong acoustics and intimate feel is used for dance, music, film, lectures, theatre and more. The spacious lobby can be used for performances or receptions. It also includes a small art exhibition space and a fused glass public art display in the lobby created by Dallas artist Octavio Medellin. The City's Office of Cultural Affairs operates, programs and maintains the venue.

The AT&T Performing Arts Center is a nonprofit foundation that operates and programs a 10-acre campus comprised of three premier performance venues and a park in downtown Dallas. Opening in October 2009, the Center has helped complete the 30-year vision of the Dallas Arts District.

Audiences enjoy the best and most recent from Broadway and off-Broadway; the finest dance companies from across the globe co-presented with TITAS Presents; top concerts and performers with Center Presents; and cutting-edge speakers from the #hearhere series. Thousands of students explore and more deeply experience the arts through the Center's education program, Open Stages. Working with local service agencies, the Center provides free tickets to underserved individuals and families through Community Partners. These programs are made possible by the ongoing support of donors and members.

The Center's five resident companies are among the city's leading arts institutions: Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, The Dallas Opera, Dallas Theater Center and Texas Ballet Theater.

Designed by internationally acclaimed architects, the Center's performance spaces are some of the finest venues in the world:

• Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, designed by Foster + Partners of London, is a stunning 2,200-seat venue wrapped in red glass with outstanding acoustic performance halls.
• Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre is a 575-seat theatre with one of the most versatile stages in the world and a distinctive aluminum exterior. It was designed by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus (partner in charge) and Rem Koolhaas.
• Annette Strauss Square, designed by Foster + Partners, is an open-air entertainment venue with lawn and patio seating for 2,000 surrounded by the downtown skyline.
• Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park is an urban park with native plants and grasses, landscaped lawns, performance spaces, a reflecting pool. Sammons Park was designed by Michel Desvigne and includes the Information Center designed by Foster + Partners.

The Center's mission is to provide a public gathering place that strengthens community and fosters creativity through the presentation of performing arts. For more information about the AT&T Performing Arts Center and to purchase tickets, become a member, or make a donation, visit www.attpac.org.

The Moody Foundation was established in 1942 by William L. Moody Jr. and his wife, Libbie Rice Shearn Moody to share their good fortune and make a difference in the lives of the people of Texas. Since then, the Moody Foundation has made more than $1.5 billion in grants throughout the state to organizations that have educated, healed, nurtured and inspired generations of Texans. Learn more at www.moodyf.org.

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