To order the arts and culture committee meeting.

I'm the vice chair of the committee, Mario Castillo, here joined by Councilmember Sally Alcorn and Chambers, as well as staff from Councilmember Twila Carter's office, staff from Councilmember Joaquin Martinez's office, staff from Councilmember Julian Ramirez, and Councilmember Tiffany Thomas.

With that, we will begin.

Okay.

Um I don't have a ton to update on.

I did want to say that because it's a question that's come up a few times, and and I think it's relevant and of course very timely.

The arts community, I think, has continued to ask this office since coming in about opportunities to be more connected to the festivities happening, celebrating the World Cup and you know, opportunities for artists and and uh different public art opportunities.

And I think there's been a lot of really great questions.

I don't have all of the answers, but I did want to share uh a few things that I know, and I can share the uh links with all of the council offices, uh, but I do know that for the um organizations, institutions that are going to have uh arts programming during the summer that you would like visitors to be steered toward.

There is a microsite that Houston First has created to allow you to go in and input your information and and um they're doing a lot of SEO investment to be able to direct folks there.

Um so that's one opportunity, and then I believe in today or yesterday there was a a story um in the paper about another project.

I'm not entirely certain how that's being funded, maybe through the host committee, but a project um with a number of different murals around town, and I don't have tons of details.

I just found out about that one, but I believe there's there it's a project managed by Batiri, who's a a um muralist, and um there will be opportunities for local artists to participate in those.

I think there's 10 of them.

And um there is also uh Dan, can you tell me the name of the project, the ribbon cutting?

Uh, okay.

Oh, thank you.

Easting Gateway.

They're the East End Gateway mural um project, which is another very collaborative project that's celebrating uh the World Cup, and there's a ribbon cutting for that coming up very soon as well.

So I'll share all of those dates and details with the council offices via email.

But I I just wanted to say that I know that I recognize the community's been asking those questions and I've been asking those questions and as I'm receiving information, trying to get it out to you all.

Um and then beyond that, I I don't want to delay us because I know there will probably be lots of of questions, and this uh presentation will take a little bit of time, so we can move into that.

Great.

We can roll right into the joint presentation with the Houston Arts Alliance on the hot contract update and timelines.

Um Taylor will be joining you for that.

And thank you for the update around the activities with uh opportunities related to FIFA.

I know folks are excited about that, and the ribbon cutting is actually uh in district H, so that'll be happening on Saturday.

Thank you.

We're yes, we're excited, and I know the arts community is very excited to have this influx of visitors and be able to really showcase all that Houston has to offer.

So, however, I can do, whatever I can do to help.

I'm here to do that.

So thank you.

Um before we dive into the slides, I want to just say a little bit about um, and you can probably go to the next slide, but um, I want to just say a little bit about the um hotel occupancy tax program, which is uh, as you all know, it is a uh contract of the mayor's office of the arts.

It is a program that has existed for many years.

These are local hotel occupancy tax dollars that the state specifically allows via state legislation municipalities to invest in the arts, with the understanding that the arts is a driver of tourism and that it would generate further hotel occupancy tax dollars.

And so there's there's a number of parameters that are laid out by the state, including, you know, what percentage is allowed and um and how that's able to be executed.

And so the city of Houston allocates uh the maximum allowable, the 19.3% to the arts from its local hot.

And uh in doing so, we contract with Houston Arts Alliance, which is a nonprofit organization who was a which was established 20 years ago now, where they're celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, out of the reorganization and restructure of several local municipal arts agencies, um and in order really with the idea that that this work could be more community centric and more efficiently executed on if there was this nonprofit administrative partner to run very transparent um fair grants processes on our behalf.

And so that's what Houston Arts Alliance does for us, specific to this contract.

We also have another contract with Houston Arts Alliance, but specific to HOT, that's what they do for us.

Um from a timeline standpoint, this was a five-year contract with two one-year extension options, both of which were executed uh by this administration, and the final extension option expires at the end of this year.

However, because of the uh lead time needed for HAA to run its grants processes, we need to get that secured pretty quickly this summer.

And so we're going through this process.

We've had a number of stakeholder conversations between myself and Taylor with different um parts of the sector.

We've met with the um leadership of the large institutions that mostly sit in our theater and museum districts, and uh we have also met with the seven cultural districts and their leadership.

We've met individually with some of your offices.

We will be reaching out to meet individually with all of the council offices.

Um, and we've met with a number of different artists and community members and really kind of workshop this through a lot of feedback.

So I hope that we are, you know, we we have a pretty good um plan in place, and and it doesn't look vastly different from what it looked like before.

Uh if we can go to the next slide.

Next slide, please.

I guess I'll touch on this for a second.

That this is just the structure of how it works.

The hotels collect the the dollars via hotel occupancy tax, remit them to Houston First.

Houston First makes quarterly payments to the city, and the city dedicates, as I said, that 19.3%.

The city retains as part of the contract, and as is being proposed under the new contract, the city retains 7% to support some of the arts and cultural initiatives that happen inside the city, including work in my office as well as the Office of Special Events and Trade and International Affairs, and and someone was just asking me a few minutes ago about the consular core program and the sister cities program and some.

So a number of those initiatives that um have qualifying activities according to the state statute are supported, and that's where that 7% gets allocated.

Um, and then the rest of it goes to Houston Arts Alliance to administer the grants process.

Um so if we could go to the next slide.

I think this slide is really, really important because I think sometimes, you know, especially as we're having difficult budget conversations, there is uh there are questions about why we would invest resources in one place and not another, and why we would invest these resources here.

And so I just want to call to everyone's attention the return on investment, and this is specific to the hot dollars.

This does not cover the full scope of economic impact of arts and culture in Houston, but this is specific to the hot dollars that the city allocates.

And so, you know, to to generate $28 per dollar in economic activity feels like a pretty good return on investment.

Um, I also thought it was um pretty noteworthy that that 68% of the programming attended through these funded programs was uh was free programming.

So I think, you know, there's some really incredible stuff that's being supported all across Houston via these resources.

And I think that's really, I just wanted to kind of lay the um the foundation for why we do this, what it is, and I will turn it over to Taylor now to start talking about what's being proposed.

Awesome.

Next slide, please.

Next slide, please.

All right, so on this slide, you'll actually be able to see the increase in grant applications in HAA's administrative workload since the start of the current contract in 2019.

So application numbers have grown significantly.

When the current contract started in 2019, HAA received approximately 554 applications that year, and in the most recent year being 2025, HAA received 883 applications, which represents a 59% increase in applications submitted.

Of course, the volume of applicants seeking access to hot funded grant opportunities has grown, which means more staff time is required for applicant questions and technical assistance, eligibility verification and review, application troubleshooting, panel preparation, and of course, communications and follow-up.

In the next line, you'll be able to see how grant awards have increased since the start of the contract.

So in 2020, there were 329 city-funded grants awarded.

And in 2025, there were 419 city funded grants awarded.

So that represents a 27% increase in grants awarded by way of these hot funds.

More grants means more contracts, more payment processing, more reporting, and more compliance oversight.

So these increases are not just numerical.

Again, what we're trying to really show here is that it creates more work across the full grant lifecycle.

And then speaking of contracts, in that last line, you'll be able to see contracts under active management, which have also increased substantially.

In 2019, HAA was managing approximately 600 active contracts, and now in 2025, we're managing closer to 900 active contracts.

That represents a 50% increase in contracts under active management.

So with this, you know, volume that's growing, again, HAA's operational workload is trying to keep up.

