You all are so excited.

We haven't had a meeting in quite some time, but I'm looking to get some wonderful updates and some other information so that we can move forward with this wonderful committee.

And good afternoon.

I am Councilmember Dr.

Carolyn Evans Shabazz.

I'm the chair of the Arts and Culture Committee.

And it's now 2 06 p.m.

And I hereby call to order the meeting of this committee, the Houston Council for Thursday, February the 19th, 2026.

We're meeting here in the City Hall Council Chamber, 901 Bagby Street, second floor, Houston, Texas.

This meeting is open to the public and is being broadcast live on HTV, the City of Houston's municipal channel.

Presentation materials for today's meeting are also available on the city's website.

Before we begin, I want to recognize my colleagues who serve on this committee that are present.

We have Councilmember Julian Ramirez, and we have Councilmember Sally Alcorn.

And I also want to acknowledge any other members of council who have representation here.

So thank you so very much for being here and for joining us.

And to our cultural leaders, nonprofit executives and community advocates, thank you for the work you do every day to strengthen Houston's creative economy and cultural identity.

And thank you for your patience.

It's been a while.

We've been trying to get some things in place and some people in place.

So, you know, I don't like meeting just to meet.

And so wanted to make sure that we had something to talk about.

And so Houston's arts and culture sector is not an accessory to our city, it's foundational to who we are.

It drives economic development, it shapes tourism, it defines neighborhood identity, it supports small businesses and creative entrepreneurs, and it tells Houston's story to the world.

As chair of this committee, I remain committed to ensuring that our cultural investments are transparent, equitable, strategic, and accessible across every district.

Our first item on our agenda is the mayor's office for the up arts update, which is something we've really been waiting on.

I want to recognize the director, Michelle Lyall.

And before we move into the formal update from the mayor's office for the arts, I want to certainly acknowledge her important leadership and this important appointment.

And on February the 13th, 2026, Mayor John Whitmeyer named Michelle L as the C of City of Houston's new director of the Office of Arts.

The name changed, right?

All right.

A new branding.

Okay.

I want to commend Mayor Whitmeyer for this appointment.

The mayor has consistently emphasized that public safety, economic vitality, and quality of life must move forward together.

And the arts are essential or an essential part of that equation.

His decision reflects an understanding that creative and cultural investments strengthen neighborhoods, improve access to opportunity, and elevates Houston's national and global profile.

Mayor Whitmeyer's commitment to building a stronger, more connected Houston includes ensuring that the arts remain central to our strategic.

I should have let you sit down.

Well, I'm reading all of this.

Central to our civic strategy, and we appreciate his leadership in making this appointment.

Ooh, Lord.

In 2025, she received the Mayor's Hispanic Heritage Award.

Girl, you're so accomplished.

It's just going to take a minute.

In recognition of her volunteer service supporting and educating Houston's Hispanic community, a reflection of her deep commitment to inclusive representation.

Her experience includes leading multimillion dollar capital campaigns and serving as development director of El Centro de Corazon.

I said that.

I said it did that.

A federally designated community health center serving uninsured and underinsured Latino patients.

There she managed communications and fundraising across multiple sites, experience that demonstrates operational leadership and community-centered vision.

I'm almost done.

It's like I'm doing the city proclamation, right?

Anyway, Director Lial has shared that she looks forward to collaborating with arts and residents to broaden support and access to the arts across Houston.

That commitment aligns with the priorities of this committee.

Director Liao will officially transition into a rule new role on March 2nd, 2026.

And I'm not going to read this again next month.

And we'll work closely with this committee moving forward.

And certainly want to thank you for your service and for your presentation and for your willingness to partner with this committee as we continue strengthening Houston's cultural landscape.

Thank you.

Thank you all very much.

And thank you.

Thank you very much, Chair Evan Shavaz.

That was very generous.

And you did not have to read all that.

And I'm surprised it is not March 1st yet, but March 2nd yet, but I'm here now and happy to get started officially as of this week and to be here representing the mayor's office in this committee.

So thank you very much.

And you know, I want to also thank all there's uh really great attendance today from our arts community, and I want to thank all of you for being here.

Um, and for those of you um on council on this committee, um those in the community who have uh extended so many kind words of congratulations and support.

Thank you so much.

I'm pleased to I've met many of you before, most of you before, and um pleased to introduce myself or reintroduce myself as the director of the mayor's office of the arts.

As we all know, and as you alluded to, uh, council member, the leadership of the arts and culture work at the city has been in transition for some time.

The mayor's been incredibly committed to having dedicated arts leadership in his administration, and I've been in dialogue with him and his team about what that path forward might look like.

I'm very, very honored to have been asked to come and join the administration as his arts director.

And I'm incredibly grateful to have not only his trust, but the support of all of you and your fellow council members, the community stakeholders, artists, arts organizations, and cultural partners that I have had the opportunity to work with through my board service to HAA or another community-based work.

You have all been very kind, encouraging, and welcoming, and I cannot thank you enough.

For those that have not been all here.

Can you all hear?

Yeah.

You can hear me.

I can't hear.

Okay, okay.

I can.

I'm not tall, but I can adjust it.

Um, for those I have not had a chance to meet, I look forward to working with you.

I hope to be your partner in this work as I go forward.

If you're here today, I hope I get to meet you after the meeting.

If I didn't get a chance to meet you.

Oh, somebody can't hear me.

Okay, let me see.

Is that better?

Let me just move it.

Yeah.

I'll move it.

Thank you.

Is that better?

Okay, thanks.

For those of you as I was saying for have that I haven't had a chance to meet yet.

I hope to be able to meet you today if I didn't meet you before the meeting.

I've been tasked with helping implement the mayor's vision to elevate the incredible arts sector that we are fortunate to have here in Houston, and to do that work through collaboration and community engagement.

For all of you in the room who are representing various constituencies in the arts ecosystem, please reach out to me.

Invite me to your performances, your productions, your exhibitions, your community events.

I I want to be out there and to know what you are doing, and I want to be able to bring that back to the mayor.

Um, and and that's a big priority of his, quite frankly.

Um, and so please please reach out to me.

Um, and I look forward to partnering with you.

Of course, given this new responsibility of being the mayor's representative to the arts community and giving voice to the sector, both inside City Hall and more broadly throughout our city.

I've resigned as chair of Houston Arts Alliance, the city's nonprofit partner in the administration of its arts funding.

I can certainly say that I leave the organization in great hands.

Most of you know Taylor Jackson, who's helping me with my sound check over here.

Um, and it's just marked her first year as CEO and is doing a wonderful job leading that organization.

And I would like to acknowledge, especially given this month being Black History Month, Taylor is not only the first woman, but she is the first person of color to ever lead that organization.

And I think that's really monumental, and I want to acknowledge that.

She does that work with a lot of grace and patience and thoughtfulness and commitment to community engagement.

And so I'm really excited that she will continue in that role as CEO.

And I would like to now introduce you.

And he's here in the room, and I'm gonna ask him to stand in a minute so y'all can recognize him to my former vice chair of the board of Houston Arts Alliance and now the chair of the board of Houston Arts Alliance.

He is a familiar face to many of you and a bit of an artist in his own right.

Sergio Silvetta.

Where are you?

Sergio is a passionate arts leader who, in his profession as an attorney, works with artists and creatives every day to offer them counsel guidance and representative advocacy.

And in addition to that, I did mention that he's a bit of an artist himself.

He is the executive producer of the Chicano Squad docuseries that debuted here in Houston in 2024 after many years of dreaming, envisioning, and creating by Sergio and his partners.

That docuseries tells the story of the nation's first all Latino Homicide Unit.

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you do.

It's on AE, and it's it's really incredible.

It's a wonderful representation of an important part of Houston's history.

Sergio and Taylor, along with the rest of the HAA board and staff, will continue to represent Houston Arts Alliance in the community here at this committee and in executing their contractual work of arts funding administration on behalf of the city.

And you'll hear from Taylor and the Director of Grants, Quang Vu, in a few minutes with some important updates from HAA.

But again, I just want to express on behalf of myself and Mayor Whitmire our excitement for the opportunity to engage in some very collaborative leadership to elevate, promote, and support Houston's arts ecosystem.

And I am happy to answer any questions if if any of the members of council have them.

All right.

I don't think we have any questions.

All right.

Okay.

I want to certainly recognize um the representative from Councilmember uh Vice Mayor Pro Tim and Amy Peck.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um I don't know if there are any questions.

