Business Council for the Arts (BCA) was founded by Raymond D. Nasher in 1988 as an outgrowth of a 1987 Dallas Citizens Council initiative. Nasher—a Dallas real estate developer, leading philanthropist and global art collector—as well as other key business leaders and Citizens Council members determined that Dallas would have the best opportunity for becoming a prominent business city with parallel growth in the North Texas region’s cultural community.

Using the model developed by David Rockefeller in 1967, Nasher created a new agency. BCA opened in June 1988 as Dallas Business Committee for the Arts, an affiliate of National Business Committee for the Arts. Nasher was Founding Chairman and remained in that role until his passing in March 2007. Patricia A. Porter served as BCA’s Director/CEO from 1988 until 2009.

Founder Nasher is succeeded by his daughter, Nancy A. Nasher, who serves as Founder’s Chair. Joel Austin, Senior VP and Chief Digital Office at Oncor Electric Delivery leads the Board of Directors composed of Dallas senior business leaders.  Former CEO, Katherine Wagner, served from 2009 to 2023 and was recently succeeded by Stacie Wheelock Adams, previously the Senior Vice President of External Affairs at Axxess.

Throughout BCA’s history, major contributions have been made by North Texas member companies to ensure development as a regional cultural center.  These corporate leaders champion the importance of supporting the arts as a major component of a successful economic region. Equally, it is recognized that development of a creative workforce keeps North Texas on the leading edge of world business. From cultural tourism initiatives to project matchmaking, BCA collaborates with business and government decision makers to foster outstanding arts management, volunteer leadership and broader arts investment.