Category: Film

4th Annual Houston Theater Week offers record number of BOGO ticket deals, new AI feature

Houston Theater Week 2025 will offer BOBO ticket deals to nearly 400 live performances / Image courtesy of Houston First

For the fourth year in a row, Houston Theater Week will aim to support and bolster the city’s performing arts community at the start of a brand-new season with a seven-day online promotional event.

This year’s Theater Week will take place August 18 – 24, during which participating arts groups, based downtown and throughout the community, will offer Buy One, Get One Free tickets for performances in the 2025-26 season, in a collaborative effort led by Houston First Corporation. Offers will be available at www.HoustonTheaterWeek.com, using the promo code HTW25.

  • Theatre Under The Stars will present Monty Python’s SPAMALOT (Broadway Cast pictured), April 15-26, 2026 at The Hobby Center / Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Launched in 2022 as a way to support local theaters, performers, and behind-the-scenes professionals following the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston Theater Week has grown from offering ticket deals to approximately 100 shows in its first year to, this year, offering BOGO tickets to nearly 400 performances of theater; opera; dance; Broadway-touring musicals; wide-ranging music genres, including classical, jazz, and mariachi; celebrity and expert lectures; film with live music; and more.

“The power and popularity of Houston Theater Week is evident in the record number of offers and deals available to consumers this year. We are pleased to once again partner with our world-class performing arts organizations to bring exclusive deals to audiences and generate revenue that helps strengthen our performing arts community,” said Michael Heckman, President and CEO of Houston First, in a statement.

In 2024, Houston Theater Week yielded a “combined revenue of nearly $1.4 million with more than 32,000 tickets sold,” according to Houston First.

The 2025 Theater Week expands to include a new digital tool called Ask V. A press release described Ask V as an “AI-powered personal assistant,” which can curate a customized list of performances, plus hotels, restaurants, and pre- and post-show activities, based on the user’s personal interests and past experiences—potentially bringing increased revenue to other local businesses.

  • The Hobby Center, in collaboration with Jazz Houston, will present the JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS on November 16, 2025 / Photo courtesy of Houston First

At its inception, Theater Week temporarily replaced the longtime Theater District Open House—a one-day event that combined free family activities at downtown performing arts venues and discounted season ticket offers—which was interrupted by the pandemic in 2020.

Theater District Open House resumed last spring and is set to return on Monday, March 9, 2026.

With Theater Week centered on exclusive BOGO offers in the fall, the Open House will be “fully focused on families and having an open invitation to the community into the district, in alignment with many spring breaks around the region,” said Craig Hauschildt, Executive Director of Houston Theater District.

Both Theater Week and Theater District Open House will now continue to serve Houstonians as separate, annual events, Hauschildt said.

Asia Society Texas pays tribute to Larry Ramos, the first Asian American Grammy winner, with film screening and concert

  • Larry Ramos / Courtesy of Asia Society Texas

A new documentary about Filipino American musical artist Larry Ramos—lead singer and lead guitarist of the iconic ’60s band The Association—will screen at Asia Society Texas on Friday, June 27 at 6pm, followed by a live performance by The Association.

Along Comes Larry: The Larry Ramos Story (2025) was written, directed, and produced by Rick Quan, an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and veteran documentarian based in Honolulu, Hawaii and a native Houstonian. The film chronicles Ramos’ groundbreaking career as the first Asian American to win a Grammy Award.

Growing up in Waimea, Kauai and Southern California, Larry Ramos (1942-2014) was a child ukelele prodigy, singer, and dancer who won statewide contests, landed movie roles, and performed on a tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I, starring Yul Brynner.

As a member of the folk group The New Christy Minstrels—singing and playing ukelele, guitar, and banjo—Ramos broke racial barriers on television when he performed on The Andy Williams Show. His appearance with the band as a non-white member had to be “cleared” by the show’s producers, as recounted by his daughter Tracy.  With The New Christy Minstrels, Ramos won the 1963 Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Chorus for their debut album Presenting the New Christy Minstrels.

A pioneer for Asian Americans in the music and entertainment industry, Ramos faced and overcame racist incidents and remarks, even from bandmates in the early days, as he told in a 2013 interview.

In 1967, Ramos joined The Association, the band with whom he would have the most success and longest run for more than four decades, making their mark together with Billboard hit songs like “Cherish,” “Never My Love,” and “Windy,” winning Gold and Platinum Awards, and earning Grammy nominations—and eventually becoming the band’s leader.