Councilmember Elton.

Congratulations, and we're thrilled you're here.

And Alton, you've done such a good job too, I want to say, um, and you're gonna keep doing a great job.

We're so happy you're here.

You've been a great you and Taylor have just done great work at the Houston Arts Alliance.

We are thrilled that we have someone in place to to um do this work and go art.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Alcorn.

Okay, uh and I'm gonna take this time.

I had a wonderful experience on yesterday.

I uh went to the hobby center and I saw Black Carnegie, which was so I mean, the the it was with some fifth graders, right?

So I was with my crowd.

And um we had such a wonderful time.

They were so very excited.

And at the end, there was even a video where I got up at the inn and I danced with the performers.

Now, nothing as graceful as what they were doing, but I really had a great time uh over there at the hobby center.

And Mark, thank you.

And and all of those who had anything to do with me getting there and at least shaking a tail feather for a minute.

But certainly, thank you.

I believe we're gonna move on now.

Unless unless you had something further to say.

No, thank you all very much.

Thank you so much.

Okay, we're gonna move on to item two, the Houston Arts Alliance update uh with Taylor Jackson, CEO and person who makes sure that uh Michelle is ready to go, right?

Thank you so much and and welcome.

Thank you all so much.

Um, esteemed members of City Council and Arts Committee, um, arts and cultural committee members.

Uh, really excited to to be with you all today today and present some updates.

Can y'all hear me?

Okay, great.

Um thank you for the opportunity to be here.

And I also, before I get into my updates, I I do have to um share in the excitement around um Michelle's new position.

Really excited to work with you in this new capacity.

Uh and Sergio excited um for the work that we're gonna be doing together at HAA.

Um, y'all aren't y'all can't get rid of me yet.

I'd like to kick off HA's presentation by just briefly providing a walkthrough and update on the two contracts that Houston Arts Alliance has with the city.

This is the hotel occupancy tax or hot contract and the civic art contract.

Both agreements are critical to how the city partners with Houston Arts Alliance to support the arts and cultural sector.

These contracts operate under totally different funding mechanisms and legal frameworks, but together they do help shape how arts investments are administered across Houston.

Today I'll start with a brief overview of how the HOT contract is structured and works and provide some context on the timeline for the current contract and outline next steps as we begin discussions around a new agreement with the city, and then after that, I'll also provide an update on the civic art contract.

Our goal in both cases is clarity, continuity, and responsible stewardship of public funds.

While ensuring that these programs also remain effective, transparent, and aligned with the city and the community's priorities.

So with that, I'll begin with the HOT contract.

So as you all are probably familiar, the hotel occupancy tax or HOT is a 7% tax on hotel room stays in Houston.

It is paid by visitors, not by Houston residents, and under Texas law, that money can only be used to promote tourism and support the hotel and convention industry, including through the encouragement and application of the arts.

It's important to note that HOT cannot be used for general city expenses.

In Houston, state law and city contract dedicates 19.3% of total HOT revenue to arts and tourism related purposes.

This is the max percentage allowed by the state, and Houston Arts Alliance adminers administers a portion of that allocation on behalf of the city.

So here's sort of how the money flows.

Visitors stay in Houston hotels.

The hotels collect hot and remit to Houston First.

Houston First then remits 19.3% allocated to arts and tourism to the city.

The city collects 7% of that HOT allocation and then distributes the remainder to HAA.

And then HAA distributes those funds through our five competitive grant programs.

The current HOT contract was signed in 2019 and it was structured as a five-year agreement with two one-year renewal options.

In 2024, the city approved both of those one-year renewals.

And so that means that the current contract is now set to expire at the end of this year.

A few weeks ago, we received approval from the mayor's office to move forward in working with the Office of the Arts and City Legal on a new contract.

We are in the very early stages of aligning with the Office of the Arts and Legal on Process and Timeline.

Right now, the focus is really ensuring clarity around review and approving next steps before the draft moves forward formally.

In parallel, for the last couple of years, we've also been having ongoing conversations with arts organizations, artists, and community leaders in the city about the contract structure and whether its purpose and distribution framework is working effectively for the community and for the city.

Again, the city is already allocating the max percentage of HOT permitted to support arts, culture, and tourism, and we believe that maintaining the overall structure will support a smooth review and approval process and most importantly, avoid disruptions in the flow of funding to Houston's arts community.

Once the new contract terms are negotiated and finalized with the city, the agreement will be brought to city council for a final review vote and approval.

We look forward to meeting with council in the upcoming weeks to provide updates on process and walk through the proposed terms in advance so that there are no surprises.

Shifting gears to to provide an update on the civic art contract.

So, as you all are are also familiar, the city of Houston established the city's civic art program through the Civic Art Ordinance in 1999.

That set aside a 1.75% of eligible city capital improvement plan project funds for civic art.

Um in simple terms, this means that when the city undertakes major capital projects such as building or renovating libraries, parks, airports, or other public infrastructure, a small percentage of the project's design and construction cost is dedicated to civic art.

Um the primary goal of the program is really to support the city's commitment to neighborhood development and improving the overall quality of life and community well-being across Houston.

As artworks are commissioned and added uh into the city's civic art collection, they also help reinforce Houston's identity as a dynamic and culturally vibrant city, both nationally and internationally.

Uh Houston Arts Alliance Civic Art Division under the city's civic art contract manages the city's civic art collection, handling acquisitions, commissions, and conservation projects.

The team collaborates with artists and vendors, overseas projects, and ensures that they stay on schedule and within budget.

In 2024, HIA entered a new civic art contract with the city.

The agreement um included an initial two-year term with three one-year renewal options.

The initial two-year term concludes in July of this year, at which point HAA will work with the um Office of the Arts to seek approval of the first one-year renewal.

Per the contract, the renewal may be approved by the mayor's designee, in this case our new director of arts, and does not require a city council vote.

However, it will require the mayor's approval in order for the director to execute the extension.

Before we close, I do want to introduce Houston Arts Alliance new director of grants, Quang Vu.

Quang actually returns to HAA last September after previously serving in several roles within the organization, including within the grants department.

And we're really thrilled to have him back and stepping into this leadership position.

Um I'm excited for Quang to share a few updates on our most recently awarded annual grant program, so I will kick it over to him.

Thank you so much, Taylor.

Um can everyone hear me back there?

Okay.

Awesome.

Um good afternoon, um, esteemed council members.

Um I wanted to give just um an update on the grant programs for uh calendar year um 2025.

So, in terms of grant making performance, we received 883 applications this calendar year.

Of those 883 applications we received this calendar year, 443 grants were awarded, totaling over 16 million dollars in city investments into these grant programs.

Um as we start to think about the year ahead and what is next for our grant programs.

We are kicking off um our annual evaluation, which is something that we do every year as a part of our work with the city of Houston.

Um and so I wanted to just provide a high uh some highlights on what we are thinking about as we are heading into the annual evaluation.

Um following the implementation of the 2015 Arts and Culture Plan, we developed these grant programs and grant guidelines in partnership with the city.

Since then, HA has had the wonderful opportunity to collect data and information over the last 10 years on implementing these arts and cult the arts and culture plan through our grant programs, constantly improving them and our grant programs year over year to extend our reach and lift up areas of our work within the arts and cultural communities of Houston, namely within each council district.

Um this year will be no different.

Um we look forward to ensuring that we continue to be excellent steward of these public dollars with the city of Houston.

Any questions for us?

Thank you so very much.

I would like to recognize Councilmember Alcorn for a question or comment on the the 19 point three five three percent.

Then it goes, you guys get we the what have you said something about seven percent and you get the rest.

Yes, so you get of the 19.3 that Houston first sends over to the city that's allocated for arts, culture, and tourism.

The city um keeps seven percent of that, and the rest is remitted to HAA.

Okay.

Yeah.

You don't get the whole 19.

We do not get the entire 19.3%.

I know.

Thank you.

Councilmember Ramirez.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

And so this may uh not be a fair question at this point.

But in this may not be the question to ask you, Taylor, but the civic art uh mention reminded me that uh the city was going to do an inventory of civic art.

And I know Michelle, you're you're very new to the position, but uh any idea where that is.

Yeah, you sure um the inventory is has been done.

Okay.

Um I think is completed, I think the in the transition, perhaps had it been fully presented, obviously to all of you and rolled out at the city, but the inventory has been completed.

That was a a project that was contracted out for Houston Arts Alliance to complete, and that has been done.

