Public Practice

From National Endowment for the Arts: On Tuesday, October 17, 2023, in recognition of National Arts and Humanities Month, the White House Domestic Policy Council and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) co-hosted a convening to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to arts and culture. 

This National Arts and Humanities Month, the Biden-Harris Administration highlights its commitment to supporting the arts, humanities, and museum and library services and integrating them into federal policies and programs, including major investments in the NEA, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Institute of Museum and Library Services. A year ago, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Arts and Humanities to spur investment and alignment of arts and culture across the federal government, make art more accessible to people from underserved communities, elevate new voices through the arts and humanities, and expand opportunities for artists and scholars. The Executive Order also re-established the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. 

From Ruth Foundation for the Arts: "The formation of Ruth Arts’ multi-year Thought Leaders program is inspired by the breadth of Ruth DeYoung Koher II’s life and giving—non-hierarchical and committed to structural change with an unwavering generosity and a dedication to the unexpected. Through a substantial, sustained level of support, our multi-year program uplifts organizations undertaking ambitious, transformative initiatives with long-term impact. Organizations that are dedicated to the complex work of forming new possibilities through experimentation, capacity building, and deeper understandings and investigations of our histories, environments, or the full arc of an artist’s life."

"The Apprenticeships for Leaders in Mosaic Arts (ALMA) Summer Institute is a paid apprenticeship for youth ages 16 to 24 to create permanent handmade tile mosaic murals in public spaces across Albuquerque," reports Erica Sweeney in Next City.

The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson as the 13th chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. She had been nominated for the position in early October. Dr. Jackson has had a long career in strategic planning, policy research, and evaluation with philanthropy, government, and nonprofit organizations. Her work appears in a wide range of professional and academic publications, this website included.

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Setting the Stage

With a population of over 2.3 million and one-in-four residents being foreign-born, Houston is the most ethnically diverse metro area in the nation. The city’s arts programs and cultural offerings are robust in number and breadth, and its vibrancy unfolds along the numerous bayous and highways. Most years see 11 to 16 million visitors traveling to the city for arts and cultural events. Houston’s nonprofit arts and culture sector, a $1.1 billion industry, employs more than 25,000 people.