Introducing-- and congratulating-- the 2026 class of Young Masters

The Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) and the Texas Cultural Trust (TXCT) are proud to announce the 2026 class of Young Masters. Young Masters is a grant program that provides exemplary students in grades 8-11 with financial support to pursue advanced study in the areas of visual arts, literary arts, music, theater, dance, musical theater, folk & traditional arts, and media arts. This year’s promising young students come from 12 cities across Texas and together display a variety of artistic talents.

Through this grant program, talented young artists from across the state receive the title of “Young Master” and are awarded grants of $5,000 per year to further their studies in their chosen arts disciplines. This gifted group of 15 students represents the thirteenth class of Young Masters, which is generously supported by the Butler Texas Young Masters Endowment. Students are eligible to receive the grant for two years. Since the program’s inception in 2002, the Trust and TCA have awarded 431 grants to 199 Young Masters, investing more than $1.3 million in their artistic development.

To be considered for the Young Masters grant, students must be legal U.S. residents living in Texas and participating in a school-based program, a summer institute, or a specialized course of study or receiving private lessons from a qualified professional instructor. They must also maintain passing grades in all academic areas.

TCA and TXCT congratulate these young artists for their accomplishments and look forward to celebrating them at a star-studded awards ceremony on April 13 at Austin’s ZACH Theater.

The Poetry Out Loud recitation contest is a national project of the National Endowment for the Arts. This exciting program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. High school students memorize poems and perform them in competition. The students are evaluated on qualities such as articulation, evidence of understanding, accuracy and overall performance. This year’s anthology of poems celebrates the United States’ 250th anniversary. In the 2026 Texas state competition, 21 high school students from across Texas competed for a chance to advance to the state finals. The virtual semi-finals, held in late January, were judged by poets/performers Florinda Bryant, Charlie Clark, Mag Gabbert, and 2022 Texas Poet Laureate Lupe Mendez.

The 2026 Texas Poetry Out Loud finals were held in person at the Texas Spirit Theater and graciously hosted by the Bullock Texas State History Museum on Saturday, February 28. The finals brought together the top ten competitors from across the state to determine the state champion and runner-up. The event was hosted by internationally renowned Texas poet Naomi Shihab Nye. The judges for the competition, C. Prudence Arceneaux, Tarfia Faizullah, Rodney Gomez, and 2026 Texas Poet Laureate Kevin Prufer, are Texas poets and performers.

After two rounds, the field was narrowed to five finalists: Carly Boothe, a junior at Vanguard College Preparatory School in China Spring; Joslynn Ratcliffe, a ninth grader from the Northside School of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship in San Antonio; Almaz Clawson, a junior at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas; Benjamin Standefer, a senior at St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas; and Emma Rucker, a home-schooled 11th grader from Alvin.

Ultimately, Ms. Clawson won the 2026 Poetry Out Loud state final. As state champion, she will receive $200 and will represent Texas at the national level. Almaz will compete in Washington, DC, April 27-29, 2026, for a pool of $50,000 in scholarships for students and cash awards for schools. Additionally, her school will receive $500 for the purchase of poetry books and materials. The Texas runner-up was Joslynn Ratcliffe. She will receive $100, while her school will receive $200 for the purchase of poetry books and materials. We congratulate all our 2026 participants, their teachers, and their families.

Photo: Lens of Athena Photography

TCA has an upcoming application deadline. As always, the TCA staff is happy to discuss your goals and eligibility to determine which programs are right for you. You may also request that a TCA staff member review your application and provide feedback. Ideally, these requests would be made at least two weeks before the application deadline. 

Grant Program: Arts Respond Performance Support

This program provides professional artist fees to Texas nonprofits, schools, colleges, and units of government for hiring an artist from the Texas Touring Roster to do a performance. These applications are funded based on a percentage of contracted fees. 

Activity dates must start: Between June 15, 2026 and August 31, 2026

Application deadline: Midnight on May 1, 2026

Application form: Online

Resources: Grant guidelines, contact TCA staff, FAQ

Each year, TCA invites roughly 200 Texans to serve as peer reviewers of the grant applications we receive. We are grateful to these members of our arts field who donate their time and knowledge to our panel review process and assess the quality of grant applications. The peer review process is central to the Commission’s efforts to maintain an accountable, accessible awards system for the State of Texas.

If you would like insight into the grant evaluation process, we invite you to nominate yourself to serve on a panel. TCA is not able to pay for this work, but it will allow you to gain experience as a grant evaluator, see how other organizations present their programs and challenges, and ensure that TCA grant decisions can be made—we really can’t do this without you. Nominations are accepted year-round and can be made here.

Panels can be held online or in person in Austin. TCA reimburses for travel and hotel costs for in-person meetings. For online panels, TCA assigns reviewers no more than 25 grant applications to help keep the workload reasonable. Evaluators can also be grant applicants—TCA excludes evaluators from reviewing and scoring an application that they submitted or have any other conflict of interest with.

TCA’s chic black-and-silver State of the Arts minimalist design license plate is available to order at https://www.myplates.com/go/arts. This plate design can go on a passenger car, motorcycle, trailer, or private bus (attention, Texas bands!). TCA will receive a portion of the sales of the plate. Note that this plate is part of MyPlates’ “Lone Star Series,” but only the State of the Arts plate supports TCA. There is a price break for those ordering their plate for multiple years. Make a long-term commitment to the arts!  

In our continuing efforts to provide more quality performances and arts opportunities to rural areas of the state, TCA has selected five Texas Touring Roster artists and groups to provide free performances in rural counties during the spring. Each artist or group provides five performances in an assigned area, and the performances are hosted by local nonprofits, units of government, or schools. TCA pays each artist a flat fee for the performances directly, eliminating costs to host organizations. Hosts are reminded that any Texas nonprofit or unit of government, including a school or library, is eligible to apply for a Performance Support grant for up to half of a Texas Touring Roster artist’s fee.

This month, we are excited to share performances occurring in Wharton, Pecos, and Reeves counties.

Congressionally-recognized dance group Nia's Daughters Movement Collective is a multigenerational group of like-minded Black women dance and multidisciplinary artists with the mission to create and support art and wellness initiatives through the lens of Black women and girls. On March 12, Nia's Daughters will be delighting audiences in Wharton County with two interactive story time performances. Audiences are welcome to attend a 2 PM performance at the main branch of the Wharton County Library, as well as a 4 PM performance at the El Campo Branch Library.

On March 19 and 20, internationally known and award-winning storyteller/puppeteer/ventriloquist Margaret Clauder will be bringing her original program "Let's Read with THE Bookworm" to Pecos and Reeves counties. Students at Pecos Headstart and Austin Elementary School in Reeves County will enjoy this literacy-focused program on March 19. Audiences at Alamo Elementary School in Pecos County will experience performances on March 20.

If you are nearby, we hope you’ll enjoy these free performances! We’ll have more spring performances to share in our April newsletter. Special thanks to the fantastic artists conducting rural tours on behalf of TCA and to their host organizations.



Photos: Nia's Daughters Movement Collective by Keda Sharber of Images by Papillion; Margaret Clauder by Aaron Stone

Texas Commission on the Arts

1801 Congress Avenue

Austin, TX 78701

512-463-5535

800-252-9415

arts.texas.gov