Um and there are additional, I know we've talked about, I'm glad you asked, to be honest, because there are additional um civic art um updates.

I I think it was not just the inventory, but I believe a website that catalogs a platform that catalogs where things are so that everyone all of you but members of the public as well can look and see you know where things are located and where they could go if they wanted to see a certain piece of art and um and all of that is uh I think the inventory piece has been done.

The website piece is just wrapping up, and it all should be ready to present to all of you very soon.

So that is something that's up on the agenda very soon to take care of.

Okay, good.

Thank you for that.

Yeah, no problem.

Council member L go ahead.

What what's the uh range of uh grants?

Like what's the smallest and what's the biggest people get?

The smallest is our Let Creativity Happen grant program, which is um up to 2500.

So people do end up applying for smaller grants um in that uh grant program.

And then our largest grant program remains to be support for organizations with support for organizations three being our largest of the three tiers, and that is specifically for organizations with total operating $10 million and over.

Right.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you both.

Uh and just uh to let you know, the Houston Arts Alliance plays a vital role in administering uh public arts funding, civic arts contracts, and capacity building initiatives on behalf of the city, and as stewards of public resources, it is important that we continue to focus on transparency, equity and distribution, measurable impact, and strategic alignment with the city's broader goals.

And so thank you so very much for your partnership and for your report.

Thank you.

And I'm so sorry, I jumped up a minute.

I have a very close friend that just had heart surgery, and then the hospital just called to tell me that she's back in her room.

So I'm sorry that I jumped out for a minute, but that was really pressing.

So thank you so very much for your patience.

Um now we'll move on to agenda.

Thank you for your agenda item three, Tranquility Park update, Chris Larson and Cassie Hopich, downtown Houston.

Public spaces are civic spaces, and Tranquility Park sits in the heart of our government district as we discuss its future.

We must ensure the downtown revitalization includes cultural vibrancy, safety, accessibility, and community engagement.

And I certainly want to recognize downtown Houston, and thank you for your update.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Committee Chair, uh and uh members of City Council and staff.

Uh we are uh privileged to be able to share uh some some thinking right now on Tranquility Park.

Uh many of you probably think of our organization downtown Houston Plus uh when you think of C, when you think of economic development or even infrastructure, uh but parks is also my portfolio.

Uh we're very excited to tell you about uh Tranquility Park.

Now arts is um also a part of the DNA of our organization, um and we are often finding ourselves looking for uh new and creative platforms uh for the arts.

Um you could probably uh just look in any direction around downtown and see one of our 53 beautiful murals that we've commissioned in the last few years, um, as well as our new underpassage project, uh which transforms the experience underneath I-59 and I-69 um as you make that movement between downtown and Edo.

Uh so very proud of those recent arts projects that we've been advancing.

Um so when we were um asked by Mayor Whitmeyer last October uh to attend the meeting, um it was city departments ourselves as well as leadership from the hobby center um in Houston First.

He really wanted to talk about Tranquility Park and most importantly, what we might be able to do to be able to imagine a better Tranquility Park.

This park is unfortunately one of our most underperforming parks in all of downtown Houston.

We uh really look deep into data to understand the impact of parks.

Um unfortunately, Tranquility Park only receives about five to ten percent of the patronage of even one of our average parks.

Um so it is it is not doing well, um, built in 1979 or first opened in 1979, and it's needed quite a bit of love and and creative thinking for quite some time.

Uh this park means a lot to the mayor, um and he asks us to think creatively and to move fast uh to be able to address its needs and to reintroduce it to Houston because it means so much as a part of our identity, um, our work to be able to put mankind on the moon.

Um it is a celebration of that achievement, uh, which really speaks to the ethos of Houston.

Um so with that, we uh we accepted the assignment uh from Mayor Whitmeyer and um I dispatched um our incredibly talented planning and economic development director, a Cassie Hope Ridge to help to lead this effort.

Um she is also a devout arts uh uh connoisseur um and and an advocate.

Um so I think what you're gonna see here is this beautiful nexus uh between park um and where we can be able to deliver these moments for arts and culture.

Cassie?

Thanks, Chris.

Um again, my name is Cassie Hopridge, Director of Planning and Economic Development for Downtown Houston Plus.

I look forward to walking you through this presentation today.

Um be directing when we need the next slide progressed.

So we'll go ahead and begin.

Next slide, please.

So when we had the pleasure of presenting our concept for how we could breathe uh new life into Tranquility Park within a year, we broke it down into a hierarchy of needs for a public space.

Um what you'll see in this presentation are examples of the park today and how these hierarchy of needs will play out over the course of the next year.

To break those down, those three steps include clean up the park and make it more safe.

Um the second step is create more places for people.

And the third step would be create more purpose for the park, give it a sense of identity.

So we can progress now to the first slide.

This is an image that we took the other month of the northeast corner of the park.

On the left there, you can sort of see the tip of the light rail station.

What I want to point out is that while you have beautiful buildings around the park and a lot of folks in the area, especially at the light rail station, there's no sight lines or way to see in and out of the park, which creates a sense of uh isolation, uh not a comfortable feeling in a park.

So what we propose in terms of cleaning up, right, and making the park safer, the first step.

If you go to the next slide, please.

Simple stuff.

The park has had a lot of deferred maintenance.

So what you can see in this image, next slide, please, is that we're proposing landscape improvements, repair the pavers, and pressure wash uh aspects of the park.

The park is a brutalist design, so there is a great amount of concrete in need of cleaning.

Uh but moving along with what it takes to make a park clean and safe.

Next slide, please.

We also need to create more comfortable places for people to gather to sit.

Next slide, please.

Additionally, we also need to think about amenities that make sense in the park.

So an example here would be introducing a coffee kiosk, um, but also back to the sight line matter, looking at our existing walls around the park and how we might be able to modify them to better accommodate the site line in and out of the park to make for a more comfortable, safe experience.

This very much matters in the evening.

Next slide, please.

Uh, when you have especially hobby center patrons, theater district goers, folks commuting, um, leaving their their job for the day, whether they work at uh City Hall or in one of the many office towers in the area, people are moving through this park or around this park, and so creating better sight lines into the park is very important.

Next slide, please.

This also has to do with how the park is operated and maintained as well, and that's something that we're working on with the city as we speak, figuring out uh an enhanced operation and maintenance strategy with the parks department with a greater role for our organization.

So that's why we wanted to lift up security presence there.

Next slide, please.

So we talked about clean and safe.

What else do we need to do to make a park better in a year?

We need to create some places for people.

The park is um very much dominated by a fountain that has been hit rather hard in over the last few decades by hurricanes.

Hurricane Harvey, especially, damaged the infrastructure of the fountain quite a bit.

Um the cost repair, the fountain is is exceptional.

And so we wanted to look at ways to honor the design of the park, which is a civic art resource, a very important piece to the city.

But there are elements of it that can be right-sized, as we like to say.

Next slide, please.

What does right sizing mean for this fountain for this section of the park?

There's an opportunity here to bring in decking, right?

Wooden decking to create more places for people.

We all love the farmers market that usually takes place outside of this building.

In working with the mayor's office of special events, this would be a wonderful location for that farmers market to move, as well as other events that come to Herman Park or excuse me, Herman Square or other parts of this site of downtown that are looking for more space.

Bayou City Arts Festival is a good example of that.

The decking achieves that for events, but on any given day, too, we would be able to bring in tables, chairs, and places for people to enjoy lunch.

Next slide, please.

At night, this space going back to the clean and safe points absolutely needs more lighting, and that's what you see reflected here, as well as the opportunity with enhanced lighting with more space for the park to be able to be used in the evening for events and gatherings.

What you see proposed here, and I'll speak to more in a moment is dynamic lighting also projected on the decking, a way to breathe life into the park, even when there's not an event.

Next slide, please.

This is the last image I'll show you, and then we'll talk a little bit more about the specific public art components of the park.

Um, but this is a nice view of the fountain, the heart of the fountain.

Next slide, please.

So going back up this hierarchy of needs, clean it up, make it safe.

Um, pressure washing would go a long way with the with this section of the of the fountain.

Um these cylinders you see here are an ode to the rocket boosters that carry the Apollo missions to the moon.

Um, and the fountains, these triangular fountains, what they represent is an exploded star.

Um moments, uh references to the moon, to Apollo missions, as Chris noted, are all throughout the park, including uh a lunar topography, which is why you see mounds and other sort of funky topography throughout the park.

