Texas Border Business
Texas Border Business
Texas Women for the Arts (TWA), a prominent statewide giving circle and membership program under the Texas Cultural Trust (TXCT), has announced the recipients of their 2023-2024 TWA Grants. This year, TWA has allocated $319,169 to various arts organizations to enhance arts access and education for children across Texas.
Comprised of over 220 arts philanthropists, leaders, and changemakers, Texas Women for the Arts is dedicated to increasing access to arts and arts education for all Texas children. The members of TWA annually select arts organizations to receive support through their fundraising efforts. Since its inception in 2005, this formidable group of influential women has awarded 403 grants totaling over $4.3 million and impacting nearly 3.7 million children throughout Texas.
“These grants provide impactful support for the arts in Texas, ensuring that children have access to the arts and quality arts education regardless of potential barriers,” said Heidi Marquez Smith, CEO of the Texas Cultural Trust. “We congratulate this year’s grantees and thank our TWA members for their unwavering and invaluable support in nurturing the next generation of Texans.”
Linda LaMantia, the 2024 Chair of Texas Women for the Arts, emphasized the vital role of the arts in children’s lives: “Bringing the arts to children across our state is so important; the Trust’s research has shown that involvement in the arts increases test scores, school attendance, graduation rates, and improves mental health and healing.”
TWA’s grant funding supports various community organizations, museums, after-school programs, summer camps, and more. These grants enable programming for Texas children in music, visual arts, performing arts, dance, and creative writing. Grants are awarded annually in the spring, with the 2024-2025 application cycle opening on October 1st, 2024.
Texas Cultural Trust is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and increasing access and awareness for the arts across the state. Their programs include the Texas Medal of Arts Awards, Art Can, Texas Young Masters, Texas Women for the Arts, Partners in the Arts, and Arts Access. The Texas Cultural Trust’s efforts are bolstered by its partners, who play a crucial role in advocating for the arts in education, fostering economic impact, and showcasing the artistic excellence of Texas. For more information, visit Texas Cultural Trust.
Texas Women for the Arts (TWA) is a statewide giving circle and membership program with over 200 members across Texas. Since 2005, this philanthropic force has championed arts in education, awarding 403 grants totaling over $4.3 million to arts organizations, enriching the lives of more than 3.7 million Texas children. For more information or to join, visit Texas Women for the Arts.
By awarding these grants, Texas Women for the Arts continues to foster a vibrant arts culture in Texas and ensure that children can engage in and benefit from the arts.
The 2024 Texas Women for the Arts Grantees:
- ALMAAHH, Advocates of a Latino Museum of Cultural and Visual Arts & Archive Complex, Houston
- Anderson Center for the Arts (formerly known as Harris County Cultural Arts Council), Houston
- Anthropos Arts, Austin
- Austin Opera, Austin
- Austin Theatre Alliance, Austin
- Bexar County Performing Arts Center, DBA Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, San Antonio
- Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Dallas
- Boys & Girls Club of McAllen, Inc., McAllen
- Center for Women & Their Work, Austin
- Corpus Christi Symphony Society, Corpus Christi
- East Lubbock Art House, Lubbock
- East Texas Symphony Orchestra, Tyler
- Ellen Noel Art Museum of the Permian Basin, Odessa
- Harbor Playhouse Company, Corpus Christi
- IEA – Inspire, Encourage, Achieve, Beaumont
- Kaleidoscope Youth Development Services, DBA Rhodes School for the Performing Arts, Houston
- Lubbock Community Theatre, Lubbock
- Swan Strings, Dallas
- Texas Commission on the Arts, Statewide
- Texas Cultural Trust, Statewide
- Thank You Darlin’ Foundation, Fort Worth
- The Contemporary Austin, Austin
- Moody Foundation, Austin
- The Opera Co., DBA El Paso Opera, El Paso
- The Periwinkle Foundation, Houston
- Tom Lea Institute, El Paso
- Young Audiences of Northeast Texas, Tyler
- Youth Orchestras of San Antonio, San Antonio
The 2024 Texas Women for the Arts Executive Committee:
- Linda LaMantia, Chair, Laredo
- Isha Rogers Santamaria, Vice-Chair, El Paso
- Leslie Blanton, Immediate Past-Chair, Houston
- Eliza Duncan, Membership Co-Chair, Houston
- Nina Seely, Membership Co-Chair, Austin
- Muffin Lemak, Membership Vice Co-Chair, Dallas
- Ana Montoya, Membership Vice Co-Chair, San Antonio
- Karen Foster, Nominating Chair, El Paso
- Leslie Ward, Nominating Vice-Chair, Austin
- Michelle Bonton, Grants Chair, Houston
- Lisa Ivie Miller, Grants Vice-Chair, Austin
- Lawton Cummings, Governance Chair, Austin
- Nancy Murray, Governance Vice-Chair, Longview
- Elia del Carmen Mares, Legacy Chair, El Paso
- Jan McKee, Legacy Vice-Chair, Fort Worth
- Natasa Valocchi, Travel Chair, New York
- Marielle Lamy Quaid, Travel Vice-Chair, Austin
- Lawton Cummings, Jessica Karlsruher, Laura M. Matz, Janna Paulson, Marielle Lamy Quaid, and Leslie Ward, 2024 Annual Meeting Chairs
To join Texas Women for the Arts, or to learn more about the program and the Texas Cultural Trust, visit txculturaltrust.org.
