Building upon our history of producing impactful projects in North Texas, Make Art with Purpose (MAP) has recently launched a variety of projects aimed at enhancing community well-being and fostering creative expression. One such project is Grounded: Emotional Well-Being Kits, a series of workshops held across Dallas and North Texas. Participants create portable grounding kits designed to ease the intensity of stressful situations and promote emotional health. What set these workshops apart from traditional counseling or art therapy sessions is the intentional design around aesthetic principles and inquiry-based learning—rooted in a pedagogy of care and empathy—that emphasized the importance of beauty in our lives. This approach fostered emotional expression and engaged participants in a reflective process, allowing them to find personal meaning and value in the creative work. The outcome was a unique, enriching arts experience that went beyond self-expression to promote healing and connection.
In 2023, MAP produced WELCOME, a project aimed at connecting newly settled residents of Dallas to resources that support community integration and well-being. The program included a beautifully designed, reusable canvas bag filled with culturally appropriate food, which was distributed to 250 Afghan families. WELCOME addressed gaps in refugee outreach by supporting organizations such as Refugee Services of Texas (RST), which are often stretched thin due to limited funding and staff. By distributing food bags to 250 Afghan families, the program not only assisted RST’s outreach efforts but also allowed the organization to reallocate budgeted funds to other critical areas.
In collaboration with community members of all ages, the organization has produced numerous murals. Recent projects include Unity, a mural covering the walls, columns, and ceiling of The Galbraith parking garage, a 217-unit mixed-income multifamily property in downtown Dallas. The project was centered around Human-Centered Design, with the creative process prioritizing community involvement. The completed mural serves as a gateway to the building and Celebree Preschool, located on the ground floor. Themes of unity, whimsy, education, and home underpin the design.
MAP also recently completed the design for a mural that will wrap around the parking garage of a new building at the Metrocare mental health campus in West Dallas. Measuring 230,000 square feet, this mural will be printed on Valmex Façade Textile and celebrates the positive impact of the arts on mental health. The mural’s creation involved design interns from CityLab High School in Dallas, who participated in weekly workshops led by MAP teaching artists. The students learned about mural and textile design, placemaking, and created initial sketches exploring patterns, shapes, textures, and layering, contributing to their personal and professional development.
These projects are just a few recent examples of MAP's ongoing efforts to bring art and creativity into public spaces and engage communities. Through each initiative, MAP remains committed to collaboration, interdisciplinary practice, and fostering diversity and inclusion. We believe the arts play a vital role in building a vibrant, connected city—one that looks both inward and outward, supports the well-being of its citizens, and contributes to a global dialogue of shared knowledge and experiences.
Working in collaboration and across disciplines, Make Art with Purpose produces arts and design projects that promote equity and inclusion and address social and environmental concerns.
Make Art with Purpose’s current programs include Conversations on Freedom, a new video podcast where artists and other cultural producers discuss the relationship between art, the creative process, and freedom. The podcast will debut in September 2026.
This fall MAP is producing The World We Want to Create where students from CityLab and IDEA high schools in Dallas will visualize and bring speculative futures to life. Workshops will be built around The Three Horizons, a framework for imagining the future and how to get there. The outcomes for the project include student designed banners installed in Halperin Park throughout November 2026 and animated videos projected at the Aurora festival on November 21, 2026. A booklet of the students work will also be produced to carry the work of the project forward after the public art exhibitions.
Also in September, MAP will produce a public art project in Chicago titled The Further We Roll. The project includes an installation of four flags from MAP’s 2020 North Texas festival, MAP2020: The Further We Roll, the More We Gain, where ten female artists were commissioned to design flags that commemorated and/or critically examined the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Four flags will be flown from the roof of Lillstreet. The project includes voter registration events and a family/youth workshop where participants can create their own flags honoring civil rights activists and the right to vote.
Current Remediation: Reclaiming the Urban River is a water remediation sculpture project where MAP’s creative team will collaborate with Dallas, Denton, and Fort Worth artists on the design and construction of temporary sculptures, made of natural materials, that float within the Trinity watershed. The sculptures will demonstrate the possibility of using indigenous plants to clean water systems. Throughout the project, North Texas residents will have opportunities, through public programs, to see the watershed as a living artery of the city – worthy of care, protection, and pride.
MAP is working with artist Yixuan Pan on the production of a dumpling cookbook. With the working title From Scratch: Tasting the Tenderness in Food Production, the publication will include community dumpling recipes collected from Asian immigrants, event scores, and photographs from a performance produced by Pan, where women prepared and served dumplings to a musical score. Other content includes educational information about immigrant justice in food sustainability.
At Make Art with Purpose (MAP), equity is central to our mission of using art and design as catalysts for social and environmental change. We are committed to ensuring that artists and communities of all backgrounds have access to opportunities for creative expression, collaboration, and visibility. We recognize that many voices—particularly those of artists of color, women, LGBTQ+ communities, and others who have been historically underrepresented—bring vital perspectives to our collective future.
In this tine, MAP works to create pathways that reduce barriers, share resources, and amplify diverse voices is more important than ever. We are committed to strengthening both the arts ecosystem and the communities we serve. By centering inclusion in our programs, partnerships, and organizational culture, we strive to build a creative landscape where all people can participate fully, contribute meaningfully, and see their experiences reflected with dignity and respect.
Organization name
Make Art with Purpose (MAP)
other names
MAP
Tax id (EIN)
46-0641239
Causes
Arts & Humanities
Operating Budget
Less than $100,000
Counties Served
Dallas, Denton, Tarrant
BIPOC Serving
Black or African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latinx, Native American
BIPOC Leadership
Board Chair
Address
1300 S Polk Street, Suite 228