Texas: Texas Association of Business Partnership

A recent partnership between the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) and the Texas Association of Business (TAB), the statewide chamber of commerce representing more than 4,000 businesses, is already paying dividends. This past legislative session, TAB helped TCA realize its legislative vision by working with Texans for the Arts and the Texas Cultural Trust to advocate for arts education, creative place making and other arts issues. For their part, the arts groups included information about TAB in their advocacy materials. As part of its new arts agenda, TAB filed testimony in support of increasing TCA’s budget and established a board committee on creative industries. Business and arts stakeholders alike welcomed the subsequent legislative action to increase TCA’s 2016-2017 biennium budget by $5 million in support of its Arts Respond – Cultural District Project grant program. This program leverages the work of arts groups to diversify local economies, attract visitors and generate revenue. TCA’s partnership with TAB began last year when TAB asked TCA to organize meetings between arts organizations and business leaders in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth to facilitate coordination between the two sectors. For more information, contact TCA Executive Director Gary Gibbs.