We've got more first-time applicants requiring support, more compliance and reporting commitments, more community-informed processes that we've also integrated into our work by way of the grant working groups and panel working groups that support our annual grant evaluation year over year, and significantly more public transparency expectations and rightfully so.

Next slide, please.

Before we get into specific changes, these updates were designed really to strengthen stability, transparency, and sustainability of the city's hot funded arts grant making system while maintaining continuity in the flow of dollars to the community.

So the first goal is really to align HAA's admin fee with the current program scale and complexity.

As the last slide showed, our admin responsibilities have grown significantly as application volume, support needs, compliance requirements, and program delivery demands have increased.

But related to that, goal number two, we want to ensure that support, we're supporting the administrative capacity needed without undermining community investment.

And so the proposed structure is intended to stabilize HAA's ability to administer the programs while also preserving the city's commitment to distributing these hot funds to the Houston's arts and cultural community.

So you will see that the structure moves HAA's fee out of the distributable pool so that while the pool is technically smaller, it's also being divided among fewer categories, allowing for major community-facing funding streams to remain stable and in most cases see a modest increase.

Goal number three, we wanted to better align the city's initiative grant program with the applicants it's intended to serve.

So the city's initiative program, it's not going away.

It's being moved into the under 10 million dollar category, ensuring that the program remains aligned with the individual artists creatives and small to mid-sized organizations whose award and maximums are smaller.

The majority of the allocation for cities initiative is going to the under 10 million dollar category with some remaining portions that you'll see going towards HAA's admin fee the over 10 million dollar category and milletheater so that there is an opportunity to ensure that we're distributing all of the funds that were previously allocated to that program.

The fourth goal is really about again providing small funding increases to support for organizations, support for artists and creative individuals and our festival grant programs which we refer to as our annual grant programs to help strengthen existing funding pathways without disrupting the overall grant making framework and I think largely to you know Michelle's earlier point we really wanted to ensure that you know considering these updates you know they were designed to avoid disruption preserve existing grant cycles and ensure that dollars continue to reach the community in a timely and predictable manner.

Let's get into how this shakes out by way of the budget next slide.

So this chart compares the current hot allocation structure with the proposed contract structure using a total hot revenue example of 101 million which is based on the rounded hot actual amount from 2025 and results in a uh in the arts and cultural share of hot which was approximately 19.4 million dollars so under the current contract the city of Houston's 7% admin fee is taken from the arts and cultural share of hot first after that deduction the remaining amount becomes the allocated hot pool which is approximately 18.1 million in this example from that allocated pool funds are then distributed across five grant categories so we had 36% going to operating grants for organizations and artists with budgets under 10 million dollars so that is where support for organizations categories one and two support for artists and creative individuals festival and let creativity happen currently sit.

And then you have 36% going to operating grants for organizations with budgets over 10 million dollars there's a 16.5% allocation to Miller outdoor theater a 2.5% allocation to cities initiative and a 9% allocation to HAA's admin fee.

So in the current structure HAA's admin fee is part of the allocated hot distribution this means HAA's fee is calculated from the same pool that is also used to fund the grant categories in Miller outdoor theater.

Simply put arts and culture share of hot minus the city's 7% equals allocated hot and then the allocated hot is divided among the existing contract categories including HAA's admin fee.

Now under the proposed contract the city's 7% admin fee would still be taken from the arts and cultural share of hot however HAA's 9% admin fee would also be taken from the arts and cultural share of hot before determining the final allocated hot pool.

So in this example you see that results in HAA's admin fee being approximately 1.7 million and a final allocated hot pool of approximately 16.3 million.

So putting this a little bit more simply arts and culture share of hot in the proposed contract minus the city's 7% minus HAA's 9% would equal the allocated hot pool and the remaining allocation from that allocated hot pool would be distributed across all of our programmatic categories.

So the primary difference between the current and proposed contract is where HAA's administrative fee is calculated within the funding structure.

Under the current contract, HAA's fee is included as one of the categories within the allocated hot pool.

Under the proposed contract, HAA's fee is calculated before the allocated hot pool is distributed.

We felt like this creates a cleaner structure by separating the cost of administering the contract from the allocations that are actually going out into the community.

This approach also provides HAA with more predictable admin support to manage significantly increased workload, compliance requirements, applicant support, all of the things that I was sort of naming before.

Another important clarification, and this was tied to one of the goals, is that the city's initiative grant program is not going away.

Rather, the city's initiative allocation is being folded into the broader allocation structure, with a majority of those funds moving into the under 10 million dollar operating grants category.

This change is intended to ensure that funds historically associated with cities initiative continue to support the arts community while also improving the likelihood that those dollars are fully spent and distributed.

The remaining portions of the former cities initiative allocation are being redistributed across HAA's admin fee, operating grants to the organization's over 10 million in Miller Outdoor Theater.

So to reiterate, the city's initiative program is not going away.

HAA will still distribute cities initiative grants at roughly the same level it has in recent years, approximately $300,000 annually.

The proposed change simply removes cities initiative as a separate fixed percentage line item and folds those dollars into the broader allocation structure, giving HAA continued flexibility to support eligible projects while helping to ensure hot funds are fully spent.

Next slide.

So this is just a different visual to see the spreadsheet that we just presented.

And really what I what I want to highlight here is the structural changes and how that shakes out if you look at it by way of this pie.

So this is really just to highlight that allocated hot distribution pool that I was referring to.

Again, under the current structure, you had the arts and culture share of hot at 19.3%, minus the city of Houston's admin fee of 7%, which equaled this allocated hot, and this pie breaks down how the funds were split within the pie of the allocated hot pool.

And you'll see that HAA's fee is included in that versus in the proposed structure, the arts and culture share of hot 19.3%, minus the city's 7% admin fee, and HAA's 9% fee will determine the allocated hot pool, and you'll see how that is being distributed.

Cities initiative again does not have its own separate like carve out in this pie because the program is being folded into the under 10 million dollar category.

Next slide.

It funds the infrastructure required to deliver a high volume public facing grant-making system with transparency, accessibility, and accountability.

This includes the grant application portal.

We manage that, and it does have subscription costs and developer costs that we have to contribute to year over year, communications and outreach, translation, applicant workshops, technical assistance, panelist honorariums.

So the community panelists that we actually invite to read and score all of the 883 applications we receive in a year, their stipends get paid out of our admin fee.

And so do the participants who support our grant working group and panel working groups who are annually evaluating and assessing our grant making process, their stipends also come out of HAA's admin fee.

So just really wanting to clarify that there are even line items within our admin fee that are still going out to the community by way of the panels and working groups.

Data tracking, compliance documentation, reporting systems, all of those line items are supported by way of the admin fee.

These investments are essential to ensuring that you know these hot funded grant opportunities are broadly accessible, fairly reviewed, and responsibly administered on behalf of the city.

Next slide.

In closing, I really, you know, I I want to reiterate that these proposed changes are not about changing the purpose of the funding system.

They're about strengthening the infrastructure that allows the system to work.

They protect the city's investment in HAA's grant making capacity, improve transparency, and preserve continuity for applicants and grantees, while also maintaining strong funding streams by way of our grants and to Miller Outdoor Theater, and modernizing the tools needed to administer public arts funding responsibly at today's scale.

Thank you all so much.

That's all I have.

Thank you both for the presentation.

Walking through the proposed changes.

Also breaking down how that admin fee is uh utilized and other ways that it supports the honorarium, outreach, et cetera.

Um that's helpful to know.

