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NEWS FROM TCA:
NOVEMBER 2026
| | TCA is welcoming four new cultural districts, including the Lufkin Cultural District, which will be designated on November 7. Scroll down for more information! Photo by Karina Sotelo. | | Register Now for Free Artist INC Workshops in 2027 | |
TCA is partnering with the Mid-America Arts Alliance to provide free professional workshops for artists! Learn the business of art with Artist INC Express Peer Facilitators. Led by a team of experienced, working artists, this ten-hour, hands-on workshop helps artists address specific needs and challenges that they face throughout their careers. Through discussions, activities, and hands-on exercises, participating artists will set goals for their practice, write about their work, and build a personal brand.
Artist INC Express is a slimmed down, yet still highly active, version of the popular eight-week Artist INC program, which has been completed by more than 2,000 artists since 2009. Artist INC Express explores those same core concepts of how to build a lasting arts practice in a shorter, more flexible format, to help reach a broader audience of artists.
Artist INC Express exercises build on one another, and participants develop deep relationships with their fellow artists over the sessions through group discussions, hands-on exercises, and small group work. Right away, Artist INC Express activates a network of artists in each community, leading to more peer-to-peer resource sharing, collaborations, and support long after the workshop concludes.
The program is free and open to artists of all disciplines and skill levels. TCA extends our thanks to the in-person regional host sites! Register now to secure your spot.
| | Speaker Series: Join Us for the December Listening Session | | |
TCA has been holding free, online listening sessions for the last installment of this year’s Speaker Series, which explores and discusses topics important to the arts. These listening sessions are an opportunity for you to connect with new and familiar colleagues and provide a clearer picture of the successes, challenges, and needs facing the arts across the state. Help TCA assess the needs of our field and guide the next year's slate of Speaker Series professional development events by joining us for the next session! TCA will also give an update on agency programs and upcoming activities and deadlines.
Thank you to the folks who joined us for our October 21 session. The second session will be held on Thursday, December 10, 2026, 1 PM — 2:30 PM Central (register here).
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Support Texas Arts with the State of the Arts License Plate
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Holiday shopping on your to-do list? TCA’s 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!
| | High Schools: Sign Up Now for Poetry Out Loud | | |
TCA is still signing up high schools and organizations across the state to participate in the Poetry Out Loud program. Interested educators should fill out this form soon to sign up and to receive materials to help them conduct the program during the fall semester.
The Poetry Out Loud recitation contest is a national project of the National Endowment for the Arts. This exciting program helps students become close readers, master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. High school students memorize poems and perform them competitively. Each participating high school will hold its competition to determine its school winner by December 15, 2026. The school winner will compete at the state competition in February 2027.
The state winner and runner up receive cash awards and their school libraries receive money to help them buy poetry books. The state winner will represent Texas in the national competition, which has a pool of $50,000 in scholarships for students and cash awards for schools.
| | Apply to Be a TCA Grant Evaluator | | |
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.
| | Get to Know the Lufkin Cultural District |
 | | At their September meeting, TCA Commissioners approved the designation of four new cultural districts. Cultural districts are special zones that harness the power of cultural resources to stimulate economic development and community vitality. These districts can be focal points for generating business, attracting tourists, stimulating cultural development, and fostering civic pride. The Texas Commission on the Arts is the only body able to officially designate cultural districts on behalf of the State. Cultural districts are marketable tourism assets that highlight the distinct identity of a community and encourage in-state, out-of-state, and international visitors. Cultural district development helps a community boost its economy while realizing other cultural and civic benefits. The outcomes of cultural districts extend beyond the arts and benefit all members of a community. Official designation allows cultural districts and qualifying resident arts organizations to be eligible to apply for significant Cultural District Project funding through TCA.
The Lufkin Cultural District is located in East Texas, 140 miles north of Houston. This walkable community is where art is woven into the everyday experience. The Museum of East Texas, which provides free public access to exhibitions, educational programming, classes, workshops, and community art experiences, is the cornerstone of this creative hub. The historic Pines Theater, Angelina Arts Alliance, Angelina Community Theatre, Lufkin Art Guild, Lufkin Creative, and the Lufkin Limners provide year-round creative programming that activates the city. Beyond these anchor institutions, the Lufkin Cultural District offers restaurants, stores, public art, artist studios, galleries, and opportunities for artists to earn an income while making art accessible to the public. The district is an ever-growing community and an artist cultural destination in East Texas. TCA staff will present a proclamation marking the district's official designation on November 7 at 2 PM in Cotton Square Park during the Heritage Festival.
Photo: Sibyl Delgrolice
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Texas Commission on the Arts
1801 Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701
512-463-5535
800-252-9415
arts.texas.gov
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