Quan’s documentary spotlights Ramos’ story as one of “resilience, talent, and cultural significance,” stated Asia Society Texas.

Tickets for the June 27 event include the film screening and concert by The Association. VIP and sponsorship tickets, which include an additional reception, dinner, and meet-and-greet with the band, are also available.

Downtown’s new Lynn Wyatt Square for the Performing Arts opens to the public this weekend

Lynn Wyatt Square / Courtesy of Houston First Corportation on X

The $26.5 million Lynn Wyatt Square for the Performing Arts, a reimagined green space and focal point of Houston’s downtown Theater District, officially opens to the public on Friday, September 22, 2023.

During opening weekend, the park will host free lawn games and live entertainment, including an interactive experience called “Bees” created by the Australia-based Polyglot Theatre.

Bordered by Jones Hall, Alley Theatre, and Bayou Place—and adjacent to the Wortham Theater Center and only a few blocks away from the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts—Lynn Wyatt Square will aim to enhance the experience of patrons and pedestrians in downtown Houston, as well as contribute to the cultural landscape. The new square features a performance lawn for free concerts and programs, a cascading fountain, gardens, trees, lighting and sound elements, a space for a future restaurant, and mini murals on traffic boxes created by Anat Ronen and Jessica Guerra (Guerra Girl).

Lynn Wyatt Square / Courtesy of Houston First Corporation on X

“This is a game changer for downtown Houston. I am so excited to see this square come to life as a public space that connects the arts and, more importantly, connects people to the arts,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner in a statement.

While owned by the city, Lynn Wyatt Square is managed by Houston First Corporation, which will maintain and operate the park, as well as oversee its year-round programming in collaboration with local arts partners and stakeholders, according to a press release.

Named after philanthropist Lynn Wyatt, who announced a donation of $10 million toward the project in 2019, the Square is a major renovation and renaming of the former Jones Plaza, which was constructed in 1966.

Lynn Wyatt Square under construction / Courtesy of Houston First Corporation

“I love Houston, I love the arts and I absolutely love this beautiful Square. I am thrilled to support the team bringing people and the arts together in the heart of downtown,” said Wyatt in a statement. “I look forward to all the good this Square will do now and in the future for the people of this dynamic city and our world-class performing arts community.”

In addition to Wyatt’s donation, the Downtown Redevelopment Authority committed $10 million; Houston First Corporation committed $5 million; and additional funding was contributed by The Elkins Foundation, The Cullen Foundation, The Fondren Foundation, The Wortham Foundation, The Herzstein Foundation, Robert and Janice McNair Foundation, Vivian L. Smith Foundation, and M.D. Anderson Foundation. The project’s funding is approximately 45% private and 55% public, according to Houston First.

Lynn Wyatt Square / Courtesy of Houston First Corporation

As Lynn Wyatt Square opens, the city’s 2023-2024 downtown performing arts season is underway—this weekend alone, Alley Theater offers its season-opening production, American Mariachi; Houston Ballet is in production with Tutu at the Wortham Center; Houston Symphony presents Broadway Blockbuster with Norm Lewis at Jones Hall; and at the Hobby Center, Ars Lyrica Houston performs the concert Fallen Angels and Performing Arts Houston presents an Evening with Isaac Mizrahi.

“Lynn Wyatt Square is such an important addition to the landscape of Houston. This project, many years in the making, shows what is possible when private philanthropy, municipal partners, and the arts join together in a shared vision,” said Hillary Hart, Chair of Theater District Houston and Executive Director of Theatre Under The Stars, in an email to Houston Arts Journal.

“Located in the heart of the Theater District it creates the perfect place for people who love the arts to connect, and those new to Houston’s thriving arts scene will be able to discover the work of the incredibly talented artists who are an integral part of this community,” said Hart.

“Young Masters” grants provide funding opportunity for next generation of Texas artists

“Still Life Paint” by Meg Mickelsen, 2014 Young Master / Courtesy of Texas Commision on the Arts

The Texas Commission on the Arts and the Texas Cultural Trust have announced that the application cycle is now open for the 2024 class of Young Masters, described as “a joint initiative that provides exemplary Texas student artists in grades 8-11 with the financial help they need to pursue advanced study in the areas of visual arts, literary arts, music, theater, dance, musical theater, folk arts, and media arts.”