One of the questions I had was on the city initiatives, the 2.5% historically has all of the 2.5% been utilized uh for grants.

Yes, but not always via a competitive grant cycle.

But this will allow it to, let's say you don't have um uh sufficient applications in a year to draw all the the money down, it will allow it to still go to support organizations under 10 million.

Exactly.

Now it can filter into that broader pool for the organization's um under 10 under 10 million, yes.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Alcorn.

Thank you, Chair, and thanks for the presentation.

Good to see you both.

Okay.

So all you're really doing in changing the structure is just moving the nine percent admin above the line, basically, before you get your funding to distribute.

Yes, we're moving HAA's fee above the line and then folding cities initiative into the under 10 million dollar count.

Give me an example of cities initiative project.

Um, so I would say uh council member Ramirez is not here, but I know there's a group that that he's familiar with that um it's a musical group, and I think they use their cities initiative support um to record and or release a new album.

It's like I remember him talking about that yes.

So it's a specialized grant program that's based on three funding areas.

One is um resilience, another is cultural neighborhood destinations, and the third is conference tourism.

So any project um by way of the grant program that is applying for funds, their project needs to fit within one of those three funding areas.

Okay, got it.

So I understand what you're doing there.

What's kind of the year over year increase in your grant funding?

I mean, it I know it goes right along with hot increases, but over the last few years, what's been the um so in uh 2019 we were distributing about 12 million annually, and this most recent year we distributed about 16.1 million dollars annually or for that year, excuse me.

Okay, and you want you wanna, I mean, obviously your numbers at the very beginning showed that um you need more admin support, right?

I mean, is that growing uh in with the with the increase?

Is that growing to the extent you need?

Is nine percent the right number?

Um, in order for us to again not like pool money from the community investment, it was the highest we could go.

Um, I do think it, you know, in talking to Michelle, we're thinking of other ways that we can um help support the grant making infrastructure without having to tap into, you know, funds that really should be going out into the community.

What's your annual fundraising, like private fundraising?

Uh it varies from year to year, and it also goes to support other programs that HAA offers that aren't under city contract.

So give me a ballpark of a it could be anywhere from um 300 to 500,000.

But again, majority of those funds do not go to support our hot work.

They go to support like our disaster services program that's not under city contract.

Got it.

Can I ask one more?

Sure.

Get back in.

The 7% city fee.

Has that always been 7%?

It's always since the contract has been structured in the way.

Yes, I believe it's always been since it existed 7%.

And that pays for you.

So some of my office and initiatives out of my office, as well as you know, some of our special events when they're not fully funded via sponsorship.

And of course, as so that's where the special events money is.

Some of that is in there as well as the trade and international affairs for qualifying expenditures there.

Okay, and where are we with um getting the new contract in works?

So we are um just waiting for uh y'all to finish the very important business that you have in front of you now, which is budget.

And June 10th.

Yes, exactly.

And I think uh we're uh targeting potentially to introduce it to council immediately after that or around that time, depending on um you know how it's going and whether we've had enough time to brief everyone on council, but um that's what we're aiming for, and again, that is essentially to avoid disrupting the grants cycle.

Great.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

I understand um the proposed changes here to the administrative um portion.

Are there any changes to the length?

Are y'all looking at a longer term contract?

Is that gonna help uh better administer the grants?

I actually spoke to um procurement about that just to ensure that we were also in keeping with what you know standards and guidelines um they would like to see, and um we are gonna continue with we're gonna propose the same term, I should say, that we have now, which is a five-year contract with those two one-year extension options.

And it does, yes.

I mean, I know some of the contracts that we are doing now are moving to shorter with more extension options.

Um, this does allow for more stability for the program and for the sector.

Thank you.

Staff from Councilmember Ramirez.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Um, so would this change require sort of an additional ordinance about it or just the contract?

Just a contract.

Okay, and so if I was reading it right, um it would be expected in the next year to be an additional like net million, is that right?

Be like one point, no, the change.

Um, the changes to the percentages are uh, you know, the actual dollar amounts are based on hot performance.

Okay.

So the okay, do you have a guess for the next year if we were to make the change, sort of what the what the delta would be?

Uh I believe uh Houston First, their hot projection is 116 million this year.

So, okay.

I guess where I'm going with this is sort of um Councilmember Alcorn was asking about sort of additional philanthropic fundraising that you do, and was this money expected to sort of increase your admin staff, or what's the plan for for the the additional money?

So it would go towards like um our ability to support um eligibility verification, for instance.

So instead of um our four staff members having to manually review 883 applications within a year, you know, we could invest in the infrastructure that would automate eligibility so that we could um really direct the team's energy and focus to more applicant support, responding to emails, answering calls, um doing workshops.

It could also support the work that we're doing to elevate the um the city's uh cultural events calendar that we manage on their behalf, right?

We've gotten a lot of feedback from um community members that they feel that that could be um a tool that could help uplift what's going on within the arts and cultural ecosystem, and that maybe we're not leveraging it in the best ways, but in order to really develop that that calendar out, that platform out, we need to, you know, have dollars that we can invest into that, um so not really personnel changes or adding more staff, it really is like infrastructural support.

Can you put me back in the queue?

Okay, thanks.

Yep, no problem.

Staff from Councilmember Thomas's office.

Thank you so much, Taylor, for the thorough presentation.

I don't have a question directly related to the presentation, so I'm happy to return back in the queue after Leah.

If she has a particular question about the hot presentation.

Okay, we're back to uh back to you, Leah.

Okay, thanks.

I think I understand your question.

You're asking about like what HAA's increase in fee might look like.

Is that what so under this kind of last year scenario?

Um, with that change, it would mean in uh, was it a hundred twenty-two thousand?

Yeah.

Oh, okay.

Oh, okay.

So if you go to the slide before this, you can see that.

Um, sorry, one more slide before.

There you go.

So you can see it's about a hundred twenty-two thousand dollar difference.

Oh, I was doing math wrong.

Okay.

That's okay.

Thanks for that.

Um, so feel free to cut me off if you need to, but um another couple questions.

Miller Outdoor.

So I thought that Houston First like is the main funder, is that false?

Yes.

Miller Outdoor is a city owned facility.

We like many other city-owned cultural facilities.

The thing that's unique about Miller is the city mandate to provide always free public programming, which they have done very well for so many years, and we all kind of love and have stories of you know, Miller Outdoor and and um experiencing that, but um their programming is not supported through Houston First, their programming is supported in large part through these resources.

Um, and then Houston First, as with all of our uh city owned cultural facilities is the facilities manager.

Gotcha.

Um I had a question about the grants process, if that's okay.

Sure, something I'm not an expert in at all.

Um so I imagine with a diverse arts scene, it can be challenging with a limited dollar amount, right, to give those out.

So, how do you manage um kind of the the tension between supporting newer or emerging artists versus well-established artists and you have some delineation between big big arts orgs and small arts orgs, but can you talk about how you how you determine that?

Yeah, our support is pretty much the same for anyone across the board.

Folks can sign up to have you know one-on-one time with the grants team to work through their application.

Um, they can submit tickets via an application that we all have called Zendesk, they can email the grants team.

Um we try to coordinate with different community organizations and council districts across the city to host, you know, 10 to 14 in-person workshops a year and make sure that we're not just expecting people to come to us, but that we're actually activating in communities and making our support available to folks there.

Uh and so it really is like based on, you know, it's like a case-by-case basis.

