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Texas Women for the Arts Grants a Quarter Million Dollars to Arts Education Programs Across the State

by Texas Cultural Trust

“According to a study by the Texas Cultural Trust, students engaged in arts education score 15 percent higher on standardized tests, are half as likely to drop out, and have 4 percent increased attendance,” says Jennifer Ransom Rice, Executive Director of the Texas Cultural Trust. “Arts education keeps kids engaged and in schools. Investing in arts education programs is an investment in the future of Texas.”

“We believe these outstanding programs will have a lasting impact on the lives of the children they touch in their respective communities, and help us reach our vision of arts rich education and experiences for every Texas child,” says Dian Stai, chair of Texas Women for the Arts. “We are extremely pleased to support the educational programs of these exceptional non-profits.”

The 2016 Texas Women for the Arts Impact Grantees are:

Arts for Rural Texas, Fayetteville $30,000
ARTS Children’s Programs

Creative Kids, El Paso $15,000
Project AIM (Arts in Motion)

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Austin Area, Austin $15,000
BGCAA Enhanced Fine Arts Program

Harbor Playhouse Community Theatre, Corpus Christi $12,500
Young People’s Theater Program

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo $12,500
“The Cicada” Mobile Museum

Kids in a New Groove, Austin $12,000
Music Mentorship for Youth in Foster Care

East Texas Symphony Orchestra, Tyler $11,000
Carnegie Hall Link Up: Elementary School Curriculum/Concert

Window on a Wider World, Amarillo $10,250
WOWW Resident Artist & Youth Art Show

Lone Star Ballet, Amarillo $10,250
Lone Star Dance Academy Scholarship Program

The Periwinkle Foundation, Houston $10,000
Periwinkle Arts in Medicine Program

Lubbock Arts Alliance, Lubbock $7,500
ARTadventures! Education Outreach Program

American Festival of the Arts (AFA), Houston $7,500
AFA in Schools

El Paso Symphony, El Paso $7,500
Tocando After School Music Program

Nameless Sound, Houston $7,500
2017 Creative Music Education Program

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth $7,500
Adventures in Music

Houston Center for Photography, Houston $7,500
“Picture This!” Expansion

San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio $5,000
San Antonio Museum of Art Family Programs

Dallas Opera, Dallas $5,000
Dallas Opera Education Outreach Series

HOPE Farm, Fort Worth $4,500
HOPE Farm Concert Series

Additional Outreach Grants of $1,000 each were given to the following ten statewide arts programs:

Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin
K-12 Arts Education Programs

Blue Star Contemporary Art, San Antonio
MOSAIC Student Artist Program & Youth Education Outreach

DoSeum: San Antonio’s Museum for Children, San Antonio
Artist-in-Residence Program

Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas, San Antonio
Picture Your World Youth Photography Program

Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio
Literary Arts Programs: Barrio Writers 210 & Macondo Young Writers Workshop

Hope Stone, Inc., Houston
The Hope Project

Houston Ballet, Houston
X³: Explore, Extend, Excel!

Mentoring Alliance, Tyler
Rose City Summer Camps

Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin
Mexic-Arte Museum Arts & Humanities Museum Studies Program

The Opera Company, Inc., El Paso
El Paso Opera’s Youth Education & Outreach Program

In addition, Texas Women for the Arts continued funding for the Texas Young Masters Program with a $26,000 grant. The Young Masters program is a joint initiative between the Texas Cultural Trust and the Texas Commission on the Arts, recognizing excellence in 8th through 11th graders in dance, theater, literary arts, media arts/film, music, musical theater, and visual arts, and awards scholarship grants of $5,000 per year, for two years. TWA also continued to support the Texas Cultural Trust’s Arts & Digital Literacy Program with a $26,000 grant. Arts & Digital Literacy is a fine arts curricula for high school students that establishes the connection between traditional fine arts education with digital media and technology.

For more information about the Texas Cultural Trust and Texas Women for the Arts, visit www.txculturaltrust.org.