Awardees will receive grants of $5,000 per year (for up to two years, with submission of a report and update required) to fund their studies in their respective artistic fields.

Applicants must be 8th through 11th grade students who are 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, as stated in a press release.

A panel of arts experts from across the state will review applications based on artistic excellence, level of commitment, and quality of their proposed plan of study.

“The Young Masters grant program was created as a way to recognize and support young people pursuing the dream of becoming prominent Texan artists of the next generation,” said Gary Gibbs, Texas Commission on the Arts Executive Director, in a statement.

“We look forward to receiving applications from candidates who are already demonstrating outstanding artistic ability, talent, and dedication to developing their knowledge in their chosen discipline,” he said.

According to a press release, Texas Commission on the Arts and Texas Cultural Trust have given 401 grants to 184 Young Masters, awarding more than $1.2 million to date.

In 2022, 15 Young Masters were awarded grants, including four students from the Greater Houston area (Natalie Hampton, Houston – Literary Arts; Gabi Wager Saldivar, Houston – Musical Theater; Bryant Li, Katy – Music; Aarushi Lakhi, Pearland – Dance). The 2024 grantees will represent the 12th class of Young Masters, whose roster dates back to 2002.

“We are thrilled to help these Young Masters take their education to the next level and bolster their creative training. This program opens doors to opportunities never imagined for these young artists and cultivates the Texas legends of tomorrow,” said Heidi Marquez Smith, Texas Cultural Trust Chief Executive Officer, in a statement.

Applications and more information are available here. There is no application fee.

Artists with disabilities can find information on alternative ways to apply here.

Deadline to apply is November 1, 2023. Grantees will be notified by April 1, 2024 and will be honored at a celebration in spring 2024 in Austin.

India’s first Broadway-style musical comes to Houston

Scene from “Mughal-e-Azam” / Courtesy of mughaleazamplay.com

Considered the first original, large-scale Broadway-style music written and produced in India, Mughal-e-Azam is in the midst of its first North American tour, making a stop in Houston for performances July 14 – 16 at the Wortham Center’s Brown Theater.

Based on the epic, blockbuster 1960 Bollywood movie of the same name, Maughal-e-Azam: The Musical premiered in 2016 in Mumbai and has been described in a press release as “a love letter to South Asian history and legend,” as well a “a love story as familiar to Indians and their Eastern neighbors as Romeo and Juliet is to the West.”

In the era of the Mughals, Emperor Akbar’s desire of a son is fulfilled when his wife, Jodhabai, gives birth to Salim, who grows up to be a spoiled brat filled with disrespect and self-indulgence. Consequently, he’s sent off to war in Akbar’s army and returns as a reformed person with perseverance and discipline fourteen years later. Salim, now a young man, falls in love with Anarkali, a lowly courtesan. Bahar, a dancer who covets the love of the Prince, is filled with jealousy upon discovering the secret affair and exposes it to Akbar. The emperor, full of royal pride, vehemently disapproves of the relationship and imprisons Anarkali, which leads Salim to declare an open rebellion against him. The war between father and son changes the lives of everyone in the empire threatening the foundations of the Mughal rule in India.

synopsis of “Mughal-e-Azam,” press release

Produced by Shapoorji Pallonji (who produced the original film) and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan, the musical stage adaptation was nominated for 14 Broadway World India Awards in 2017 and won seven for Best Play, Best Director, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography, Best Original Set Design, Best Original Lighting Design, and Best Ensemble Cast.

Scene from “Mughal-e-Azam” / Courtesy of mughaleazamplay.com

The production includes 350 cast and crew members, more than 550 costumes designed by Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra, and reimagined choreography from the 1960 film.

“Seven years back, when we green-lighted this project, we had not imagined that it would run for 19 seasons and travel to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Muscat, Doha, and now North America. There is a lot of technical and logistic expertise that goes into a massive show like this, but what really makes it universally loved is its emotional core and the love story of Salim and Anarkali,” said Deepesh Salgia, head of Creative and Strategic Vision for the musical, in an article by Hindustan Times.

Presented by Bollywood Entertainment, in partnership with Houston’s Indo-American Association, Mughal-e-Azam’s North American tour kicked off with a flash mob in New York City’s Time Square, and then began its official 13-city tour on May 26 in Atlanta. The production will travel to Dallas, following its Houston performances.

