OUR STORY

Denison Performing Arts, Inc., was formed in 1979 as a non-profit organization with the purpose of stimulating the natural artistic abilities of our community's schoolchildren. We continue to enrich children's lives through exposure to the arts beyond the traditional classroom setting as well as promotion of the visual and performing arts inside the classroom.

Those present at the DPA's first meeting on July 11, 1979, at Grayson County College were Dr. David Petrash, Carolyn McKinzie, Roger Hanson, Lissette Romero, June Ruth Hardy, and Lynne McKinley. They agreed the fine, visual, and performing arts should be integrated within and coordinated among the Denison schools.

Later that same year, Carolyn McKinzie, Lynne McKinley, Lissette Romero, and Susie Munson founded Denison Performing Arts, Inc. Their goal was to generate interest in the arts by offering DPA membership to individuals and businesses in the area. 

Initially funded by the W.B. Munson Foundation, Denison Performing Art is funded today through grants from the Munson Foundation along with several other charitable foundations - all interested in encouraging the fine arts education of our youth. 

DPA is also funded through membership dues in nominal amounts for general members and advances for Patron and Sponsor levels.