But next slide, please.

But going back to the fountain, um, this is a remarkable characteristic of this park, right?

Um, master plans in the past for this park, which were never realized, um, called for the removal of the fountain.

With a short-term project like this one, you want to look at the unique characteristics of a park and think about how you can lean into them to celebrate them and to reintroduce them to the next generation.

This is abstract art, and it may not come across, especially to younger folks, that this is an ode to our mission of putting folks on the moon, um, a mission that's being revived right now and staffed out of NASA here in Houston with the Artemis missions.

So, what you see here is a kinetic art installation, uh reference to the movement of the water, but also the the smoke you would see at the base of rocket boosters.

Next slide, please.

Next slide, please.

You also see here the decking extending over in front of the fountain.

Facing this fountain also allows you to enjoy the skyline to the left.

Um, working with the hobby center, there's this stands to be a program stage space, um, or just serve as a nice place for people to gather when there's not a programmed event.

But what I wanted to lift up for you all here as well is that it's not just about the art piece, it's also about being able to project light back onto these cylinders, um, whether it's thematic projections like what you see here, literal rockets, or just uh soft lighting, other dynamic lighting, like the work that we see from Aurora Picture Show along the silos along our bayou.

Um, there's a lot of potential for what we could do here.

Next slide, please.

Next slide, please.

Just going to show you some before and after images, and I'll wrap with uh specific call-out for the public art elements.

So here is the park today during the day.

Next slide, please.

Here's a conceptual image of what some of these improvements might look like.

Note the shade structure that's also a textile piece atop what is called a terrace structure where there used to be the central ticketing center for the theater district, we learned.

Next slide, please.

Here's what the park looks like at night.

I actually walked through the park last night in the dark.

It's extremely uncomfortable, um, especially for a woman on her own.

And next slide, please.

We can only imagine how an increase in lighting, let alone uh dynamic, interesting art pieces would transform this experience, this two saw two city block park.

Next slide, please.

Our implementation timeline is bold and ambitious, but we're eager to prove some of these concepts over the next few months, given the influx of visitors that we'll have to our city for Roll Cup.

We're focused then on cleaning and repairing aspects of the park that have been overlooked for decades, as well as bring in tree canopy lighting and accomplishing some of that decking, more places for people, more comfort during the day, and then at night a safer experience.

The more complex work, new plantings, thinking about new furnishings, new um new lighting will all continue to unfold throughout this year, as well as the public art components.

Next slide, please.

Uh briefly, I will walk you through the sort of key elements.

There's four uh unique ideas for the park in terms of public art.

The first is repositioning the fountain, lifting it up, lifting up its legacy, celebrating its legacy, um, thinking about a kinetic piece, but also lighting projection.

Here are examples that inspired the renderings that you see before you.

Next slide.

Also the textile shade installation.

We are all big fans here in downtown Houston of heat mitigation work.

Anything that we can do to bring down the temperature so we can enjoy not just outdoor spaces, but time with each other.

Um this park is extremely popular uh for parades.

I doing my job went out to the Thanksgiving Day Parade, a Martin Luther King parade to see how the park's being utilized.

And in the summer, uh even in the spring with the art car parade, shade will be important.

There's a lot of great tree canopy in the park, but not everywhere.

And so this shade installation would allow not only for a comfortable sitting experience, but a place we could bring back a food and beverage kiosk as well.

Next slide, please.

Uh the third public art intervention that's being proposed here is a dynamic lighting projection.

I pulled in an example of what that could look like.

Um this is a treatment utilized in parks around the world to create some activity, a sense of safety too, um, in an aesthetically appealing way.

Next slide, please.

And the last would be the opportunity for interesting lighting installations.

Um we want to see very pragmatic pedestrian-oriented lighting introduced to the park where we need it.

Imagine pathways better illuminated, sections of the park that are dark putting lights in our trees.

Um but there's wonderful precedent around the world for unique sort of light field installations.

Um as I noted, there's a lot of interesting mounds in the park, a reference to elements of the moon's topography that don't serve a very uh functional need for the park and in fact create dark corners and awkward places that people just don't feel safe.

Light can be used also in art.

And so this is one of several ideas that we've entertained in the concept for the park.

Again, honoring the park's design and legacy, just amplifying it, leaning into its intent.

Next slide, please.

That concludes our presentation.

Uh just an overview of of this ambitious concept and project.

Um Chris and I are happy to answer questions.

Should you have any questions?

Thank you.

Councilmember Al Corey.

Thank you, Chair, and thanks for this.

I'm so excited.

I've been complaining about Tranquility Park forever.

Um there'll be no more water.

The fountain is not functional, right now.

Right.

Right.

So that so you're just covering up all the water with the decks and all that stuff.

Right.

And you had fundraising on there.

Like tell me more about that.

Yep.

Um, this was an ambitious project, as as uh Cassie said.

Uh we are currently looking for partners.

Uh so we have been able to raise thus far about two million of the 5.5 million dollars that is needed to be able to implement this park as designed.

Uh so we are actively partnering with um our our friends from the theater district as well as uh the mayor's office, uh meeting with local foundations, making meeting with uh corporate foundations, um uh even going as far as seeking uh congressionally directed um appropriations uh for this effort given its tie into NASA.

So uh we are during certainly right now knee deep uh in the fundraising side of the project.

Um we are also hopeful that there could be a potential for CIP allocation towards this project, particularly given its very significant civic art components.

Right.

And and so all in every everything you've shown today would be how many?

5.5.

5.5 million.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay, thank you.

Councilmember Ramirez.

Uh thank you, madam chair, and thank you both for the presentation twice in a week.

So two in two days.

Yeah, working hard.

So uh just curious.

Um are we basically giving up on the fountain?

And and and I'm not I'm not saying I'm not saying we should spend a whole lot of money to fix it.

I'm just kind of curious.

Yeah, so so at the end of the day, um the the fountain is uh severely damaged.

Um and uh there is a membrane that separates the park from the parking garage that's belowhand.

Right.

So this park is very different than a lot of other parks um in that what you're actually standing on is the roof of a parking garage.

Um and so that membrane is what requires a very significant overhaul.

The city commissioned a study back in 2012 uh to look at what would be required and at the time uh the conclusion was you would need to scrape off the park and rebuild.

You're talking about a 50 or 60 million dollar project to be able to resurrect that membrane.

So we've we've had to wrestle with the reality of we enjoy fountains, uh, but fountains are great when they're operable, when they're inoperable.

They send a really negative signal regarding the health and vitality of your community.

And so we've looked for an elegant solution to be able to address basically the the elements that need repair and then reposition them as as some other civic use and thus the the stage as well as the opportunity uh for the foundation for public art.

Uh yeah, well I think we all like lights too, so electricity is more 60 million dollars.

I can agree with that.

Yeah, were you gonna add something?

Yes, I did want to add that um there was a grant that we received from FEMA, and we being the city uh that GSD is administering right now.

Um that grant and the procurement process that's underway would look at fixing the mechanics of the fountain.

So there is a world where a small part of the fountain could be operable again.

What Chris is describing though is that the uh fountain basins can't hold water.

And so there is a world where we could create misting, for instance, but we the ability for the fountain to hold water is what's um extremely challenging and extremely expensive to repair.

Hence the direction with public art.

Um personally, I'd love to see misting being integrated back into the fountain.

Some sort of use of water.

It's it's fun, it's delightful, it's nice in Houston.

Um, but that's a very TBD process, but we're working hand in glove with GSD and the parks department on it.

Well, I have to say I love the you know the plans and uh I think it's exciting and and uh look forward to you know people coming out from their their workspaces, you know, in the middle of the day and and enjoying that that space, which is currently not being done on a large scale.

But uh appreciate all the work you guys have put in and look forward to seeing it progress.

Yeah, and the one last comment I'll make on that is that we see a a really tremendous opportunity, uh particularly given its context uh with the hobby center to think about this as a place of congregation before and after events at the hobby center, places that people could come together for a drink in the park.

Um there's an absolutely gorgeous view of downtown if you get up on top of the uh the pavilion area, which is where the ticketing booth used to be for the theater district many decades ago.

Um but if you get up there, it is a really really lovely experience.

Um, and so we see that as a real opportunity to really introduce this as a part of the theater going experience to be able to add more vitality um into that district.

Thank you so very much uh for that update.

It's gonna be so exciting.

So thank you.

Thank you.

And and just uh know that some of you um probably have questions.