The show’s dialogue and lyrics are spoken and sung in Urdu and Hindi, with English subtitles.

CAMHLAB artists honor and support Freedmen’s Town through projects this summer

Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective hosted a Mother’s Day event with storytelling and a movement class in Wiley Park in Freedmen’s Town, May 2023 / Photo courtesy of Stacey Allen

A partnership of Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy and Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, CAMHLAB at Freedmen’s Town is a new site-specific iteration of the museum’s CAMHLAB artist residency program—an initiative that grew out of the pandemic, which has previously utilized spaces like CAMH’s Brown Foundation Gallery and Montrose Collective.

Through residencies by four artists and collectives between June – September 2023, CAMHLAB at Freedmen’s Town aims to honor, preserve, and amplify the histories, stories, and experiences of Houston’s oldest Black settlement and its residents.

Situated along Buffalo Bayou in Houston’s Fourth Ward, Freedmen’s Town was settled shortly after June 19, 1865—Juneteenth—when enslaved African Americans were finally granted the freedom that had been legally theirs since the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation 2 ½ years earlier. Eager to begin new lives in a new place as freed people, these men, women, and children from the surrounding rural areas journeyed to Houston, and began creating a community.

In what became known as Freedmen’s Town, they built homes, schools, businesses, churches, and lives. They built a world in which African Americans could prosper and thrive. Freedmen’s Town is where Black Houston took shape … By 1880, Freedmen’s Town was home to 95% of Black Houstonians. By the 1930s, it had produced over 400 Black-owned businesses. It was the “mother ward,” the Harlem of the South.

Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy
Freedmen’s Town overlooking downtown Houston / Photo courtesy of Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy

In March, the mental health and arts nonprofit The Black Man Project, dance company Nia’s Daughters, and interdisciplinary artists Ann ‘Sole Sister’ Johnson and Billion Tekleab were announced as the 2023 CAMHLAB Freedmen’s Town Artists-in-Residence, and they will carry out projects, community activities, and public presentations over the course of this summer and coming months.

Choreographer and dancer Stacey Allen is the founder and Creative Director of Nia’s Daughters, a movement collective whose works aim to incorporate social justice and activism. During their residency, Allen says her company will create a body of work that centers the stories of resilience and resistance of African Americans in Texas—including The Fairytale Project, a dance theater production inspired by the love story of Jim and Winnie Shankle, and Aesthetic Inheritances, a film and exhibit made in collaboration with artists Danielle Mason and Keda Sharber, which highlights the Freedom Colony Barrett Station and explores Black material culture.

Nia’s Daughters in “The Fairytale Project” / Keda Sharber of Images by Papillon

“This work in Freedmen’s Town is a beautiful extension of this path of storytelling. We’ve been here and will not allow for our stories to be erased. Our goal is that this work conjures memory and sparks something inside audiences, and they cherish their own histories,” said Allen.

According to Allen, Nia’s Daughters kicked off their CAMHLAB residency by hosting an interactive, yet laidback outdoor Mother’s Day event in May in Freedmen’s Town.

“We engaged residents with storytelling with the elder Sister Mama Sonya, and our company members, Lakendra Howard and Sydney Hart with myself led the children in a movement class,” said Allen. “The rest was a super organic kickback—popcorn, juice, a DJ—you know, feeling the flow of Sundays at Wiley Park.”

Nia’s Daughters presented a Mother’s Day event at Wiley Park to kick off their CAMHLAB at Freedmen’s Town artist residency / Photo courtesy of Stacey Allen

Allen says they will return to Wiley Park for another event in coming months, which will include more movement classes, more storytelling, and more kicking back with the community.

“We truly respect the work that Charonda Johnson [Vice President of the Freedmen’s Town Association and a fifth generation Freedmen’s Town resident] has done in her neighborhood and are just honored to be able to build trust with Freedmen’s Town residents and share our movement practice with the youth.”

Allen told Houston Arts Journal that Nia’s Daughters will also present a public program at POST, to be scheduled in the fall, which will include a quilting workshop by Joethella Gipson and the debut of Sister Mama Sonya’s “mahogany messages: poetic melodies,” a new poetry and dance piece with narratives about Freedmen’s Town residents.