You know, we have veteran um applicants who really take advantage of the panel comments and want to meet with the staff to understand, you know, after they've been able to review those panel comments, how they can improve their application for the next year, whether they were awarded or not.

Um so there's several ways that we kind of, you know, offer that support, but um, of course, you know, for first-time applicants, we might need to, you know, review things more closely related to eligibility and giving them an overview of the different programs so they can understand what might be the best fit for their project.

Whereas with folks who are um, you know, maybe more familiar with the grant application process, the support might lean more towards communicating what's changed year over year as it relates to our guidelines, application questions, contracting, etc.

So it's not you don't have like a specific bucket or strategy or vision around like this amount of money is going to orgs with less than 500k in their budget or with to new artists, or you don't have delineated like sort of like that.

Um, not for the purpose of this presentation.

That is work that we might get into when we're working with um the grant working groups to like best illustrate how the how the dollars are flowing and where there may be gaps where we need to do more outreach.

Okay, all right, thank you.

Yeah, council member Alcorn.

So you've adjusted upwards the percentages, I see just kind of make up for the fact that you've gone above the line.

There's less there.

So that it seems to be I've kind of done the math on it.

It seems to be kind of a wash a little bit here or there.

How many institutions over 10 million dollars do we fund?

Uh 11.

And is that formulaic what they get?

It is.

Okay.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Of course.

And staff from Councilmember Thomas's office.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

Um, not to switch gears here, but unrelated to the presentation, Director Leal.

Just wanted to go back to the World Cup murals in your presentation about that.

Um, our office did kind of set up a couple months ago, I believe, an introductory meeting with you and expressed interest in being a part of that initiative as district F is one of among the one of the most diverse districts in the city of Houston.

So just wanted to express on behalf of the council member our extreme disappointment that we kind of found out in the Houston Chronicle about you know the different neighborhoods that would be a part of that initiative, and we're expecting some type of follow-up from you or your office in regards to that.

So wanted to um address that just given, I mean, it's the home of the international management district.

You know, soccer is one of the dominant sports in our area, and um really just wanting to be uh have some representation on the west side for FIFA, which is international, right?

And no better place than District F on that.

So I'll yield my time.

But um just wanted to get kind of like some clarification.

It seems like you also were a little surprised and learned this morning on kind of how that is possible.

If you can clarify, thank you.

Sure.

I don't work directly with the host committee or any of the World Cup affiliated entities.

Um, I believe that works through the government affairs office, and um, happy to to make that connection as well.

But um I have also been working to get connected.

I think everyone is you know working fast and furiously trying to meet a lot of deadlines and be fully prepared for the uh for the event.

But um, you know, I have not had any direct conversation with the leadership of the host committee to get that information I found out about it as well when you did in the paper.

You know, that was a surprise to me too.

Um there was an unveiling in my district uh a couple months ago for a mural, um, and I was told that was the only one that was gonna be happening.

So when I saw that this morning, I'm like, how did that happen?

You know, but I I do think you know the relationships there with the host committee are key to getting ahead of some of those things.

I agree, and I think you know, obviously, this was put together when when uh from a post-committee standpoint when my office was vacant and and it would have been nice to have that representation to help bridge that gap between the arts and the host committee.

But um, you know, I will certainly reach out again and share the feedback and um and see how we can get everyone connected.

Thank you.

We have no more questions uh on this presentation, so thank you both for the time and the information and look forward to the follow-up.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, we will have a presentation on the Houston Cultural District's summer marketing plan from Craig.

You're up.

Hello and welcome.

Thank you all, Vice Chair and everyone around the horseshoe for having us here.

Um today uh my name is Craig Haushields.

I'm the executive director of the Houston Theater District, but I'm here representing all of the cultural districts um uh collectively who have uh put forward a marketing plan for the arts organizations across the city, including the cultural districts, but well beyond.

So this the idea is this is gonna be a citywide effort.

Um, I'm here to preview it and then ask you for your help in in getting the word out about this uh this effort.

Uh, you could advance the slide.

Um, here's the the seven cultural districts.

For those of you who are not familiar with the seven, we've got the Fifth Ward Cultural District, East End Cultural District, Third Ward Cultural District, Arts District Houston, Midtown, and then the two older districts from before the state designation, the museum and theater district.

You can go to the next slide.

And it's going to include two elements, an events calendar and a blog.

And the structure of the campaign is designed to pull anyone in to the events calendar, get them to look through the blog, learn more about the diversity and the the um the diversity of the arts arts organizations.

Next slide.

The calendar here, we're just about to launch it'll go live next week.

We'll look like this.

You can go to the next slide.

And we're targeting two primary primary audiences.

One is the 500,000 estimated uh FIFA guests, and then all Houstonians who might be looking for things other than soccer over the next couple months.

By combining those two uh constituencies, our goal is to uh make sure that during the summer, which is not the the always the most uh full arts calendar, that folks know what's out there and really drive attention to places that they might not otherwise get to.

So if you often go to one part of town or another or see one arts organization or another, you'll be able to see see everything in one place and and navigate.

Next slide.

This effort is driven by three anchor events, all free outdoor activities.

Uh the first one, you can go to the next slide, is coming up uh June 6th, the celebrate Freedom Fest.

This is tied to something going on in the third ward with Juneteenth, the opening of their large festival.

Um, and uh the next slide will have our next anchor event with Make Music Day a few days later.

Do I sound like a robot to you guys?

Because it does.

Okay, great.

Sounds very weird here.

Um Make Music Day on Father's Day, uh, which uh was formerly something that the Office of Cultural Affairs led.

Uh, but the Arts District Houston is taking it over with with Gusto, and we'll be activating spaces across the city for free music programming throughout the day.

It should be really exciting, very fun, fun experience.

Next next slide.

And then the third anchor event is 4th of July at Miller Outdoor Theater, where we're bringing the Houston Symphony in and reopening that venue.

Those will be the events that we promote primarily, and then the idea is that when people see these free events, thousands of people are coming, thousands more hopefully will come.

They will see then the calendar of all of the extra events and go deeper.

Next slide.

And that's actually what that means.

Uh I should have said that sooner.

One more slide.

And uh I want to note how special of a moment I think we're in right now for the arts and culture sector.

Um, there's a lot of excitement around uh Director Layal's appointment, the new leadership, a Houston Arts Alliance with Taylor.

Um, I'll say like the communication that they've been sharing about this contract has been really lovely.

I feel like there's a spirit of collaboration that's just exciting to me.

Um, with this effort, you know, we have existing arts calendars, right?

Like Houston First has visited Houston.

We have the Houston Arts Alliance Cultural Calendar.

What I think this does uh this effort does uniquely to those is that we're working together with Houston Arts Alliance and Houston First to make sure that all of the events are on all of the calendars.

So we're doing the work on the back end rather than putting the onus on people to keep up with all of these calendars.

And that way, wherever the entry point is for the arts organizations, anyone in the city will get access to those wherever their entry point is, whether it's Houston First's microsite or the cultural Calendar.

Um and this is also being uh supported by the Texas Commission for the Arts.

All right, next slide.

So my ask to you is in the next week, if you have uh artists and arts organizations in your networks, please share this with them.

Um it's a new effort, it's not something we've done in this style before.

So not everyone knows yet, and we want to make sure that everyone feels included.

Um, there is information on where you can email or there's an event submission guide in the the deck.

Then once live at the end of next week, we encourage you to push out to your communities through your newsletters and any other social media channels that you have that this calendar exists.

Uh it will live at Houston Culturaldistricts.com.

