Fort Worth Community Arts Center

Founded in 1963 as the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, Arts Fort Worth, is a nonprofit organization with the mission to promote, nurture, and support the arts in Fort Worth.

Arts Fort Worth administers a competitive grants program, manages the Fort Worth Public Art program, and operates the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, a dynamic arts complex with theaters, galleries, studios, and office suites, on behalf of the City of Fort Worth.

Arts Fort Worth also provides educational programming and supports arts advocacy at all levels of government, rents the Arts Center for a wide range of private and public events and programs, and also provides educational programming, promotes experienced and emerging artists. Arts Fort Worth is supported in part by the City of Fort Worth and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Located at 1300 Gendy Street, the Arts Center is part of the most architecturally significant museum districts in the United States. The striking modern Herbert Bayer building, with a later O’Neil Ford addition, opened to the public in 1954 as home to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. When, in 2002, the Modern moved down the street, the Fort Worth Community Arts Center opened. The building has exhibited world class art and supported the performing arts for more than half a century

Operating at the intersection of public art, infrastructure, and architecture this artist-designed pedestrian bridge is a community-driven, site-specific project, Drift was designed by artist Volkan Alkanoglu and fabricated by Ignition Arts in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Public Art

Public art assists in the expression of a community's sense of identity and enhance the visual landscape and character of the city. Most importantly, public art is accessible to everyone and it can increase the livability, safety, and desirability of a neighborhood or a city. 

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Established in 2001, Fort Worth Public Art is a City of Fort Worth program managed by Arts Fort Worth and advised by the City's Art Commission. The collection includes over 100 commissioned, acquired, and donated artworks located throughout the city and enhancing civic architecture, creating harmonious public spaces, and fostering artfully designed infrastructure.   

Photo courtesy of Ballet Frontier

Grants Program

Arts Fort Worth supports dozens of Fort Worth arts organizations and artistic programs through the Grants Program. Our Grants are designed to foster a culture of creativity and innovation. Through the generosity of our donors and partners, Arts Fort Worth distributed $1.1 million in grants in 2021 and served 2,106,952 residents and visitors. 

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As part of the grants process, Arts Fort Worth enlists North Texas residents with special knowledge of the arts, education, nonprofit administration, and finance to review grant applications. Grants panelists play a crucial role in the grant-making process by acting as good stewards of public dollars, ensuring that funds are used wisely by evaluating applications with a critical and objective eye. 

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Currently, Arts Fort Worth offers three grants the Fort Worth TPID Cultural Initiative Grants, the DEIA Capacity Building Grant, CORE Operating Grants, and CORE PLUS Outreach Grants. 

(817) 738-1938

​1300 Gendy Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76107

Hours of Operation: Monday - Saturday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.