Arts and Culture Advisory Commission Chair Named: Ella Goode Johnson
The City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture is pleased to begin its 2022 calendar year with a new chairwoman of the Arts and Culture Advisory Commission, Ella Goode Johnson.
Nominated by Mayor Eric Johnson and confirmed unanimously by City Council, Johnson has more than five years of previous service on the Arts and Culture Advisory Commission where she represented District 3 as the nominee for City Councilman Casey Thomas.
The commission was charged with implementing the 2018 Dallas Cultural Plan which addresses equity, diversity, space for arts, support for artists and a sustainable arts ecosystem, as well as communications about the arts. Johnson was instrumental in the success of that planning effort that engaged more than 9,000 Dallas residents and was unanimously approved by City Council. Johnson is the first Black female to serve as Chair of the Arts and Culture Advisory Commission.
For the past four years, Johnson served as the Chairwoman of the Allocations Committee which oversees all OAC funding programs for the Commission. This Committee annually recommends more than $6.5M in funding each year to more than 125 arts organizations and artists.
βEspecially during the pandemic, I was committed to steering these funding efforts with an approach of flexibility and responsiveness to best support an arts industry in turmoil,β said Johnson.
Johnson has also championed the rehabilitation of the Juanita J. Craft Civil Rights House and Museum. As a proud lifelong member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., an international public service organization, Johnson helped secure a landmark gift of $10,000 from her Delta chapter for the restoration project.
With Ella Goode Johnson as the Chairwoman of the Arts and Cultural Advisory Commission of the City of Dallas, this coming year promises to be one of continued recovery and growth for the entire Dallas arts ecosystem. A few highlights include: the planned Craft House re-opening, the work towards an updated economic impact report (AEP6), and the investments of $250,000 recently received from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the largest NEA grant OAC has ever received.
Ella Goode Johnson can be reached at ella.goode-johnson@dallascityhall.com