And then I would love it if we could invite you all to join us for any of those anchor events and explore the blogs, find something else in your district or beyond that that excites you and and we hope to see you out there.

If you're coming, please let us know so that we can make sure that uh we can guide you around and get you all uh plugged in.

Um, ultimately, we just want to share the word.

We feel like this is an exciting time for the arts and want to make sure that everyone knows it's a it's a big tent that we're here to support everybody, and we're grateful for you.

We're grateful for Houston Arts Alliance, and we're grateful for uh the mayor's office of the arts.

Thank you.

Thank you, Craig.

I agree.

This is a very exciting time for arts and culture in Houston.

This is a good tool to have.

Uh, I will be happy to share this with my uh social media networks, newsletter, you name it, and see about coming out to one of the events.

Um we do have staff from Councilmember Ramirez's office uh with a question.

Hello.

Um, you may have said it and I missed it, but strategy to promote it, promote awareness.

Yeah, so the cultural districts have all invested uh money.

We're working with a marketing firm called MDR.

Um they're building out a paid social media campaign, and then we're working with i kiosks to make sure that there's information on the digital kiosk town.

And uh Houston First, are they participating in pushing it out in some way?

They're participating mostly through coordination on the calendar.

They're already doing their large FIFA effort, and this is all I would say loosely tied to that, but trying to sit underneath it.

So the coordination with them is to make sure that the calendars are linked and that we've got linkage in those events so that people can move between between the calendars.

Is there interest?

I'm not speaking for them, but it would it be helpful if they were helping someone.

I mean, that's a question.

Good great question.

I love working with the Houston First uh marketing team.

They're they're all very, very wonderful.

I think um this effort is meant to complement it, and it doesn't necessarily um we don't necessarily need them to be actively pushing it in the because we're doing that work.

Well you put me back in the queue.

You are the Q.

I am the Q.

Okay.

I'll make it quick.

Um what about the same question about the FIFA, like local host committee folks?

Any relationship to them pushing it out?

No, that's a that's a great question too.

So I was on one of the committees uh uh brought in through downtown Houston Plus and the work that they were doing.

So I've been plugged into some of that work.

Um, I'm gonna be sharing this once it's live with those groups too, to make sure that they're tied in.

And um, you know, at risk of throwing myself under the bus.

I did find out about the mural thing like two or three days before you did, by chance.

So if I don't think I have a lot of more information, but I'm happy to try to connect to anybody that to folks that I I've been connected with.

I was just thinking that FIFA will have a lot of access to humans.

Yeah, and that's yeah, that's the that is the goal, to connect that those dots.

Last question will the the calendar and the blog will they exist beyond the next couple months?

That is a great question.

Um the infrastructure for this project is being built strategically to exist after it, but we're gonna evaluate how that exists um at the following following the campaign.

Thank you.

Thank you, Craig.

No further questions.

Appreciate you being here and sharing that update.

Thank you all.

All right, we will now move on to public comment.

There are a number of folks who have signed up online, and there is also a sign-up sheet at the front table if you would like to sign up there.

When your name is called, come on up.

You'll be given three minutes to make your remarks.

First up, we have Katherine Noser.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name's Catherine Noser.

I'm the president of the board at Company on Stage Community Theater.

We are a 100% volunteer-driven nonprofit organization that has been providing professional quality live theater since 1978.

We present 10 productions each season, five for teens and adults, and five for children.

While Houston is second only to New York City in terms of the number of theater seats, most Houstonians cannot afford to attend a live theater production.

Community theater helps fill that gap.

Tickets for community theaters are approximately one-third the average ticket price in Houston.

Additionally, Company on Stage has a program called Library Days, where we present a free performance of our young audience productions, and we have Houston Public Library on hand, signing kids and parents up for library cards as well.

While we're located in District J, we have patrons that come from throughout the city of Houston, from Katie all the way down to Clear Lake, which uh illustrates the need for the services we provide.

Umaters struggle for funding, and we need your help.

Many grantmakers, including HAA and Houston Endowment, tend to fund organizations that have or that have budgets greater than 400,000, and/or those that pay their actors.

But that's not the role that community theaters play in the artistic community.

We are a commun we are a creative outlet for those who have chosen professions outside of the arts, teachers, IT professionals, engineers, stay-at-home parents, and even judges such as the honorable Christine Weems.

We are a training ground for those who have an interest in a future um profession in the arts, most notably uh Gilmore Girls actress Alexis Bladell, who got her start on the company on stage theater at the company on stage theater.

Um the size of our budget and the fact that we have volunteer actors does not lessen the value that we bring to the community.

We make exposure to the arts possible for thousands of patrons each year, for whom it would be financially out of reach without us.

Because our mission to bring live theater to all, very few patrons will ever be able to be the major donors that larger organizations have.

They just simply don't have the financial capacity to do so.

But they deserve the opportunity to engage in the arts on a regular basis.

We request support from the city for community theaters.

We invite our council members and staff members to come attend community theater productions, see the work we do and the professional level of theater that we present.

And we ask for you to help us find resources to fund this much needed community resource.

Without your help, access to the arts for those of lesser financial means will be diminished or gone entirely.

And we ask that you help us make sure that live theater remains a community treasure for all Houstonians rather than a luxury for the few.

Thank you.

Thank you, Catherine, for being here for the work that you do.

This is my first time learning about y'all.

Um, and so I I will look into it more, but I appreciate you coming down here to advocate and to give your comments.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Helen Warwick.

Helen's on table for Ted's day.

Okay, thank you.

Tony Diaz, you are up next.

Good to see you.

Great to see you.

Let me turn my timer on too.

Uh hi, I am author Tony Diaz, a liber traficante, founder of Nuestra Palabra Latinos having their say, which I funded in 1998.

And in years past, I was in this hall with others protesting the grants giving infrastructure of Houston.

Today I'm here to give praise, which is born of those years, which included nuestra palabra refusing to apply for grants for several years there.

Now we're deep in it, and it is again because of the work of others that stood up at that time.

It is because time has passed.

And it's also because I think there were individuals, and I'm not gonna name names because maybe we were right, maybe we were wrong, but there was the perception that some of the folks running some of these levels were not locked in for what the community wanted.

Brightly or wrongly, maybe we just didn't communicate.

I'm here to say I'm excited that because of the work of activists, community organizers, because of time, and some decisions that y'all have made, this is a new era.

And I am really excited to report for duty on behalf of our organization that's been around for 28 years.

We want to work with the leadership you've assembled, the support you're giving them.

I'm really excited that Michelle is leading the new department and that needed to be transformed.

There's great expectations of that, and she's always been tuned in with the community.

It's exciting to see Sedhio at the head of the Houston Arts Alliance board, which is a lot of work, but I respect him because he's also involved in the arts, having made the documentary Chicano Squad, which isn't just powerful, but it's about our community.

And also, this ain't an easy job.

I appreciate Taylor day in, day out.

I was just chatting with Quang on the way in.

Do we expect perfection?

No.

We can aspire to it, but we as community organizers, we don't protest for the sake of protest.

Ethically, we gotta let folks know what's going on.

And then when folks let us at the table, we need to show up.

We need to the hard work, and we need to give props where it's due.

So I commend you as well.

Other cities are cutting back on funding to the arts.

Thank you for staying true to that.

And I will close with a few direct comments about some of the policies I've heard.

It is good to change the city and mayor's initiative fund.

I'm impressed that y'all are doing that.

We could talk more about that later.

Uh, additionally, I like that the team wants to make it easier to verify who we are so we can get to the business of doling out the grants.

