HouArts in Action.

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.

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What is HouArts in Action?

HouArts in Action is a collaborative, region-wide initiative designed to strengthen Greater Houston’s arts and culture sector through strategic advocacy, expanded partnerships, and unified messaging. Building on work by Houston’s seven state-designated Cultural Districts and a sector-wide Task Force, this effort aims to put arts on the agenda. We are mobilizing ambassadors from across the ecosystem to communicate arts and culture as an essential driver of the region’s economic growth, community vitality, and civic identity. 

Strategic Platform

Public Funding

Protect and Grow Funding Streams for Arts & Culture

Public funding for the arts in the Greater Houston area is an essential component of ensuring that the region remains a global leader in arts and culture. HouArts’ top priority is around demystifying, protecting, and expanding funding for the sector.

Key Strategies:

  1. Ensure a renewal of the arts allocation for Hotel & Occupancy Taxes (HOT funds) in 2027 and beyond.
  2. Sustain and improve regional Civic Art Ordinances/ “percent for art” policies across the region. 
  3. Identify opportunities to catalyze arts funding with existing funded entities, including TIRZs, management districts, and Boards and Commissions at the County and regional level.
  4. Work with County Commissioners and officials to make it easier to deploy existing HOT arts funding at the county level identity opportunities for expanded arts funding from Harris County.
  5. Build a public campaign to establish a permanent allocation for arts and culture.

Vibrant Spaces

Create and Preserve Vibrant Cultural Spaces

Vibrant street-life and cultural spaces are the lifeblood of neighborhoods, reflecting unique character and sustaining economic activity. HouArts will work to ensure that existing spaces are supported, and collaborate on efforts to make streetlife more vibrant through integrating local artists, musicians and creatives into the region’s urban fabric.

Key Strategies:

  1. Partner with management districts, TIRZs, and county precincts across the region to support plans for vibrant streetlife in public spaces, including parks. Identify opportunities to better integrate local artists and performers into programming and activations.
  2. Encourage activation of ground level storefronts with art displays, starting with buildings owned by the city, county, and other public entities. Encourage leaders to explore innovative models activate vacant commercial properties, leveraging partnerships with landowners and local business associations.
  3. Work towards full ADA accessibility in cultural facilities, museums, and surrounding streetscapes by collaborating with city agencies, disability advocates, and designers to address physical, sensory, and communication barriers.
  4. Work with policymakers to facilitate the easy activation and rentals of publicly owned community centers and cultural facilities, with a focus on streamlining and simplifying booking processes.
  5. Collaborate with local and regional planning entities to explore strategies to incentivize developers to embed cultural spaces in new construction and preserve existing creative spaces by leveraging deed restrictions and district-based protections.
  6. Explore the creation of low-cost policy interventions that can reduce barriers to artists and performings, such as musician loading zones.

Economic Opportunity

Build Pathways to Prosperity for Artists & Creatives

Art is not possible without artists and creatives, many of whom report challenges maintaining and scaling their creative practices. HouArts will work to identify and advocate for solutions that that help artists and creatives stay in Houston.

Key Strategies:

  1. Distribute information on evolving policy and regulations, as well as existing grant and commercial opportunities at the Local, County, State and Federal levels.
  2. Advocate for participation and integration of local artists and performers into activations for conventions and special events.
  3. Seek to identify and facilitate public funding for workforce development initiatives within arts and culture, with a focus on supporting and training local artists to be eligible for major activations and installations.
  4. Remove policy barriers and explore opportunities to facilitate the development of artist live & workspaces across the region.

Effective Storytelling

Communicate the Richness of Houston’s Culture

Those who are tapped into the arts and cultural ecosystem of the city see Houston as brimming with cultural assets. But many residents and visitors lack of awareness of this richness. HouArts will work to change this perception, facilitating a partnership between the sector and the entities responsible for promoting and advertising Houston to visitors and businesses.

Key Strategies:

  1. Collaborate with city leaders to facilitate the growth of leisure and cultural tourism as a way of attracting and extending stays of visitors.
  2. Package and highlight the stories that make Houston’s arts and culture scene unique and diverse.
  3. Explore creative messaging channels, including documentary, influencers, and other non-traditional advertising approaches.
  4. Partner with VisitHouston to identify events and narratives to drive visitors to Houston for its arts and culture offerings.

Initiative Sequencing

HouArts in Action recognizes that meaningful change requires sustained commitment. Our five-year implementation plan begins with safeguarding existing resources and relationships, then strategically expanding partnerships and advocacy capacity, and ultimately building toward permanent infrastructure that secures the region’s place as a cultural powerhouse.

Protect existing resources, launch messaging campaign, identify opportunities for vibrant spaces and workforce development
Year 12025-2026
Secure City of Houston HOT funding renewal, advance promising space initiatives, expand county funding eligibility, deepen tourism partnerships
Year 22026-2027
Prepare for permanent arts allocation, advance policy and funding opportunities to improve public space activation and integration of local artists into major events
Year 32027-2028
Execute plan for permanent arts funding, analyze successful strategies for replication, deepen partnerships
Years 4–52028+

By 2030, we envision a Houston where:

  • Arts and culture have multiple permanent, dedicated funding streams that weather economic shifts
  • Every neighborhood has accessible, vibrant cultural spaces that reflect community identity
  • Artists and creatives can build sustainable careers in our city
  • Houston’s cultural richness is widely recognized, driving tourism and talent attraction
  • Arts and culture have a seat at the table in decisions about our city’s future

Economic and Community Impact

Research demonstrates the significant impact of arts and culture investments. When we invest in creativity, we’re investing in Greater Houston’s future

Economic Vitality
$ 0 Billion

in economic activity generated by arts organizations in 2022, with every dollar of HOT funds invested generating $2.16 in local tax revenue

Community Safety
up to 0 %

reduction in serious crime in neighborhoods with strong cultural resources  

youth development
0 % of youth

in arts programs report improved self-esteem, and arts engagement makes students 46% more likely to meet college readiness benchmarks

public health
0 % reduced risk

of depression and 47% reduced risk of dementia in cultural participants

Community Pride
0 %

of Harris County arts attendees agree that arts venues inspire pride in their communities

Key Audiences & Messaging

The advocacy strategy tailors messages to four critical stakeholder groups:

Elected Officials

Great Cities invest in the Arts

Business Leaders

Everything is bigger in Texas, including our arts business

Residents

Arts and culture are what makes Houston feel like home

Tourism & Hospitality

The arts light up Houston

Get in the Loop!

Share your email address with us here to be on our distribution list:

The HOU ARTS Icon

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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