Supporting the arts

20 Austin organizations bestowed $1.7 million in National Endowment for the Arts funding

Austin Theatre Alliance, which oversees the 105-year-old Paramount Theatre, received $95,000.

Paramount Theatre/Facebook

The National Endowment for the Arts has bestowed grants on 20 Austin-based arts and entertainment organizations — the most of any city in Texas. This round of grants — NEA's second in 2020 — was selected in March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping across the country, and announced on June 10.

The $84 million is awarded in 13 artistic disciplines, arts research, and partnership agreements. While the arts remain grossly underfunded across the U.S., the 2020 grants are a much-needed windfall during a time of great economic uncertainty. Here, in Austin, that windfall amounts to $1,706,800 across the 20 organizations.

"These awards demonstrate the continued creativity and excellence of arts projects across America and the nimbleness of our nation’s arts organizations in the face of a national crisis that shuttered their doors for months," said Mary Anne Carter, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, in a release.

Austin-based organizations receiving NEA grants include:

Allison Orr Dance Inc. (aka Forklift Danceworks) — $10,000
Austin Chamber Music Center — $45,000
Austin Children's Museum — $20,000
Austin Classical Guitar Society — $80,000
Austin Film Festival, Inc. — $15,000
Austin Film Society — $20,000
Austin Lyric Opera — $25,000
Austin Symphony Orchestra Society, Inc. — $25,000
Austin Theatre Alliance (aka Paramount and Stateside theatres) — $95,000
Ballet Austin — $10,000
Blue Lapis Light — $10,000
Capitol Broadcasting Association — $15,000
Collide — $35,000
Conspirare — $40,000
Contemporary Austin — $35,000
Fuse Box — $30,000
MINDPOP — $54,000
Motion Media Arts Center (aka Austin Cinemaker Space) — $15,000
Texas Commission on the Arts — $1,087,800
Texas Folklife Resources — $40,000

The Contemporary Austin's $35,000 grant will go towards funding the ambitious exhibition "Deborah Roberts: I’m," opening at the downtown Jones Center location on January 23, 2021. Ballet Austin says its $10,000 grant will go towards Stephen Mills' There is No Other, which will run March 26-28, 2021 at the Long Center.

"I believe our nation is at a crossroads, with calls for social justice, equity, and inclusion for all citizens," said Mills, who serves as Ballet Austin's artistic director, in a release. "The dancers and I will explore these issues and the power words have to help and harm our progress in my new production, There is No Other, which premieres next spring as part of our upcoming 2020/21 season. We appreciate the NEA’s investment in our work and look forward to amplifying this important conversation.”

In total, the NEA bestowed 54 grants to Texas arts organizations in Abilene, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Galveston, Houston, Marfa, San Antonio, and Waco.

In Dallas, four organizations received grants, amounting to $110,000:

buildingcommunityWORKSHOP (aka bcWORKSHOP) — $25,000
Cara Mía Theatre Co. — $40,000
Dallas Museum of Art — $20,000
Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra — $25,000

"This grant will help us serve communities that depend on Cara Mía Theatre for their cultural needs during the pandemic," David Lozano, executive artistic director of Cara Mía Theatre, tells CultureMap. "Funds will support salaries as well as our free School of YES! for youth ages 7 and up, digitization of our repertory of bilingual children's plays for schools, and our investigation of practices that integrate the arts and health."

Meanwhile, two organizations in Fort Worth were also bestowed the awards, amounting to $30,000:

Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, Inc (aka Arts Council of Fort Worth) — $10,000
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association, Inc. (aka Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra) — $20,000

"We are delighted to have the NEA's support and recognition of the bold new approach to public art this project represents," said Arts Council of Fort Worth’s director of public art Martha Peters via release. "During the 20th Anniversary Year of the Fort Worth Public Art program, the work of internationally renowned new media artists will reflect the past, present and future of Fort Worth on a truly monumental scale to the broadest possible audience."

In Houston, 14 arts organizations received funding:

American Festival for the Arts (aka AFA) — $20,000
Art League of Houston — $20,000
DiverseWorks, Inc. — $25,000
Glasstire — $20,000
Houston Arts Alliance (aka HAA) — $10,000
Houston Center for Photography (aka HCP) — $20,000
Houston Symphony Society (aka Houston Symphony) — $25,000
Houston Youth Symphony & Ballet (aka Houston Youth Symphony) — $42,000
Inprint, Inc — $20,000
Museum of Fine Arts Houston — $25,000
Society for the Performing Arts — $30,000
Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts — $20,000
University of Houston – $20,000
Writers in the Schools (aka WITS) — $50,000

San Antonio was granted $32,500 in NEA funds across six organizations:

Centro Cultural Aztlan, Inc. — $25,000
Contemporary Art for San Antonio (aka Blue Star Contemporary) – $20,000
Esperanza Peace and Justice Center — $60,000
National Association of Latino Arts and Culture — $15,000
San Antonio Symphony — $17,500
Youth Orchestras of San Antonio — $15,000

New

Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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