Got this in email today from Michele Monseau over at Three Walls Gallery:

Texas Artists Call to Action:

The Governor’s office has a proposal to assume control over the Texas Commission on the Arts. The 40-year state agency would be eliminated and its power and agency would become a part of the Governor’s office. The future of the state arts supporting agency is at a crossroads and we need every Texas artist to wake up and contact their state representative and state senator and ask them to join the Texas Cultural Resources Caucus.

By your state representative and state senator joining the Texas Cultural Resources Caucus, artists will have a centralized and direct legislative power base to review the Governor’s proposal and the future of the Texas Arts industry. The political and funding implications for the Texas Commission on the Arts being under the Governor’s office need to be studied and reviewed carefully. The politics of the arts under the Governor can be
beneficial with an arts-supportive Governor but what happens next Governor or the next?

Is this a short-sighted fix to a battered agency or the long-term solution? The proper analysis has not yet been done therefore it is important for all artists to become engaged and encourage their state representatives and state senators to join the Texas Cultural Resources Caucus where we can have a centralized political discussion and analysis of this latest proposal. The more legislative members involved in the Texas Cultural Resources Caucus would also create more power regarding the fate of the Texas Commission on the Arts created by the grassroots army of Texas artists.

There are already an estimated 50 House and Senate members who have joined the Texas Cultural Resources Caucus. To contact or to identify your state representative or senator, go to the Texas Legislature website.

Please pass this E-mail action alert to every Texas artist and Texas’ arts group and encourage them to get involved today.

Richard May
Arts Alliance
Austin, TX

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