None.
None.
(Identify the item and cite the series), Records, Texas Commission on the Arts. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
The Texas Fine Arts Commission was created in 1965 by the 59th Legislature through House Bill 273 as a temporary agency. The 60th Legislature passed Senate Bill 21 in 1967, establishing the Commission as a permanent agency. The name of the Commission was changed in 1971 (House Bill 1784, 62nd Legislature) to the Texas Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and to its present name, Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) in 1979 (House Bill 637, 66th Legislature). The Commission is composed of eighteen members appointed by the Governor, with concurrence of the Senate, to six-year overlapping terms. The Commission is comprised of private individuals representing all fields of the arts, known for their professional competence and experience in connection with the arts. A chair is elected by Commission members. Several committees (composed of Commissioners and others) are appointed by the Commission--Administrative Committee, Advisory Review Committee, Business Involvement Committee, Governor's Mansion Committee, Liaison Committee, and Minority Involvement Committee. An Executive Director is appointed by the Commissioners to handle administrative duties for the Commission.
The responsibilities of the Commission are to develop a receptive climate for the arts in Texas, attract outstanding artists to Texas, advise state agencies and others in matters relating to the arts, and expand and enhance opportunities for all Texans in the arts. The Commission also had the duties and responsibilities of the Board of Mansion Supervisors, abolished in 1965 by the 59th Legislature, to oversee the public areas of the Governor's Mansion. These duties were transferred to the Texas Historical Commission in 1989.
The Commission provides coordination, information, and financial assistance to artists, arts organizations, and arts programs, to advance the arts in Texas. It receives funds from the State Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the U.S. Department of Education, and other sources, and operates several programs through which funding is provided to interested parties. Programs through which financial assistance is available include or have included the General Assistance Program, the Touring Arts Program, the Arts Education Program, the Networks Program, and the Major Institutions Program.
The Commission staff created a state arts plan in 1979 to identify the arts needs and priorities in the state, allowing input in the planning process by arts organizations, artists, and the general public. This plan outlines the goals and objectives of the Commission, types of assistance available, and how to apply for financial assistance. The Commission reviews and revises, if needed, the plan annually. Over the years some assistance categories have been dropped or significantly altered while others have endured few changes.
Providing financial assistance is a major part of the Commission's duties. The Commission created advisory panels in the various arts disciplines to aid the Assistance Review Process with financial assistance requests. Advisory panelists can be nominated by any persons or organizations throughout the state, but must be experts or professionals in their respective fields. The panelists are voted on by the Commission to three-year terms and are assigned to one of the nine panels--Community Arts (formerly Partnership), Dance, Education, Literature, Media, Music, Theatre, Touring, and Visual Arts/Architecture. The advisory panels review and assess the quality of applications and make recommendations, which are then passed on to the Assistance Review Committee. This Committee (ARC) further reviews applications and panel recommendations, makes its own recommendations, and presents the materials to the Commission, which makes the final decision on the grant applications. Occasionally, projects which require immediate action because of an emergency or which have statewide impact can receive limited funding through the Emergency Review Process. In this process, the application is reviewed by the Executive Director, the ARC chairman, and the Commision chairman.
Records of the Texas Commission on the Arts consist of meeting files, correspondence, memoranda, audio cassette tapes, color slides and related materials. Materials range in date from 1977 to 1982. Correspondence is primarily at an executive level between members of the Commission, various Committee members and, for example, directors of art museums. Records reflect the work, policies, and procedures of the Commission and document among other things, the Commission's recommendations for grants and funding for various disciplines of the arts.
To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.
These records are organized into three series:
Lisa Hendricks, June 1993
Accession number: 1992/054
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Commission on the Arts on January 27, 1992.
Records consist of agenda, minutes, reports, memoranda, correspondence, and audio cassette tapes of the Texas Commission on the Arts. Records range in date from 1977 to 1981 and document the activities and decision-making processes at Commission and Committee meetings.
These records are organized into two subseries:
(Identify the item and cite the subseries), Meeting files, Records, Texas Commission on the Arts. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
These records are arranged in chronological order.
These records are arranged alphabetically by name of committee, and therein chronologically.
Records consist of agenda, testimony, statements, newsclippings, bulletins, memoranda, letters, and two audio cassette tapes of a public hearing held by the Texas Commission on the Arts on October 4, 1980. The records cate from September 2 to November 2, 1980. The stated purpose of the Hearing was to hear public comments and opinions on the Texas State Arts Plan and the Commission's Appropriation Request to the Texas Legislature.
Records remain in original order which appears to be random.
(Identify the item), Public hearing, Records, Texas Commission on the Arts. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Records consist of a Notice of Charge of Discrimination and Notice of Fact Finding Conference, related correspondence, notes, bulletins, and slides of artwork submitted by the complainant. Material ranges in date from 1978 to 1982. Notices were filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of artist Charles Bible and all materials document the process of his formal complaint of racial discrimination against the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Records remain in original order which appears to be random.
(Identify the item), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission file, Records, Texas Commission on the Arts. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.