Texas Cultural Trust Reveals Another Distinguished Group of Honorees for Tenth Biennial Texas Medal of Arts Awards

Actor Matthew McConaughey will be honored for Film, photographer Mark Seliger will be recognized for Multimedia, and artist Trenton Doyle Hancock will be awarded for Visual Arts.

Matthew McConaughey is an Academy Award-winning actor who made his mark on American cinema through his roles in critically acclaimed films, such as Dallas Buyers Club, Dazed and Confused, A Time to Kill and many others. Born in Uvalde, Texas and attending Longview High School, not only is Mathew one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading men, but he is also a producer, director, and philanthropist. Through his Just Keep Livin Foundation, he is empowering high school students by providing them with the tools to lead active lives and make healthy choices for a better future. Mark Seliger was born in Amarillo, Texas, and attended Houston’s High School for Performing & Visual Arts. After studying the history of documentary photography at East Texas State University, he began shooting for Rolling Stone. During his time there he shot over 125 covers and has also shot covers for Elle, Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar. His photographs are part of the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

“Access to arts education from an early age clearly shaped my life’s path, so I have a personal connection to the work the Texas Cultural Trust is doing,” said Mark Seliger, photographer and 2019 Texas Medal of Arts Awards recipient for Photography. “Earning recognition among this group of esteemed artists is humbling and inspiring.” Trenton Doyle Hancock’s illustrations pull from his own personal experience, comics, superheroes, and pop culture references, creating a mix of characters and plots demonstrating universal concepts of light and dark, good and evil, and the grey in between. Trenton was raised in Paris, Texas, earned his BFA from Texas A&M University and currently lives and works in Houston. His artwork is featured in the permanent collections of several prestigious museums, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as well as Dallas Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

“Texas Medal of Arts was established to honor artists who have helped shape the arts in Texas, and each of these honorees has unquestionably inspired creativity well beyond our state,” said Texas Cultural Trust Executive Director Heidi Marquez Smith. “We are proud to partner with Matthew, Mark, and Trenton on our tenth biennial event and to recognize their combined efforts in solidifying the future of the arts in Texas.”

Founded in 2001, TMAA has celebrated 108 Texas leaders and luminaries who have achieved excellence through their creative talents as well as those whose generosity has opened doors to artistic opportunity for Texans of all ages. As the signature fundraising event of the Texas Cultural Trust, the TMAA spotlight the power of the arts to improve children’s education, preserve the unique and proud culture of Texas, and stimulate the state’s economy.

For more information on the Texas Medal of Arts Awards and to purchase a sponsorship, please visit www.texasmedalofarts.org. For more information on the Texas Cultural Trust, please visit www.txculturaltrust.org or call 512.478.5289.