And on behalf of Nuesta Palabra, we're grateful that we've been awarded a grant for a festival.

It is the uh Houston Text Fest scheduled for October 17th.

We aspire to become a citywide book festival, and we'll be talking to all of you to make sure we touch in bases, make sure all of your sectors are represented.

But ultimately, we nuestra palabra want to break barriers to books.

Appreciate y'all doing that.

I love that Houston Arts Alliance wants to do that, and I'm excited for Houston, so thank you very much.

Thank you, Tony, for being here and your comments and all your work.

Appreciate it.

Next up is David Cortez.

Good afternoon, members of the committee.

My name is David Cortez, and I'm the co-founder and board member of the Houston Latino Film Festival.

Uh I'm here today to express my appreciation for the continued support the city provides through the mayor's office of the arts and the Houston Arts Alliance.

This year we celebrated our tenth anniversary of the Houston Latino Film Festival, a milestone that may not have been possible without the support we received over the years to the Houston Arts Alliance in the city of Houston.

What started as a grassroots two-day film festival has evolved into a culture arts organization that welcomes more than 5,000 attendees each year.

Over the past decade, the Houston Latino Film Festival has become a trusted cultural platform within the community.

Connecting with Histonians across all council districts, while community or creating mean meaningful opportunities for local filmmakers, artists to grow, collaborate, and showcase their work.

The festival also brings filmmakers from around the world to Houston.

Many for the first time visiting Houston, helping build cultural connections that strengthen Houston's arts, hospitality, and creative sectors.

Today, our work extends beyond the annual film festival through a year-round screenings, panels, workshops, cultural programming that continue to create space for artists, filmmakers, and the community.

Support from the Houston Art Alliance has helped organizations like ours to continue producing accessible community forward cultural programming.

And I wanted to publicly acknowledge the positive impact the support has on our organization and the community that we serve.

Lastly, we look forward to our continued partnership with city leaders and appreciate your continued support in helping us create spaces where Latino artists, storytellers, communities can gather and thrive here in Houston.

Thank you all for your time and your continued support of the arts.

Thank you for your comments today.

Thank you.

It doesn't matter which market.

Eitherman Austin.

I know this mic right here was a little sketchier from the back.

Thank you all for having me today.

It's Shaman Austin.

No problem at all.

And I'm here representing a community of young artists, especially millennials right now.

So I'm a three-time HAA grant recipient.

I've had the opportunity to merge communities here within the Houston area, but then also I've had the opportunity to sit at the front lines of a lot of the emerging young artists in fashion, film, as well as music here within the uh within the larger Houston area.

Also, I'm a native Houstonian.

I've had the opportunity to basically be in each one of the arts districts, whether I was working there or actually live there.

So what I want to do first, or say first is thank you all for the opportunity to hear our voices today, because we do want to put forth how important not only the grant funding is for opportunities, you know, within these districts, but then also the underserved districts and the underserved uh, you know, youth that are represented right now.

I was an educator for about three years, and one of the main things that was missing when they started to take away arts programming and when they started to, you know, reduce the actual amount of arts programming within the schools, was I was noticing children not having an opportunity to explore options for uh not only creativity but self-expression.

Uh we're dealing with, you know, a crisis within our youth community right now when it comes down to the purchase of social media and the pressures that they're facing just from the way that the world is constantly changing around them and that it's not made for them to have the room and the space to truly explore and become who they are as artists.

HA is providing those opportunities at an amazing rate on actually starting to see younger and younger applicants each year.

I was first award in 2022 and have the opportunity to mentor a young man, his name is Mike C.

Who started an actual clothing brand off of an HAA grant and was able to distribute that clothing brand, that clothing brand is now in collaboration with a lot of the burgeoning artists coming out of the city within the music scene, but also within the fashion scene and allowing more of these stories to come to light, allowing more of these opportunities for people to be seen that might not normally be seen, but also when you're having people come in from other places, allowing them to have the opportunity to see in context what Houston truly is as an international hub, but not just an international hub.

We are the tastemakers for the rest of the United States.

Whether anyone wants to believe that or not, any person that's basically moved out of this place and has gone on to do amazing things in the rest of the world has impacted culture globally, not just here in the United States.

So the investment in the next generation that's about to come in the next generation of artists and young professionals and creatives through these grants and through this funding is essential for us on a world stage and how we're viewed right now.

We have the opportunity right here from this city to be viewed in a way in which you know our lot of our um our youth are subverted in terms of how they're seen throughout the rest of the world.

I know my time is up, but I want to thank you all for this opportunity, and also thank you all for your support for Houston artists and the youth within the city.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your comments today and and sharing those stories, those insights.

That's really important.

Thank you.

Next, we have Claire Havens.

Hello, good afternoon, Council members, and all of my fellow arts um lovers and employees.

My name is Claire Pageon Havens, and I'm honored to be here today as a representative of Houston Grand Opera.

Um, we'd love to express our gratitude to the incredible work that Taylor and Michelle have been doing for and we are here for the overwhelming support of um renewing the city's contract with Houston Arts Alliance for the distribution of the hotel occupancy tax funds.

And you'll be hearing from us again when that is on the agenda for the official approval.

But I just wanted to share a little bit about what my first impression of Houston actually was.

I came as a cultural tourist.

I came to experience Houston's extraordinary art scenes, the scene, the opera, the symphony, the ballet, the museums, and I kept coming back year after year because it quickly became apparent to me that Houston was a city investing boldly in culture and creativity.

Today I am proud to be counted among the more than 1,300 individuals employed annually by Houston Grand Opera.

That journey from visitor to residents from audience member to arts worker is a story that is far from unique and is exactly why the hot tax funds matter.

Houston's Lugusly Arts Organizations and the larger ecosystem that surrounds it is not simply an amenity.

We are major economic drivers and global ambassadors for the city.

We attract visitors, fill hotel rooms, support restaurants and small businesses, and create jobs across countless industries.

Houston's nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences support 20,000 full-time jobs and generate 1.3 billion in economic activity annually, producing more than 32 million in local tax revenue.

Alone, HGO employs singers, orchestra, musicians, carpenters, electricians, educators, administrators, and countless other high highly skilled professionals.

Together we enrich the lives of more than 200,000 people annually across nearly 50 50 revenues throughout the city.

And Houston's cultural influence reaches far beyond our region.

HGO has long been a global brand in classical music and one of the world's leading producers of New American WAPRA.

We bring the world to Houston and we export Houston's name around the globe through our productions, through our artists, and through our partnerships.

Since the pandemic, HGO Alone has attracted thousands of ticket buyers from over 25 states and 33 countries, and we have live stream performances worldwide, welcoming artists and audiences from every corner of the globe.

Our sister organizations in this room and in the community around us share and boast similar stats.

Our 2026 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for Intelligence further captured capulated Houston onto the international stage, affirming our city as a beacon for creativity, innovation, and artistic excellence.

At a time when many arts organizations across the country are struggling and cities are pulling back funding.

Houston continues to lead for the very reason people return time and time again.

Houston leads because we understand that arts and culture are essential to economic vitality, tourism, talent recruitment, and quality of life.

The stead set fast support of Houston civic leaders has made that success possible, and continued investment through the Heart Houston Arts Alliance is critical to sustaining this wonderful cycle.

An investment in the arts is an investment in the future of Houston, and we are so grateful for you and your support.

Thank you, Claire, for being here today and for the comments.

Our next speaker is Alison Hall.

Hello, everyone and everyone here.

Thank you for this space and this opportunity to speak.