We do have uh agenda item five, but want to let you know that these handouts and presentations are uh on the City of Houston website at uh Houston TX.gov/slash council slash committees, and you can get these presentations.

And then we will, after this uh fifth agenda item, we will have public comment, and uh most of the speakers will still be here.

And then if you have questions, perhaps they can feel those uh give you the answers.

And so now we're gonna going to move on to the Exxon Mobil uh theater district open house with Craig Hofschild.

Housing one of the largest performing arts districts in the country, Houston's theater district remains a cornerstone of our economic and cultural infrastructure.

Community engagement is critical to sustaining and growing that success.

And so I recognize you, Mr.

How for you to give your presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, and thank you to all of you for being here today.

It's a very exciting day with all the the news uh with uh Michelle Lyell's appointment, the great uh updates in the park, and and it's it's exciting to be here.

I have three goals today.

Uh the first is to share that fun is free this spring break with the theater district open house uh on the first Monday of spring break, aligned with 19 of 25 Harris County school districts.

We have a full day of activities uh for your constituents to enjoy.

And as I share information, I hope that uh this information will help uh allow you to to promote the event to your constituents and and make sure that we get uh everybody out here to see all the great civic treasures.

Uh the second thing that I will do is talk about community impact, uh sharing on behalf of many of the folks behind behind me how wonderful like all the wonderful work that they're doing throughout the city to improve the quality of life of Houstonians, and then uh a call to action uh with the the goal of making sure I have given you all the things to say to trumpet the crown jewels of Houston's wonderful cultural arts community.

So uh the slides, I don't know if I'm touching something, but there are a couple of slides ahead of me.

Um the first slide here is perfect, we're right there.

Um this is an opportunity for constituents.

Um it will take place from 11 to 4 p.m.

on March 9th.

Uh the eight uh resident arts organizations are all collaborating on this day of of free performances, interactive workshops, uh behind the scenes tours and all of the the city's venues and uh fun activities for for all ages.

Um it is a multi-generational experience.

Last year when we brought it back uh for the first time since before the pandemic, we heard from people who were traveling in from more than 25, 30 miles, people who had come as kids and now we're bringing their kids.

I think this is a real city treasure of an event, and we're excited to have it uh relaunched again this year.

Um next slide, please.

Last year we uh estimated that we had approximately 7500 people here.

Uh we counted 18,360 entrances at our theaters, so each visitor came in to multiple venues and got to see and experience all of uh all of these great cultural treasures.

Houston's philanthropic community has supported the creation of these wonderful places and gifted them to our city.

So making sure that Houstonians feel welcome to come in, explore them, even without a ticket, see what looks like different seats, find figure out how to find the restrooms, how to get in and out of parking.

This is a really incredible opportunity for Houstonians.

Um these pictures, it kind of paints a quick overview.

Do you all see the slides?

I just thought I know.

So this picture up in the upper left-hand corner, we've got the backstage tour of Seraphine Hall.

People got to do these tours in all of our venues.

We have people doing hands-on activities like the painting in the upper uh upper center.

We have performances, jazz, classical music.

Last year we had a mariachi band.

This year we've got a Zydeco band, kids were touching instruments.

It was a really exciting day.

And these two images on the right are some of my favorite.

Uh the folks at Jones Hall performing Arts Houston and the Houston Symphony opened up the stage and created an opportunity where spotlight would shine onto the stage and people could come up and take photos with their families.

So it they felt ownership of this this unique cultural treasure.

New this year, if you can get a bunch of the next slide.

Um we have many new programs, but I want to highlight two.

The first is uh presented by Performing Arts Houston.

They've there they have a performance with Alvin Ailey's uh dance company here the weekend before, and they made arrangements for Alvin Ailey's uh arts and education and community program to stay and lead a uh revelations workshop uh with the community, which is incredible.

I see some smiles and head nods around the room.

This is a great opportunity for folks to get up, move, and be a part of this uh really incredible uh cultural tradition uh of the national cultural tradition.

On the next slide, um I'm also very excited to announce that this year um we weren't able to do it last year, but this year we're bringing back the free Houston Symphony concert to conclude the event.

So at the end of the the experience the experience, we'll have everybody come into Jones Hall, fully free concert.

The full orchestra will be on display.

They're gonna play the music of John Adams, uh Rossini, Mozart.

You know, it should be a really wild and fun experience.

So lots of first class, world-class uh experiences for everyone.

And I want to just hone in.

Uh, we've got reduced park, we've made arrangements with folks for reduced price parking.

It's on the light rail.

We really think that this is an easy event to get to and free for everyone during that spring break.

Um, next slide, please.

This this set of photos is really uh about why it matters.

You know, the kids here we've got people touching trombones, touching French horns, doing the activities.

The photo in the middle uh is of a young high school student who made his debut on the Zilka Hall stage through a program with Tuts.

And um, and then the picture on the bottom is just welcoming everybody into the Wortham.

Like where our doors are being thrown open, and it's it's there's so many performances and things that day.

It should be really uh fantastic experience.

Next slide, please.

Um, these 10 organizations that are highlighted with their logos are the 10 theater district organizations.

It does include eight uh of the resident arts organizations and also two of our very important community partners, Houston First and Downtown Houston Plus.

Um we're really excited to always get to work with them and coordinate and collaborate and making sure that our parks uh systems are up and running, that people have a place to go before and after the events.

Um next slide.

This slide is really meant to piggyb on on the conversation about Tranquility Park.

Lynn Wyatt Square was just reopened uh after its remodel in 2023 during the pandemic.

Um because of the timing with the pandemic, I know actually we ran into each other during Christmas Carol, like it hasn't been fully activated and realized.

And to be able to have this event, I think my understanding is that the open house last year had the greatest number of people that we've had in that space since it was reopened.

And knowing that we're gonna be going into 2027 with two beautiful um city parks in the theater district that we can activate as part of this event and and other activities is going to be a real tremendous uh tremendous opportunity for the city.

Um one of the theater districts uh aims is to increase economic development in the area and the surrounding areas.

Increase having active parks to increase dwell time uh in those places uh will go a long ways in giving us a um uh giving everyone an opportunity to do things outside of parking and going into the show.

On the next slide, this is a little bit of my call to action for you all.

Um I I would love for you all to share this information with your constituents through newsletters and social media.

We have a press kit that I'll share with you all, and so your teams can get the information out.

Um it is simply our website backslash uh press slash kit.

Um our information is all tied to the same websites with the uh backslash open slash house.

Um we want you to invite friends and family.

We want this to be multi-generational, folks that are down working downtown that might have kids.

If they can, if the kids can come over early, people can take off a couple hours early, they can hit the Houston Symphony concert at 3 p.m.

and have a really wonderful family experience.

It should be a glorious time for everyone.

Um I hope that you'll all join us in person, and I'll make sure to follow up with with you all via email with that information.

The second part of my chat today, if you could advance to the next slide, has to do with just generally improving the quality of life through the arts.

I'm gonna focus on the theater district, but the theater district is a macrocosm of everything going on in this great city.

We have seven cultural arts districts, we have a lot of arts organizations that exist outside of those districts.

So if you take what I'm sharing today from just the last few weeks in most cases, magnify it by all year, and then amplify it further.

Uh, you can really see uh I think the fantastic experiences that are going on throughout this city.

Um first slide here is a uh picture from Theater Under the Stars.

This year they've been working with the Walt Denny Theatrical Group to bring Disney musicals to schools.

This photo is from a 17-week residency that they're doing with one of four campuses and impacting 200 students.

These kids are getting like the first class uh uh Disney experience in their classrooms here in in four of our local school districts.

Next slide.

Uh Houston Symphony just concluded their 2526 student concert series where they welcomed 60,000 students to 27 performances at Jones Hall.

It's an incredible number of people that get to come down into Jones Hall as part of their educational experience.

Additionally, they're running their in harmony program at the Deluxe Theater, Segunda Barrio Children's Uh Choir, and in partnership with AFA, where they serve 100 students in fifth wards and the East End to teach them violin.

And this year they've just opened a Picello class as well, which is exciting as we watched that grow.

This image is of the cello class in the East End at the Segundo Barrio Children's Choir uh space.

Um next slide.

Uh this year, Houston Ballet has been many organizations in the Houston Theater District, all I think, um, have been looking to serve uh uh folks with sensory uh differences.

And this after serving this community through performances at their Center for Dance since 2015, this year marked the first time they did a sensory uh inclusive performance at Jones Hall.

