• Thank you!
• What you can do!
• Meet our 2015 Board of Directors

On behalf of our Board or Directors, I would like to thank you for your passionate interest and participation in the arts.  You value the role that the arts play in our lives and in the health of our communities, and how they can build connections between the diverse cultures of the world.  You understand how the arts can inspire, heal, elevate and create a safe place where we can come together to discuss, share, contemplate, and celebrate the unique world around us.  And you know that the arts have a significant positive economic impact across our communities and play a critical role in a vibrant economy.

Thank you, too, for your belief in public support for the arts!  We will need your voice and commitment more than ever as we begin the 84th Texas Legislative Session on January 13, 2015.  We know that the investment of public resources reflects civic leadership that understands the true value and vital role of the arts in our society. 

There are a few things you can do in the coming weeks to get ready for 2015:

• Join for the first time or renew your membership in TFA today as we work together for a more creative Texas!  We work for you!  As a 501 c 4 organization, Texans for the Arts will be lobbying and advocating to preserve the Hotel Motel Occupancy Tax's funding support for the arts and to increase legislative appropriations for the Texas Commission for the Arts.
• Let your legislators know the creative and meaningful work you do as artists and arts leaders in your community!  Do your legislators know who you are and what creative work you do in the community?  Visit Texans for the Arts Action Alert to identify your legislators and connect with them directly.  Write to them and let them know the work that you do.  Put them on your mailing list and invite them to your events.  Urge them to support the arts, culture and creativity in their districts and throughout the state of Texas.

• Sign up for 2015 Arts Advocacy Day!
  On Wednesday, January 28, 2015, Texans for the Arts will host its biennial Arts Advocacy Day.  Join us, beginning at 11:00 a.m., to learn about the issues, be inspired by your peers, prepare for and make visits with your legislators.

• Sign up for the Texas Commission on the Arts Conference: Engaging New Audiences! 
  On Thursday, January 29th and Friday, January 30th, 2015, the Texas Commission on the Arts hosts its biennial Conference, bringing together experts in the areas of marketing, fundraising, board development, strategic planning and more to help you attract and engage new audiences and grow your organizations.

Last, but not least, I would like to recognize and thank TFA's dedicated and committed Board of Directors from across the state of Texas, listed here to the left, and to announce our new 2015 leadership team and new members.  Our Board of Directors brings a wealth of skills, experience and professionalism to this commitment and play a critical role in strengthening the impact of TFA.

• President of the Board - Jonathon Glus, Executive Director, Houston Arts Alliance
• Vice President, Cookie Ruiz, CFRE, Executive Director, Ballet Austin
• Treasurer, Linda Lee, Executive Director, Texas Nonprofit Theatres
• Secretary, Amy Baskin, Executive Director, Young Audiences of Northeast Texas;
• Parliamentarian, Mary Padgett, community arts advocate, and member, Texas Association of Symphony Orchestras (TASO)
• Cathy Neece Brown, Interim President, Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County
• Catherine Cueller, CEO, Dallas Arts District
• Jane Estes, writer, Founding Board Member, Georgetown Art Works, Georgetown
• Ben Fyffe, Cultural Programs Supervisor, City of El Paso Museums & Cultural Affairs Department
• Perryn Leech, Managing Director, Houston Grand Opera
• George Ramirez, President and Chairman, Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts
• John Kerr Smither, artist, principal, The Smither Company, Huntsville
• Glenda Thompson, Managing Director, Jubilee Theatre, Fort Worth.  

Thank you to all of you across the state for participating in our grassroots advocacy effort to support the development and implementation of public policy, and secure public and private resources to strengthen and grow vibrant, dynamic and economically rich arts and cultural communities across Texas.

Very best wishes,

Ann S. Graham

Executive Director

Texans for the Arts

Ann S. Graham

Executive Director