Welcome to HouArts in Action – an effort to champion arts & culture in the Greater Houston Area. This initiative, supported by Houston Endowment, Houston’s Cultural Districts and the HouArts in Action Task Force, is an opportunity for the sector to come together to craft a platform and strategy to champion the arts.
Monday, March 24, 2025 | 9am or 6pm | The Houston Saengerbund, 1703 Heights Boulevard Houston, TX 77008
Join us for a collaborative working session where we’ll dive into the HouArts platform and strategy and explore how we can collectively advocate for the future of Houston’s arts and culture sector.
Your voice is essential in shaping the next steps for our creative community. Whether you’re an artist, arts administrator, or advocate, we invite you to help build a strong, unified message for Houston’s arts sector.
RSVP now to secure your spot. Don’t miss this chance to be part of the conversation shaping the future of arts and culture in our city!
HouArts in Action hosted a bus trip to Austin on Wednesday, February 5, for Texas Arts Advocacy Day at the Texas State Capitol which is hosted each legislative session by Texans for the Arts. More than 200 citizen activists from across the state gathered to learn, share and participate in the democratic process. The nearly 50 Houstonians on the trip had the opportunity to put their passion for the arts into constructive and informative advocacy through orientation, training and legislative meetings.
Thank you for joining us to learn Houston’s participation in Texas Arts Advocacy Day. This virtual event was an opportunity to hear what to expect for the 2025 Texas Arts Advocacy Day in Austin, including learning about the Texans for the Arts’ Legislative Agenda for the 89th Session.
Thank you for joining us for the Town Hall Meeting! If you missed the meeting, you can see the slides and meeting summary below.
Thank you for joining us for the Community Kickoff Meeting to launch HouArts in Action, the first sector-wide meeting focused on developing a shared agenda to champion arts and culture across Greater Houston! If you missed the meeting, you can watch the recording to learn about the context and goals of the initiative and a breakdown of how to get involved in the months ahead.
This initiative came out of a visioning and planning process conducted by Houston’s Cultural Districts in 2023, which outlined a two-part strategy to increase the connection, visibility, and sustainability of arts and culture in Houston. The resulting plan identifies a need to grow the network of arts and culture champions in Houston through building capacity for advocacy and developing partnerships beyond the arts & culture sector, in order to advance shared policy and funding priorities.
When compared to peer cities, Houston falls short in funding allocated to arts and culture, and has relatively underdeveloped infrastructure for arts advocacy. Changing this dynamic will require a coordinated effort to influence public policy. While there are a number of impressive arts leaders and advocates, advocacy knowledge and participation is limited and disparate across the arts and cultural sector. Coordinated advocacy is critical for a successful path forward, as there is no city or county-wide body that advocates for common needs.
This initiative attempts to grow the network of arts and cultural ambassadors in Houston by building capacity for advocacy and developing new partnerships outside of the sector. Building power for the sector will allow these efforts to advance shared policy and funding priorities, resulting in a well-funded arts and culture sector that is involved in the everyday decisions that shape life in Houston.
The specifics of the strategy will be co-created with the sector over the coming months.
Friday, December 13, 2024
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM CT
Virtual (via Zoom)
Thursday, January 23, 2025
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM CT
Virtual (via Zoom)
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Bus from Houston
Early April, 2025
We’d love to hear what policy areas, impact statistics, or exciting partnerships you think we should be considering. In addition to the forums listed above, please take this anonymous survey to share your feedback.
Share your email address with us here to be on our distribution list:
Members of the HouArts in Action Task Force were selected from a pool of applicants via an open call process. They include artists, creatives, & large, medium and small arts organizations representatives from across the Greater Houston Region. Task force members were selected to share direct insight into the needs of the cultural sector and offer guidance as we work together with the community to build champions of arts & culture in the Greater Houston Area.
In response to a community call for the creation of an icon that represented the Champion the Arts strategy. In August 2024, we held an open call for local artists to create this icon. The design by Houston artist Sebastian Gomez de la Torre was selected. His mosaic icon symbolizes the diverse arts and culture sector in Houston. We invite you to show your support for the arts in Houston by wearing the HOU ARTS pin. You can pick one up at one of our upcoming events.
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