Cultural Affairs Office
Press and Communications
City Arts & Culture Plan Moves Forward With Grants To 126 Non-Profit Groups
December 3, 2018 -- The Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs announced today the latest milestone in the implementation of its Arts & Cultural Plan with grants totaling $4.5 million to 126 area arts and culture nonprofit organizations for public exhibitions, presentations and performances in 2019.
“Houston’s arts and cultural organizations are an essential part of who we are as a city,” said The Mayor. “Houston’s civic identity and quality of life are enhanced by our great diversity of arts and cultural offerings and the nonprofit groups that serve our community, attract visitors and contribute to the local economy. The breadth of Houston’s vibrant arts and cultural sector is well represented in the list of grant awards.”
The grants will support a comprehensive range of activities including film, choir, literary works, visual art, jazz, dance, theater, musicals, outdoor sculpture, classical music, opera, murals, poetry, craft, folk & traditional arts, photography and more.
City grants awarded through the Houston Arts Alliance are funded through a portion of the Hotel Occupancy Tax that is dedicated to the arts as part of the city’s cultural priorities guided by The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA).
“As called for in the Arts & Cultural Plan, we completely redesigned City grants offered through Houston Arts Alliance and early results from the changes are very positive,” said Debbie McNulty, Director of The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. “Our vision and values of inclusion and equity are at the heart of the new process, along with our priorities of public service and public access.”
Highlights of the new grant process include:
- An emphasis on supporting artists by allowing applicants that pay artists for their creative work to compete for larger grant awards
- A more efficient application form and increased community outreach by Houston Arts Alliance
- A 16 percent increase in new applications, reaching a total of more than 130
- An expanded evaluation panel based on diversity of identity, knowledge, artistic expertise and community involvement
The organizations receiving the new grants have a combined attendance of nearly 4.7 million and an $84 million impact on the local economy. They support almost 6,000 jobs, engage over 9,500 participating volunteers and reach all 11 City Council districts.
Panelists were Pia Agrawal, Aileen Alon, Callina Anderson, Torrence Atkinson, Michelle Barnes, Tiffany Bourgeois, Elizabeth Lisa Cruces, Fleurette Fernando, Gonzo Figueroa, Chanelle Nicole Frazier, Alison de Lima Greene, Darry Hearon, Jon Hopson, Divya Janardhan, Delilah Montoya, Joseph Roberts, Marissa Saenz, Kristian Salinas and Jason Woods. The City thanks each of these panelists for their role in the grant process.
Congratulations to all the award recipients! Thank you for your dedication and contributions to the expansive arts and cultural landscape of Houston.
Grantees:
14 Pews4th Wall Theatre Co.
A. D. Players at the George Theater
Ambassadors International Ballet Folklorico
American Festival for the Arts
Aperio, Music of the Americas
Apollo Chamber Players
Architecture Center Houston Foundation
Ars Lyrica Houston
Art Colony Association
Art League of Houston
ArtX NonProfits
Asia Society Texas Center
Aurora Picture Show
Axiom Quartet
Bach Society Houston
Bay Area Houston Ballet & Theatre
Bharathi Kalai Manram
Box 13 Artspace
Brazilian Arts Foundation
Cantare Houston
The Catastrophic Theatre
Center for African American Military History
Center for Indian Classical Music of Houston
Chamber Music Houston
Children's Prison Arts Project
Chinese Community Center
City Ballet of Houston
Classical Theatre Company
Community Artists Collective
Community Music Center of Houston
The Company OnStage
Culture of Health - Advancing Together
Czech Cultural and Community Center
Dance Houston
Dance of Asian America
Dance Source Houston
Dirt Dogs Theatre Company
Discovery Green Conservancy
Diverse Works
Dynamism Fine Arts of Texas
ECHOrchestra
The Ensemble Theatre
Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston
Express Children's Theatre
FotoFest
Foundation for Modern Music
Frame Dance Productions
Freneticore
FreshArts
Greater East End Management District
Greater Houston Chorus
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts
The Heritage Society
HITS Theatre
Hope Stone
Houston Black Heritage Music & Arts Festival
Houston Boychoir
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
Houston Center for Photography
Houston Chamber Choir
Houston Children's Chorus
Houston Cinema Arts Society
Houston Civic Symphony Orchestra
Houston Early Music
Houston International Dance Coalition
Houston International Film Festival
Houston Latin American Philharmonic Orchestra
Houston Masterworks Chorus
Houston Metropolitan Dance Center
Houston Swing Dance Society
Houston Tidelanders
Houston Youth Symphony & Ballet
Iconotheatrix
Indian Performing Arts Samskriti
Indo-American Association
Inprint
Italian Cultural & Community Center of Houston
Jazz Education
Karen Stokes Dance
Kinetic Ensemble
Kingwood Dance Theatre
Kingwood Pops Orchestra
La Speranza
Luciole International Theatre Company
Magpies & Peacocks
Main Street Theater Houston
Memorial Hermann Community Benefit Corporation
Mercury Chamber Orchestra
Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company
Multicultural Education and Counseling Through the Arts
Musiqa
Nameless Sound
Neighbors in Action
Newspring
Noblemotion Dance
Nuit Blanche
Obsidian Art Space
OCA-Greater Houston Chapter
Open Dance Project
Opera in the Heights
Partnership for the Advancement and Immersion of Refugees
The Periwinkle Foundation
The Positive Project
The Printing Museum
Project Row Houses
Public Poetry
Rec Room Arts
River Oaks Chamber Orchestra
Rothko Chapel
Russian Cultural Center "Our Texas"
Several Dancers Core
Silambam Houston
Solel International
Stages Repertory Theatre
Tagore Center Foundation
Taiwanese Heritage Society of Houston
Texas Dragon Boat AssociationTheatre Suburbia
Uptown Dance Company
Vietnamese Culture and Science Association
Virtuosi of Houston
WindSync
Wordsmyth Theater
Writers in the Schools
Young Audiences Inc Of Houston
To learn more about the City’s cultural programs visit, https://www.houstontx.gov/culturalaffairs and follow The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs on Facebook and Instagram @HoustonMOCA.
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