The state of Texas received more than $1.2 million dollars in NEA grants for 2011 with, frankly, the lion’s share of the money going to Houston and Austin. In fact, Houston received as much as the next four cities combined. (Houston = 21 grants, Austin = 9 grants, Dallas = 5 grants, San Antonio = 5, Fort Worth = 2).

In alphabetical order, here are North Texas’ grant recipients. They include the Dallas Opera (to help support its production of Tristan and Isolde), the Dallas Symphony (for a world premiere by composer and former Police member Stewart Copeland), a touring exhibition by Documentary Arts, a collaboration between Jubilee Theatre and Fort Worth ISD and new plays by Kitchen Dog Theatre.

City of Dallas: $10,000
To support the Día del Niño Festival, highlighting Latin American traditions. Selected artists Alegre Ballet Folklórico, Cara Mía Theater Company, and the Parranda Venezuela music ensemble will be presented during the Children’s Day festival that is inspired by a long-standing custom in Latin American countries including Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

Dallas Opera: $30,000
To support a production of Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner. Accompanying outreach activities will include lectures, panel discussions with the artists, and a radio broadcast on classical WRR-FM.

Dallas Symphony: $20,000
To support world premiere performances of a new work for gamelan and orchestra by composer Stewart Copeland. Titled “Gamelan D’Drum,” the performance will feature Dallas-based gamelan ensemble D’Drum and will be preceded by master classes with the composer and the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestras.

Documentary Arts: $30,000
To support Traditional Art and Immigration: Chinese Opera in New York, a touring exhibition. In collaboration with Beloit College, the project will use artifacts, photographs, and video to tell the story of NEA National Heritage Fellow Qi Shu Fang and her troupe of Peking Opera performers, who practice a traditional 18th-century art form that has established vital roots in America.

Fort Worth Opera: $15,000
To support the production of Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar) by George Frideric Handel. In keeping with the company’s mission to produce a variety of work spanning the history and breadth of the art form, these performances mark the company’s first production of a work from the baroque repertoire.

Jubilee Theatre: $10,000
To support performances of the play Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery by Shay Youngblood. In addition to the professional production, Youngblood and director Phyllis Cicero will work with South Hills and OD Wyatt High Schools to produce condensed versions of the play for their communities.

Kitchen Dog Theater: $10,000
To support the development of new plays during the 13th annual New Works Festival, complemented by educational and outreach activities. Over the course of the festival’s five-week run, activities will include a mainstage production of Ponzi by Elaine Romero; a week-long workshop and staged readings of six winning scripts chosen from more than 350 submitted manuscripts; and Playwrights Under Progress (aka PUP Fest), which consists of five staged readings of short plays written by local high school students.