I'm Alison Hall.

I'm the education chair of Company on Stage.

Perhaps we brought a team with us.

It is in our name.

I am a theater educator.

I have been for the last five years.

I have taught in both nonprofit programs such as Pear Houston, Ra-Raw, Summer Camps.

I currently teach at University of Houston Clear Lakes Art School for Children and Young Adults.

And I'd like to share a little bit more about library days that Catherine addressed in her time.

Our most recent library day, we were able to partner with another nonprofit, Bright Lake Lucy, which her um started, which is a nonprofit in dedication to Lucy Dillon, a previous student that I had in my theater classes who was a victim of Camp Mystick and her family started the nonprofit in her honor, and we were able to dedicate a library day full production to her and have a craft inspired by her interests and with continued funding, we would be able to introduce more nonprofits to our audiences at our library day events.

Um, all the times that I've been teaching theater arts to young children, I like to tell people it's almost like reversed theater, where instead of with adults, we take trained actors with knowledge and skills, but with theater education for children, we kind of use theater to teach those knowledge and skills, and not every single student that comes into our program will continue to be a theater artist, but they will grow up to be teachers and doctors and community organizers and even council members.

Um right now we have over 120 schools in Houston across public to private that introduced theater into their programs.

Um, when I was in middle school, we didn't have one act play competitions that was kind of reserved to high schools, but right now we have both middle schools and high schools that um compete with theater uh across Texas.

What else was I gonna say?

Um, if you don't mind me checking my notes.

Um, so a lot of other larger theaters have pay-to-play systems where they where families will um pay a large fee in order to offer that theater education, but a company on stage, we would be able to offer that at a more accessible price to families.

Just this year, just this season, we have had more families act together in our productions.

Um, in our most recent production of Juni B.

Jones, we've had a father and son act together on stage, which is really cool and a lot of fun.

Um thank you.

Thank you, and uh appreciate your comments today.

Our next speaker is Paul Robinson.

Hello everyone.

It looks great.

All right, I have notes and I have ADHD.

Okay, bear with me.

Okay.

Is my timer started?

Okay, we go.

As I am okay, I'm Paul Robinson, aka Zematra Glamarati.

I've come today to do my civic duty as a native Houstonian and as a homegrown artist who is absolutely in love with the city that not only raised me and formed me into the world-class entertainer and powerhouse vocalist I am, but has also committed me to the possibility of Houston being the international city that it already is.

It already is that.

Um, we've been talking about it for years.

Um I will also be performing at I think I deleted something.

I'll also be performing at FIFA.

Uh, my band got through the audition, so we're very excited.

I think what I came to say is that it's super important for us to do whatever it takes to keep whatever communication open that we need to to make sure you all were talking about the thing that you found out about later.

The lack the issue with Houston is we're so spread out, we lack communication.

There's a wall up, and I just think that we have such potential to be exactly what I know we are.

I've sang back up for the suffers for 11 years.

I've been a part of some of the biggest events in this city, and I know what this city can be.

And I guess what I'm just saying is that if we keep the communication open, and and that every district is is represented and every Houstonian is represented, that I feel like people can then take ownership of the community.

As far as music and art and culture, I feel like there's a place that we should be beyond where we are now.

We have the infrastructure, we have the possibility.

We have so many people, people move here, artists are moving here.

And I think that's what I'm saying.

Uh I thought this was gonna be about something else, but I guess I'm just saying let's keep the communication open, let's do whatever we can.

And I'm really honored to be here today because now it lets me know that I can be more a part of the conversation or the process of maybe being a face that you all can see uh a liaison, if you will, I know words uh where we can continue to build because I don't want the next young wide-eyed boy that I was at 19.

I'm 44 on June 30th, running around looking for an opportunity that is not there.

We must fund the arts, and it must be distributed evenly so the next child coming up can have a chance.

I will yield.

Thank you.

All right, thank you for your comments.

We have uh a question for you.

Don't don't go too far.

Um thank you for your comments.

You're welcome at any of our committee meetings.

Um staff from Councilmember Ramirez would like to ask you a question.

Yes, please.

I love your hair.

Go for it.

Oh, thanks, same.

Yes, thank you.

Um it wasn't a question, it was just a congrats on the FIFA gig.

Thank you.

Yes, we're gonna kill it.

Thanks.

We killed the audition.

The answer is second song.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is uh I'm gonna go with Angie Finn.

All right.

Thank you, you got it exactly right.

Hi, um, thank you very much for the work you're doing today for arts and culture in Houston.

Council members and staff of the council.

Thank you, Director Leal and Ms.

Taylor and Ms.

Jackson for the work that you do for us as well.

I'm here today uh as a member of the board of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.

I've served on the board for nearly a decade.

Um I also have with me some of our very hardworking staff representing the Hobby Center as well.

Since I came to Houston in 1979 to be an apprentice at the Alley Theater, I've been working in performing arts in Houston professionally and as a volunteer.

I played a role in the development of the Hobby Center when I was working for Patient Entertainment at the time.

Previous to that, I was uh at the alley.

I was also in a leadership role at Theater of the Stars, and the first director of the Houston Theater District.

It's been exciting to be part of the Hobby Center over the past few years.

Because we've increased our role in and our impact on Houston's performing arts.

We've gone from being primarily a venue to becoming a major performing arts organization with artistic and educational programming presented by the Hobby Center.

The Hobby Center is a grant recipient of funding from the city of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance as part of your support for organizations program administered through the contract that you all are considering and discussing today.

This funding has helped activate new programming for us across many performing spaces that is driving cultural tourism to our city.

In addition to welcoming over 200,000 audience members for the hugely popular Broadway series, uh including many attendees from outside of our city and our region.

Funding uh has also supported programs like this season's presentation of jazz at the Lincoln Center with Wenton Marcellus, as well as presenting Broadway legends like Bernadette Peters and Sutton Foster in concert.

The Houston Arts Alliance has been an ever stronger leader in the community.

They're continuing to evolve their grant-making systems and processes to meet our community needs, and they're critical stewards, as you all know, of this city's support.

The hobby center is here today to support the contract renewal that will be reviewed by you all in June.

And we're fortunate to live in a city and thankful for the support that the city gives to the robust supportive arts infrastructure, and the hot tax funding system is, of course, an important component of that.

So thank you for letting us be here today.

Thank you for being here for your comments and to your team that's here that help uh make all the work happen at the hobby center.

Our next speaker is Jason Oliver.

Good afternoon.

I'm Jason Oliver.

Uh, I manage the third ward cultural district, uh, which exists to protect, preserve, inspire, and share the artistic and cultural legacy of the historic Third Ward.

Um, I wanna first say uh that that mural project that came up, like where one of the partners of the cultural districts are, we got an email about a week ago.

But I think that the quick turnaround for that just really shows how excited and how quickly that the arts are willing to mobilize when we're reached out to about uh about these types of projects.

So just an example of like when people call, we come running because the arts really want to be engaged in these types of large-scale projects, not just FIFA, but other big events that are coming to the city.

I want to express my appreciation to uh the Houston Arts Alliance and the Office of the Arts.

We are relatively the cultural district in third ward is one of the relatively new grantees from HAA.

And I'll say as a person and an organization that provides services to arts organizations and creatives in third ward, I am constantly trying to give them more work because I'm telling people to apply and and to apply to serve on the grants panel.

So I'm actively encouraging people to you know increase uh HAA's workload.

So I greatly greatly appreciate um that they're coming to request more support for the work, the great work that they're doing.

