The Office of Cultural Affairs, once part of the city's Park and Recreation Department, was created as a means of strengthening and nurturing the arts in Dallas through providing technical assistance programs and grants. The Cultural Arts Program, and its predecessor, the City Arts Program, awarded grants to local arts programs that met certain requirements. Other programs offered by the Cultural Affairs Office were the Technical Assistance Program and the Minority Arts Incentives Program. The Office of Cultural Affairs sought to support and build partnerships with artistic groups and organizations in Dallas through training and grants.

This collection consists of materials kept by John Davis during his tenure as head of the technical assistance program at the Office of Cultural Affairs. Also contained in this collection is his participation in the National Society of Fundraising Executives - Dallas Chapter, as well as some contract work for the city of San Antonio and Greater Dallas Community of Churches. The collection offers an in depth look at the state of the arts in Dallas during the mid eighties. Many artistic organizations in Dallas applied to and participated in programs and grants offered by the office. Materials kept on these organizations by John Davis include a variety of information - budget, staffing, organizational information, programming, policies and procedures. Also kept is Cultural Affairs administrative and programming reports, including grants awarded, correspondence, and official policy. The John Davis Cultural Affairs Collection comes from a time when the city wanted to take a more active part in the promotion of arts in Dallas. This organization was used by the City of Dallas to direct and coordinate a cultural policy that benifits the city and recognize the arts as an important compenent to quality of life for its citizens.