In fact, they opened up their nutcracker series with a sensory-friendly performance uh right after Thanksgiving.

This image, I have to say when I saw it, I just like smiled.

The the mother is pointing with the kids.

You got the nutcracker down there in the distance.

It's just it's really special what what uh what's going on.

I would like to read a quote that was shared with me about one of the participants that were at that event.

From the moment we arrived, it was clear how much thought and care and intention went into creating an inclusive and supportive environment.

The activity center, the quiet rooms, the adjusted lighting and sound, the strength, the end the train staff, every detail reflected a deep understanding of what families like mine often need but rarely find.

I was really touched by that quote.

I think it exemplifies not only the great work that's going on at the Houston Ballet, but across the theater district, across the cultural districts.

There's essentially an inclusive uh working group that crosses all these cultural districts where folks are trying to make sure that we're serving all Houstonians.

Next slide.

We've got uh the Camera of Houston, uh jazz and chamber music presenter.

Here they've got a uh photo from their their series at the public libraries where they presented holiday concerts and served many Houstonians throughout the city.

Next slide.

Um I'm focusing on the community.

I'd be remiss not to mention that two weeks ago the Houston Grand Opera won a Grammy for their recording of intelligence.

Um week later, they were doing free family day and student concerts of Hansel and Gretel.

So the work continues.

So last week on Thursday, they worked on 1500 school uh school age students into the theater to play Hansel and Gretto or to watch Hansel and Gretel, and then on Saturday they had a sold-out performance to 2200 family members on Saturday morning to see that same show.

And then on Saturday they had a sold-out performance to 2200 family members on Saturday morning to see that same show.

The show starred uh Sasha Cook, who is a graduate of the Shepherd School of Music.

It was a first class performance.

I played Triangle.

It was a glorious experience.

And you know, shameless selfless plug.

Like I was on that that Grammy reward writing uh the album.

Uh so if you hear the couple drums, uh that was me.

And uh I really just it's it's amazing the quality of work that goes on on here in the town.

Uh next slide.

We've got Alley Theater.

Uh they man, the list that they sent of the things that they've done in the last month was incredible.

I picked just one, not because I I didn't like them, but because there were so many.

Um this photo is from a post-show panel that they they did uh after a performance of uh real women have curves.

It was moderated by Dr.

Laura uh Marillo uh from Houston's Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, uh Blanca Garza from Segundo Work Desk, uh Madeline Rodriguez from La Paloma and Cecilia Rios Moreta uh from Jazz all presented about their experience as uh female business owners uh to that that audience.

I think there were 70 folks that stayed after the the that show to to be there.

The next slide.

Um we've already actually had mention of this with uh but the hobby centers discovery series.

I hear there was a fantastic guest dancer yesterday, as already noted, and I watched in the social media feed.

Excellent job, shaking your tail feather.

Um and uh we they've they've served 40,000 students this year, uh up from 20,000 and 10,000, so it keeps growing.

They have a vision of serving every fifth grader in the city.

Um there was uh another photo that was just amazing with the the performers from behind, and you just saw all the kids in the audience.

This one translated a little bit better to the slideshow, but it's just great work going on at the hobby center.

And then um the last of the eight organizations go to the next slide.

Um pulling into the grammar theme.

Uh performing arts Houston has really leaned into supporting economically and through support for um Houston artists through their Houston Artist Commissioning Project.

Uh their upcoming performance on March 20th and 21st will showcase those artists.

One of their past Mumel and uh commissioning award winners, uh Cam Franklin just won her own Grammy uh as well.

So uh that's fantastic.

We're trying to support Houston artists to do what they can do so that they can shine on the national stage.

Uh performing at Houston is also dedicated uh creating a new program this year called Every Tenth Seat, where 10% of their tickets sold go to free or reduced price ticketing to students, vets, and other community members.

It's a really wonderful project.

I hopefully drilling home that these events are can be affordable to everyone.

They're not just for you know folks paying over a certain ticket price.

Um this is a macrocosm of the work going on in the city.

Um I feel honored to get to represent all of the great people behind me.

Um and uh just so grateful.

On the next the next slide, which is the last one.

Um I want to just note that the theater district is part of seven Houston cultural districts, if you don't mind uh advancing the slide.

Uh you can see each of the seven cultural districts.

Our cultural districts are working very collaboratively together.

We had our monthly meeting this morning.

We just uh won a uh an award from the state to launch a marketing effort around our first we'll call it something we'll name it soon, but it'll be like a summer arts festival that will be open.

We'll use uh cultural district events as big tent pool events, and then we'll open it up to marketing all of the art, Houston Arts and Cultural Events this summer.

Uh that will be open to everyone.

Um I think it's very exciting.

It'll run during the time conveniently of FIFA so that there will be one easy way to kind of cut through the marketing uh going on at the time to make sure that our guests all know about these wonderful experiences.

Theater district open house is March 9th, Fifth Ward Cultural District is the Alliance Avenue Renaissance Festival on March 28th, East End Culturals District has the East End Street Fest aligned with Fleet Week on April 18th.

Uh the fourth and the fifth wards are supporting are both uh going in on the Juneteenth Houston kickoff event on June 6th.

There's so many great things to coming up.

And if you haven't been to Midtown to see the Human Shelter Project, they're they're interested in organizing bus tours for anyone to come through and see this great work that was supported by Bloomberg uh raising the profile of the Hunt House folks that that are in that neighborhood.

So much great stuff going on.

Uh thank you all uh for supporting the arts.

Uh we're all here in this room because we we appreciate you and want to answer any questions you may have.

So thank you.

Well, thank you so much.

And could you share those events with all of the council members so that we can disseminate that information to our constituents?

Absolutely.

But certainly thank you.

I don't see anyone in the queue.

Well, I'm sorry, Councilmember Ramirez.

You just real quick, thank you for the presentation.

You're gonna send a media packet to all of us, is that right?

Yes.

And uh I've been scrolling on your website as well.

Very informational.

It looks like uh activity start at 11 a.m.

for the open house at Lynn Wyatt Square, and then conclude at three with uh a concert by the symphony.

Is that right?

It concludes at four.

The concert starts at three, which is where that comes from.

Yeah, and then between uh 12 and 3, all of the venues are open.

People can go between the venues, check out you know, activities for little little ones, bubbles, character, uh you know, character things, face painting performances and workshops for your high school students, middle school, high school students, you know, young adults, all the way up to the seniors and retired folks.

So it should be a fun day.

It sounds like it.

All the admissions are free.

100% if folks choose to uh drive downtown, they've got a park and you know, pay to park them.

Maybe I shouldn't say it's gonna be $7 parking in the theater district and and one other parking garage.

I want to make sure I don't get out in front of it.

But uh seven dollar parking, so reduced price ticket pricing.

Um the world baseball classic is going on on the other side of downtown, so we're trying to make sure we keep everything really affordable on the the other end.

All right, great.

Thank you so much.

Absolutely, thank you all.

Thank you.

Got through that presentation pretty quickly.

Okay, uh now we're gonna have uh thank you.

We're gonna have public comment, and now we'll open the floor for public comment.

And please state your name and affiliation for the record.

I don't think we had anyone to sign up, but certainly you're welcome to come up and speak and limit your remarks to two minutes.

So if you would like to uh speak or have a question, please just step to the uh podium.

Thank you.

And identify yourself and your organization.

Thank you very much.

Uh I am a writer named Tony Diaz.

I'm the founder of Nuestra Palabra, Latino Writers having their say.

How are you?

I know a lot of you.

Uh we've been around since 1998, and we are very much vested in the community.

I want to commend Houston, all of you for naming uh Michelle Leal to this post.

Uh she comes from Chicana Pedigree, Chicano Pedigree.

Her family were pivotal in the edification of our community, but uh for her own merits, she did her own work in the community for many years, humble groups, large groups, you name them.

Uh-huh.

And I'm not even doing it, but it is you.

It is that's very kind of you, Dr.

Shabazz.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Usually you read me, so now here I'm in person.

That's kind of you.

I appreciate that.

I I thank you so much for forming the leadership for this uh committee.

And um, you know, but by her own right, she worked so hard in the community and lent that spirit to her tenure as the uh board chair for the Houston Arts Alliance.

So it really is wonderful to see her bring all that experience, that heart to this very important position.

And I do want to make it clear that myself and our organization, we're gonna do anything we can to facilitate her work.