With more applicants, means that there's a greater demand, so they're increasing the quantity and quality of these projects.

That means there's a greater demand for funding.

I know very well the the budgetary constraints that that the city is dealing with, but I want to really think about not just the overall hot allocation and how we might rethink the ways that that entire allocation um is distributed, but looking at where might we find some some more um sources of funding that that aren't as disaster-prone uh than like hot taxes, because that is a real challenge for our artists and arts organizations here in the city, especially when we see that each dollar, like Taylor showed in the presentation, uh returns $28 in economic activity in the city, right?

So uh to close out, I'll mention because we're about two weeks out from the citywide Juneteenth Houston Festival.

People might have seen the the press conference that we did here at City Hall recently, uh making an invitation to council, your staff, and then anybody who's listening here uh to the to the council committee meeting to join us on June 6th at Emancipation Park.

Uh it's free and open to the public, just like many of our events in Third Ward and across the city, but I'm here on behalf of Third Ward.

And I'll also encourage people to visit the Juneteenth Houston website because we have events that are taking place across the city celebrating Juneteenth throughout the season.

So we're kicking off the season on June 6th at Emancipation Park in Third Ward, but go everywhere else, Juneteenth Houston.org.

Thank y'all.

Thank you, Jason, for your comments.

Our next speaker is Crystal Toussaint.

Good afternoon.

I'm Crystal Tissant, and I am a member at large um board member for Company on Stage Theater.

I'm also a 20-plus-year theater arts educator, a previous winner of the Houston Arts Alliance grant, as well as uh Native Houstonian who has been a lifelong artist.

Um I specifically do want to say thank you to the Houston Arts Alliance because I have seen the growth over many years.

I do feel like there's much more support for artists to understand what they need to do in order to get the grants, and that's why there has been a major growth in the amount of grants that are being received.

But I do have to say, as well, that I attended um before Mayor Whitmeyer was elected debate on the arts that was done during the time they ran for office.

And one of the things that he specifically talked about was giving more funding to public schools to actually take their students to see shows and hit upon the fact of what Catherine did previously, is that a lot of our students can't afford to go to shows, and I think that he needs to um you know do that because I haven't seen that.

As an educator who actually um took my children to um company on stage theater to see Juni B, which she mentioned, um they paid for their food, and I was able to work with Case for Schools, which is connected to some funding to pay for their tickets.

But I think there should be a direct way, because I have always worked in Title I schools, and often that funding isn't there.

I've also been an executive director for a non-arts nonprofit where we won the organization grant and was awarded $750 when the ensemble theater or the alley theater were given thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars because of the formulas which were created to decide how those funds are allocated.

But again, as Catherine stated, we're not going to be able to compete with those organizations because we don't have the level of budget that those organizations have.

But the fact that Company on Stage Theater has been in existence since 1978 merits the fact that we are worthy of receiving more funding, and we deserve to get that.

And as someone who has always known since I was a five-year-old child, I was Snow White and Snow White in the Seven Dwarfs at Alcott Elementary in fifth grade.

That's how long I've been an artist.

I've always known that this was my calling, this was my passion.

We deserve to get funding that allows for kids who grew up in South Park like me to be able to find that way to be a professional.

And I've worked the Academy Awards, the 96 Olympics.

I've had a full career even before I became a theater arts educator.

And I'm presently getting my uh master's from the Texas Southern University in professional communications and digital media.

I will continue my filmmaking as a filmmaker and as an arts educator.

Crystal, let me ask you, um, the case funding that you got, was that tied to an after school program?

It was, absolutely.

Okay.

And I also want to mention that council member Dr.

Carolyn Evan Shabazz has actually donated to Company on Stage Theater as well as come to see one of our shows.

I have invited our council member um Edward Pollard to come out.

He just hasn't had a chance, but he is a part of our um, he's in our district where we're located now.

And I've also invited Mayor Pro Tim Um Catherine, excuse me, Martha Costex, to come as well because where we were located was in her district, and we will be moving back to her district with our building that's a part of the Brays Oaks Management.

Uh so we really would like the support of the city so that we can celebrate even more years at Company on Stage Theater.

Well, I'll have someone on my team reach out to y'all about the after-school program component.

That's one thing I want to follow up on.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate that.

Because Councilmember Pollard's chief of staff was the one who actually suggested, hey, tap into that.

That's one way.

So I do want to give um his chief of staff credit for that.

We just haven't been able to connect with them to get some of their funding within that.

But we work it out.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Our next speaker, Jose Diaz.

Good afternoon, everyone, distinguished members of the Arts and Culture Committee, and I'm here in support of the course of HAA and all the incredible work they have done throughout the city, and also uh like to congratulate uh Taylor for such a great work that she's does uh heading HIA.

Um my name is José Antonio Dias.

I'm the founder of an artistic director of Jills Music Institute, uh Houston-based nonprofit dedicated to transforming lives through music education, mentorship, and performance opportunities for young people across our community.

This year has been one of the most impactful in our organization history.

Our award winning youth group, Caliente received national recognition to a prestigious Down B.

Stewart Music Award, often considered to be the Grammys of Music Education.

Continuing traditions of excellence that has placed Houston on the national stage for jazz and Latin music education and performances.

In addition, one of our youngest students, uh Joey Diaz earned an individual downbee award in the junior high division.

He's in seventh grade and 13 year old.

An incredible achievement for such a young musician.

In addition, uh Caliente uh has auditioned through a national competitive um event to participate in the Midwest Clinic, which is the top uh music education um performance uh conference in the world, and also they will be featured at the Jazz Education Network Conference in New Orleans as the top youth group in the nation.

This year, Disney Music Institute served hundreds of students throughout year-round educational programming, some music workshops, after school instruction, master classes, and live performances throughout the Houston area.

Our program provides students with access to professional level music education, mentorship, and cultural experiences.

Uh, that many families also wouldn't be able to afford to uh attend or even send the children to be able to participate in.

We are especially proud of our partnership with Howard Zuri Um School for Success.

Uh, this is in District I and we were able to work with them through the uh the case um uh city uh uh city case um program and it's a collaborative music education program mentorship that their jazz ensemble has grown to missing, earning honors at Jazz Festival throughout the Houston area.

We've been working with Rawisa Gaziri um for the last four years.

This is a school that's 90% economically disadvantaged.

None of the schools have any, none of the students in schools have any um uh private lessons with music education and like that.

So we partner with them.

And through that partnership, the success has now led to a national recognition as the ensemble to have been selected to perform as the featured ensemble at the Midwest Clinic, one of the most prestigious music education conferences in the world.

And that's just an incredible story for those young people in a community that's truly underserved in the arts.

We're also on to present performances of our professional ensemble, Houston Latin Jazz Orchestra, bringing World Class Latin Jazz program to audience across the city.

Um our workshops and concerts feature international recognized artists, including Jeff Coffran from the Dave Matthew Bands, Carl Allen, uh Oscar Cadio with Jennifer Lopez, Terra Stafford, and many others.

At Disney Music Institute, we believe the arts are assistant to building stronger communities, creating opportunities for young people and showcasing the incredible talents that exist right here in Houston.

Thank you for your continued support of the arts in our city and for allowing us the opportunity to possibly impact lives of Houston Youth Through Music.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments today.

And that will conclude our public speakers.

This will end the meeting.

I will adjourn the Arts and Culture Committee at 3 30 p.m.

And we will keep everyone posted for our next scheduled Arts and Culture Committee meeting.

Thank you all for being here today.