Anyone driving through downtown by way of Woodall Rogers Freeway can see that Dallas is in the process of getting some major additions.  In 2003 a bond proposal was passed that included money allocated for the building of a Downtown arts facility – a performance hall – and money for other cultural arts facilities among many other projects that improve Dallas’ infrastructure.  Ed Oakley authored and was a major proponent of this bond referendum, and thanks to him and the others that worked tirelessly with him to get this proposal to the voters, Dallas is continuing to evolve as a major center for cultural arts.

The Meyerson Symphony Center and Dallas Museum of Art were joined just four years ago by the Nasher Sculpture Center.  Now, they will soon have another new neighbor with the addition of the The Winspear Opera House and the new performance hall.  The new facilities in the arts district have inspired developers to build two magnificent residential buildings within the arts district.  This type of development that Councilman Oakley supports brings jobs, tourism and culture to the city. 

Ed Oakley has been a long time supporter of the arts and bringing more cultural facilities to Dallas, but his dedication doesn’t end with downtown.  He has demonstrated his commitment to improving quality of life for our communities and students, so they, too, can reap the benefits of his hard work.

Ed is a major supporter of the Dallas Arts Learning Initiative (DALI), a collaboration of the City of Dallas, Dallas Independent School District, Big Thought, and The Wallace Foundation.  This initiative aims to increase arts exposure and participation for children both in school and in the community. 
This program has great promise for neighborhood based arts programs as well.  Neighborhood based community arts liaisons will be hired and trained, there will be community arts councils in Dallas neighborhoods and the program intends to connect families to existing programs and distribute neighborhood grants to fill in gaps.  There will also be a community information portal to provide information on neighborhood and citywide activities. Ed Oakley’s support of these programs will mean that the lives of thousands of Dallas’ children will be enriched by the arts.