Also, want to congratulate Sedhu for taking up this position as the board chair for Houston Arts Alliance.

Uh, you leave the group in great hands for great leadership, a lot of knowledge that they're sharing too.

And I I repeat I appreciate his work for for two reasons as well.

One, he is an artist.

Uh the Chicano Squad among his many films.

That place is Houston in the middle of American history, Texas history, and Mexico American history.

Additionally, I saw him on the way out, he had to go pick up his kids.

He's getting in line at the school, so as an empty nester, I appreciate parents that are doing all that but giving up their time as well.

And I also want to commend Taylor who's doing great a great job over at Houston Arts Alliance.

Um it's a tough job.

I I want to thank you because this is still one of the fountains of support, capital support for arts and culture in a state and in a country where there's less and less of it.

So I appreciate your commitment to it.

And finally, I want to close too, personally thanking uh you uh and the board as well.

Most of Palavra is very honored to have received the festival grant.

Uh it was for $10,000 with the boost.

There's an additional $4,500, so it's $14,500.

And it's for our Houston text list.

I'm sorry, it's the uh Houston Text Fest, which will take place October 17th uh here in Houston.

But it's a foundational book festival.

We're inviting all groups to form part of it.

Austin has the Texas Book Festival, San Antonio has the San Antonio Book Festival.

We're inviting everybody to get involved, so that maybe three years from now, we're doing a huge Houston Book Festival.

We'll be the biggest one in Texas.

But I know with the team you've assigned with your leadership, we are gonna really put Houston at the center of arts and culture for for a long time.

So thank you for all you do.

I just want to commend all that and uh Viva Arte in Houston.

Thank you.

Did you tell us where the festival's gonna be?

Oh, thank you for asking.

So it's gonna be at the Harris County Department of Education.

Okay.

It'll be from 10 30 a.m.

to 5 p.m.

And we're actually accompanying that with a census of Latino writers.

So we're archiving as many Latino writers as we can uh uh reach.

Um I think some people would be shocked to find out that we're already past 200 that are just from Houston and we're creasing that.

And then additionally, we're gonna have a huge uh prompt picture at the end.

So it'll be uh the 2026 uh Houston Latino Arts picture.

But I do want to add though, we're taking this step to include uh the BIPOC arts network in front of all their writers, the BIPOC Book Festival, all writers, so that we can start talking about doing one cross-cultural one in the future.

So make sure you get us that information.

And it is so good to see you.

Uh I was looking at I know that face, I know that person.

But certainly you have been just a tremendous person in the city of Houston.

Uh, but I haven't seen you in a long time, and so good to see you.

No, no, likewise, and I want to appreciate uh, you know, as a PhD, you you bring so much intellectual power to the body.

But it's wonderful to see folks that do great intellectual work in the academy come out and do it in in public.

So thank you.

Well, thank you so much.

Okay, do we have another person that wants to make a comment?

Come right up.

And then I'm gonna allow you if you have any announcements for your organization, if you want to quickly come up and and make that announcement, then that will be allowed as well.

So thank you.

Good afternoon, members of city council.

Um can you all hear me?

Yeah, okay.

Yeah.

Uh my name is Emily Ardwan.

I'm representing um Preservation Houston today.

Um, but I'm also speaking uh a little bit personally because um I want to talk about Tranquility Park.

Um and it happens to be one of my personal favorite spaces in the whole city when the fountains are working, uh, which I've been fortunate to experience uh, you know, several years ago.

Um Tranquility Park is very special.

It's a really rare example of a commemorative space that was designed in the era of the the event that it commemorates.

So I, you know, it's not very often that a city council would vote within a month of the event happening to undergo a major project to you know design a park to commemorate this event.

It has to be something like the moon landing.

Um so not only is it an excellent example of 1970s landscape architecture and one of the first uh or one of the premier works by um our notable local architect Charles Tapley.

Um it also you know not only commemorates the moon landing, but it also reflects Houston's civic pride at that same time.

Um so we are very excited to see plans to reinvigorate the park.

We definitely think it's underutilized and it needs some improvements.

Um we're hopeful that the major elements of this project can be done in a way that is reversible.

Um I can see that you know happening pretty fairly easily with the deck.

I'm not as sure as the uh about the details of the exploded star um and the the kinetic art that would go in there, but we're gonna we'll find out some some more details from downtown Houston Plus.

Um but I think that this um the the original design of this park is only gonna become more important as time goes on to future Houstonians.

Um so if the the improvements can be done in ways that are fairly easy rever easily reversible, um that'll give future Houstonians the opportunity to really restore the fountain to bring that back um in the future.

Uh so thank you.

Thank you.

Any other uh comments or questions.

You've been trying to get up here.

He moved up, but then I thought he was gonna come up next.

Okay, thank you.

Good afternoon, Council members.

I'm Michelle Bontan, uh, executive director of the Anderson Center for the Arts.

It's great to see you guys here today.

And I'm really here today just to applaud you all and to say thank you uh for the work that you all are doing uh relative to the arts in the city of Houston.

I uh particularly always like to talk about we've we've talked a lot about quality of life and how the arts impact that and so uh my job in this space uh seems to be continuing to bring forward the economic impact of the arts in the city of Houston.

So anytime I can get on record and have it recorded that the arts represent 1.3 billion dollars for Houston's creative economy.

I certainly want to do that.

And then on a personal note, I was really excited to hear about all of the things happening uh it with Tranquility Park.

My husband and I celebrated 40 years of marriage last year, and when he was courting me, he was broke, did not have any money, but we had these parts, and so we spent a lot of time downtown in the parts, uh, and just a really unique kind of full circle moment.

The phantom uh monument to the phantom, the red and white, you know, sculpture that is now at Discovery Green.

We traveled all the way to Paris for our 40th anniversary and found a sister monument, uh the costume of the bell or the bell costume, I forget the name.

But it was just a really neat full circle moment and you know, to have that Houston connection all the way in Paris, France.

So again, thank you all for the work that you do.

Um, and we appreciate you.

We're excited uh to have the new person um for the mayor's office of cultural affairs in place and all the great things that are happening through Houston Arts Alliance.

So again, thank you very much.

Thank you, Michelle.

Good to see you as well.

Haven't seen you in a long time.

Okay.

All right, hello everyone.

I am Rey Slamidas.

I am your Houston Poet Laureate uh until April 2027.

Okay.

Uh I just wanted to give an update and say hi to everyone.

All thank you, Council members for being here, representatives.

Uh so one, I wanted to say that I started April 10th, 2025.

So from April 10th, 2025 to December 31st uh 2025.

I did over 60 events.

Um the most I did was five in one day, um, which really speaks to the amazing uh diversity and vibrancy of Houston's literary scene.

I will say that as someone who's traveled to the United States in different contexts uh through my poetry.

Uh I will I'm not afraid to say that Houston's one of the best literary cities in the world.

Um because even tonight, tonight you can go to four different poetry events.

Tomorrow night you can go to five different poetry events.

Saturday, you go to four different poetry events.

Um and if you're interested in knowing, if you follow go if you're on Instagram, you can follow the Houston Poet Laureate page where I do a roundup of poetry events every week, week to week, Wednesday to Wednesday.

Um, and it's it's it's beautiful to know that you know during these times that artists are going to work, uh that there are rooms full of people who are doing beautiful things and uh making beautiful art.

Um and so, yes, please.

So next month, March 21st, I have a poetry workshop about nature writing, and yes, there is nature in Houston.

Um, and I love it, and so please come on by and uh yeah, and also just while I have time remaining, uh fun fact, uh Tranquility Park, the name, if you're like, why is there two L's in there?

Um it's because it's named after the Latin uh mother tranquilitis or something like that.

And so it maintains that spelling.

So if you're ever like, wait, why is that spelled weird?

That's why.

Uh but yeah, thanks everyone.

Thank you.

You coming?

Okay, well, okay, come on up.

Okay.

Hello, guys.

I I just want to thank you uh for your support.

About a year and a half ago, we approached you from Chebak Enterprise Faith to Black to talk to you about the Faith Black Arts Festival.

Uh, we brought it to fruition, and we are building ourselves up for the success of bringing it back to the city of Houston in 2027.

So uh last year we did it during the summer.

We brought in um hundreds of artists.

We celebrated film, music, poetry, theater, and visual arts all in one week, and we also included in the festival the support of the hobby center, uh, the alley, the uh the uh the uh uh the ensemble theater, uh, many, many uh other uh theaters that supported us.

HSPVA helped with our children's division.

And so we are um so thankful to you for the financial support that you provided through our grant funding.

Uh we learned a lot.

We brought in celebrities to do master classes and people from all over the city to do workshops for the the artists that are coming.

We had three events, we had spectacular uh entertainment for that whole week, and the partnership uh with all of the individuals was just wonderful.

So we are like I said, we're building ourselves up uh for the success of the biennial schedule that we are on 2027.

We'll be coming back during the summertime to provide this to you again.

So just uh just a quick thank you for your support.

Well, thank you.

You uh remember years ago when you first came.

Yeah, and so thank you so very much for your diligence and persistence.

Yes, the first year was something else.

Well, like I said, we learned a lot, and uh we we we built uh a society of great people.

We are close to the ear of the artists, so we know more about what they're needing and uh where this this festival can fill in.

The center of it is to build African American artists of all walks of life, and so it's just a very needed product that we that we brought, and we you know continue to ask for your prayers and support.

But I wanted to take this time to thank you for your help.

Thank you.

Okay, we have a I think one other speaker or two.

Okay.

And what we're gonna do, um, we're not gonna make announcements.

You if you all would send whatever you want to go out to the public to our offices, we can make sure that we put them in our newsletters and or either send it out through social media.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Manette Pazhall, and I had the very great honor of serving in what is now Michelle's position uh under the last year of Mayor White and all during the Parker administration.

And I think you could not have picked a better lady to help uh lead this uh office forward, and we're so happy that the mayor, first of all, created this committee, which it didn't exist before, um, and is keeping the office going and and having great leadership.

During my tenure, uh, the one thing that we did, one of many, many things, was create the arts and cultural plan.

This is the only copy I have, our copy right here.

And uh it's gratifying to hear your comments about how that plan is still leading and guiding the Houston Arts Alliance and and the um arts community forward.

Uh, the other thing we did also was in partnership with the library and start the poet laureate program.

So gratifying to see our newest poet poet laureate as well.

Just want to thank everyone.

Thank you.

Okay, come on out.

Good afternoon, council members.

Hi I'm Jason Oliver.

Uh I lead the third ward cultural district uh in District D, the district of destination.

Also the advocacy lead for Hue Arts and Action, where we're building a community of arts champions to really carry the work of that that the city is doing, as well as our broader arts ecosystem forward here uh here in Houston.

It's from these vantage points I want to voice my excitement for the appointment of Michelle and and also uh we're resuming these arts and culture committee meetings, as you all can see.

There you have a large audience of people as somebody who has come to council many council committee meetings, right?

This is not normal in terms of the amount of people that we have here in this room.

Uh so I I just really think it's it's really exciting that we're promoting the vibrancy of Houston's arts and culture ecosystem, um, while also ensuring that the arts continue to be a key economic driver through wages for workers, uh through tax revenues, and enhanced quality of life for both residents and visitors.

I also want to highlight some recent wins and exciting updates that specifically relate to the district of destination.

Uh, one thing was already mentioned, Cam Franklin, who lived in in uh third ward for for a long time.

She recently moved out, but we still claim her.

Uh one won a Grammy earlier this month.

The University Museum at Texas Southern University, uh, also recently opened up an exhibition, but they are a part of a brand new exhibition at the National The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.

So if any of you happen to be uh in DC before um before July 19th, definitely go see that um at the Smithsonian.

And then I I want to invite you all.

We'll of course send this this out, but invite you all photofest.

Uh the biennial is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and as a part of that, Project Row Houses is participating and will be having their uh 60th round that's taking place on March 7th.

And so they'll be having that opening.

So uh I really want to invite you all there for a wonderful free event, their round opening and block party is going to be an exciting thing.

So these are just a few examples of amazing creativity coming out of just one area of our city, right?

Happy Black History Month, and thank you for your continued advocacy for the arts and all of us who love our arts ecosystem.

I'm excited for what this new appointment and these resumed committee meetings will mean for our city.

Thank you.

And I'm gonna tell you, remember the name of Jason Oliver.

I have watched him grow up, actually.

Uh, we used to have meetings at this is it.

Well, is that about 15 years ago?

You don't look a day old.

But certainly he comes to the committee meetings, he comes to the budget meetings, and he's so very valuable, and I'm thankful that he is a part of the third war community, certainly.

But you all remember the name of Jason Oliver.

Okay.

One more.

Okay.

All right.

Don't be shy.

Because I'm getting ready to close out.

Come on.

Hi, my name is Lex Lemaire.

And as a native Texan, uh during November, I'd like to just thank you for being here and supporting us and our efforts as artists and as an art community to empower the city of Houston and our country, really, um, in these challenging times that are going on, especially with the arts, um, being sh being it's under attack is how we feel.

Or at least that's how I see it in some of the meetings that I've been in.

Um, but in November, the United Nations had their meetings with the World Health Organization, and I was able to do part of the guided meditations through the parks because I used to partner and consult for the New York City Parks.

And this initiative for art and healing is so powerful that they're supporting right now.

And I just want you to know that as Houston, we're the number one medical center in the country, and I'm excited as an artist to be able to say that a lot of those initiatives to move art and healing.

I hope we lead the nation in that.

You know, sincerely in that.

Secondly, to support him in PhotoFest, uh, their opening exhibit is the 7th, and then I'm having one on the 8th uh at the Path of T.

I'm trying to do more experiential exhibits for people to experience other cultures.

Um, and they support Japan, so it's kind of a fun, uh different kind of art show that we're gonna be doing.

Also with FIFA coming in the summer, uh, we have um two things I want to talk to you about.

One is when they're talking about Tranquility Park.

If those are boosters, I wonder if NASA would consider giving you a retired rocket.

Because you know, in New York, when you go to New York, you have the Statue of Liberty and all these massive things that you can take pictures with because people like the and we're space city.

So, you know, I'm sure there's a retired rocket somewhere that might need a new home.

Okay.

Also, with FIFA, uh last summer I have friends that run a foundation and they set up a tent for safe spaces and all these different events.

And uh one thing I noticed I went to do photography for them, and uh during Pride, they had set up a tent, and people were actually going through heat exhaustion, and they were using the fountain in the front as like a swimming pool.

I don't know if you noticed that.

Um, and part of that I want like health concern wise, you know, in New York the parks are not um the fountains are not always full, they're more like dance fountains, like you can walk through them and the water comes up.

Just something that might be a little more health safe, because with FIFA, we're gonna have 7.5 million people to send on the city, and I'm both on the art side and I'm also representing the medical reserve corps for the city of Houston.

And so just to consider the safety aspect of that, because it's gonna be a lot of people and it's gonna be very hot, and not everyone's used to our weather or our temperature.

So when she was talking about Tranquility Park and suggesting the Mr.

I thought that's pretty brilliant, you know.

And uh lastly, I'm one of the there's seven artists doing the art of soccer uh FIFA exhibits for this to raise funds for the Sports Authority Foundation.

I'm one of two women, and there's only seven of us uh that are doing the soccer balls uh for the nonprofit to raise money for the children's soccer leagues.

And so if anyone has corporate connections or anyone needs to brand their business more, if you would just open up that dialogue for us and support us in that as well as FIFA comes in.

And we're just really excited um to be a part of that.

And thank you so much.

Thank you.

And maybe you can get your suggestions to Chris Larson uh or Cassie.

Okay.

Uh, because you know those are things that really do need to be considered.

So thank you so very much.

It's nice seeing you again.

Well, thank you, everyone.

If you again, if you have announcements or something that you want us to send out, please send it to every council member so that we can again put it in our newsletters and get that information out.

And as chair, I want to reiterate that arts and culture are not secondary investments.

They are central to building a city that is innovative, inclusive, and economically strong.

I look forward to continued collaboration with Mayor Widmeyer, Director Liao, Houston Arts Alliance, and all of our community partners as we move this work forward.

And if there's no further business before this committee, oh let me tell you our other committee meetings are um well you can find that on the website, but we have one today is the 19th.

We have March 26th, April the 8th, May 21st, June 10th, July the 8th, August the 12th, September the 9th, October the 14th, and then November will be determined, you know, we have Thanksgiving, and then uh Wednesday, December the 9th.

And so we'll try to adhere to this schedule, but certainly always look at the website to see if we are meeting.

But again, I thank you for your time, and you all have a good afternoon.

And it is now 3 35 and we are adjourned.

Thank you.