This work in Freedmen’s Town is a beautiful extension of this path of storytelling. We’ve been here and will not allow for our stories to be erased. Our goal is that this work conjures memory and sparks something inside audiences, and they cherish their own histories.

Stacey Allen, Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective

These artist residencies point to a community partnership between Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy that goes back to 2020, when the two organizations began formal discussions and programming centered around community engagement and empowerment, as well as “the shared belief that arts and culture is an essential catalyst for change.”

Their partnership also supports artists-in-residence at POST, including Freedmen’s Town Lead Research Fellow Amarie Gipson, whose Reading Room is a curated library of books by and about Black artists, and Freedmen’s Town Film Documentarian Nate Edwards, whose works-in-progress can be viewed this summer during open studio hours:

CAMHLAB at Freedmen’s Town is part of Rebirth in Action: Telling the Story of Freedom—a multi-year project of CAMH, HFTC, the City of Houston, and artist Theaster Gates—which was announced in January and funded by a $1.25 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and an NEA “Our Town” grant.

With the goal to “to promote Houston Freedmen’s Town as monument of Black community, agency, and heritage,” according to a press release, Rebirth in Action includes various phases of artist-led, community, and infrastructure projects—including the archaeological preservation of brick streets, laid by formerly enslaved residents, which hold historical, spiritual, and cultural significance.

Historic Freedmen’s Town bricks at the intersection of Wilson Street and Andrews Street / Photo courtesy of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

Here’s what happened at the Houston Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture

L-R: Linda Lorelle, moderator, with Houston mayoral candidates Robin Williams, John Whitmire, Sheila Jackson Lee, Lee Kaplan, Gilbert Garcia, Robert Gallegos, and Amanda Edwards at the Houston Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture / Photo by Catherine Lu

This past Monday night, the Houston Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture—the first candidate forum of this campaign—took place before a packed audience at the Hobby Center’s Zilkha Hall.

The public event was organized by the city’s seven state-designated cultural districts: Arts District Houston, East End Houston Cultural District, 5th Ward Cultural Arts District, Houston Museum District, Midtown Cultural Arts and Entertainment District, Third Ward Cultural Arts District, and Theater District Houston.

In an interview with Houston Public Media, Alison Weaver, Co-President of the Museum District Association and Director of Rice University’s Moody Center for the Arts, said it was exciting to see Houstonians’ enthusiasm and support for the city’s arts and culture.

“We had over 600 people registered for the event before we had to shut down the online registration system,” said Weaver on Houston Matters with Craig Cohen. “So, the energy in the room was fantastic. The interest from across the city was extraordinary.”

According to Hillary J. Hart, Chair of Theater District Houston and Executive Director of Theatre Under the Stars, 400 people showed up in person for the event, filling Zilkha Hall to near capacity.

One of those in attendance was writer, activist, and Houston Poet Laureate, Aris Kian Brown, who live tweeted the forum from her perspective as a member of the arts and culture community:

Brown documented the candidates’ responses—including goals to increase public art, create affordable housing for artists, and identify new sources of funding for artists—while also expressing her frustration for what she called a lack of “innovative solutions.”

“The candidates had no genuine solution or long-term engagement with arts institutions or artists. We have so much work to do,” she tweeted.

Seven Houston mayoral candidates participated: Amanda Edwards, Robert Gallegos, Gilbert Garcia, Lee Kaplan, Sheila Jackson Lee, John Whitmire, and Robin Williams.

Emmy Award-winning journalist Linda Lorelle served as moderator. Lorelle is also a ballroom dancer, who has been involved on the advisory board for Hope Stone Dance.

Lorelle told the audience that all of the questions were “sourced after conversations and interaction with all of you in the community. So, these are the questions you want answered.”

Candidates responded in alphabetical order, with two minutes to answer each question.

You can watch the entire 2023 Houston Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture, recorded by Houston Media Source, here:

Forum Questions:

  1. “More than 70% of Americans believe that the benefits of the arts extend beyond the individual to the community. If you are mayor and are planning for the city of the future, how will you ensure that Houston is recognized as a cultural leader?” [14:00 mark in the video]
  2. “Dallas spends on average $17 per capita on the arts, while Austin spends $22.90, compared to Houston’s—are you ready for it—$6.70 … Houston’s thriving arts and culture scene is a significant contributor to the quality of life for its residents and visitors. It is an important economic driver, a primary recruiting tool for corporations, and a key tourism attraction for the city. So, in addition to the current Hotel Occupancy Tax allocations, what plans do you have as Mayor to increase funding for the arts outside of the Hotel Occupancy Tax?” [27:05 mark in the video]
  3. “The city’s previous Cultural Plan is dated 2015. What is your plan as Mayor to invest in and commit to a new citywide Cultural Plan for 2024 and beyond? How will you ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are prioritized under this plan?” [42:30 mark in the video]
  4. “There is near universal support for arts education: 91% of Americans believe that the arts are part of a well-rounded K-12 education. Over 90% say students should receive an education in the arts in elementary, middle, and high school. With the state taking over HISD, how will you as Mayor assist schools in making arts education a priority and accessible?” [57:16 mark in the video]
  5. “The arts sector needs artists and workers to thrive. How would you as Mayor ensure that Houston’s diverse artists and cultural workers stay here and thrive here?” [1:12:23 mark in the video]

You can also read the candidates’ written responses to a Pre-Forum Q&A here.

Houston mayoral candidates will discuss the role of arts and culture in the city’s future

Mural in progress by artist Aches, located on the side of Houston Ballet’s Margaret Alkek Williams Center for Dance, and “Imagine,” an art car by artist Ruth Sosa Bailey / Photo by Elizabeth Sosa Bailey

The public will have the opportunity to ask Houston mayoral candidates about their visions, stances, and plans for arts and culture in the city, if elected, at a community forum. The Houston Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture will take place on Monday, June 12, 2023 at 6:30pm, preceded by a public reception at 5:30pm, at the Hobby Center’s Zilkha Hall.

The forum is organized by the city’s seven state-designated cultural districts—Arts District Houston, East End Houston Cultural District, 5th Ward Cultural Arts District, Houston Museum District, Midtown Cultural Arts and Entertainment District, Third Ward Cultural Arts District, and Theater District Houston. The event is free with an RSVP.

According to a press release, organizers aim to bring the arts sector together to learn about candidate policy positions related artists, arts educators and administrators, culture bearers, and cultural institutions—and to seek answers to the question, “As Houston continues to grow, what role will arts and culture play in this ever-changing environment?”

“The arts sector is still recovering from significant events such as the pandemic,” said Harrison Guy, Artistic Director of Urban Souls Dance Company and Director of Arts and Culture of 5th Ward Cultural Arts District, in a statement.

“As we gear up for an essential election in our city, it’s crucial to create a space for a much-needed conversation that not only focuses on the arts but also acknowledges that artists are small business owners. We must also recognize that arts organizations are a driving force behind what makes our city thrive,” he said.

Based on the Arts and Economic Prosperity 5 report, the most recent national economic impact study by Americans for the Arts, the Greater Houston Region generated $119.3 million in local and state government revenues and supported 25,817 full-time equivalent jobs in 2015. Total spending in the arts and culture industry for the area (including spending by organizations and audiences) was $1.1 billion, helping to generate $801.6 million in household income for local residents.

“As critical economic drivers and significant contributors to the development of our communities, arts and culture must be part of the conversation regarding Houston’s future,” said Hillary J. Hart, Executive Director at Theatre Under the Stars and Chair of Theater District Houston, in a statement.

The format of the Houston Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture will include opening statements by each candidate, followed by questions from Emmy Award-winning journalist Linda Lorelle, who will serve as the moderator, and questions from the audience. The public can submit questions in advance online, as well as at the event in person.

Writer, educator, and activist Tony Diaz says that he plans to attend the forum to voice his concerns for the evolving needs and changes of the local cultural landscape.

“This is a very exciting time for Latino art and culture in Houston with ALMAAHH about to hire a full-time president of the organization as it launches its visioning sessions quantifying Houston’s Latino Art Eco System, which will be part of its 2023 report. BANF is also identifying and supporting Latino individual artists, collectives, and nonprofits,” Diaz told Houston Arts Journal.

“As an artist, and as the founder of Nuestra Palabra, I would like to know how the mayoral candidates propose to create more funding for Latino Arts nonprofits, collectives, and individual artists. Also, how will they devise ways to work with, build on, and institutionalize the findings of ALMAAHH and BANF to raise Houston’s profile as a Latino arts city?” he said.

Organizers say that all Houston mayoral candidates have been invited to participate in the forum. Confirmed attendees at the time of this publication include Amanda Edwards, Robert Gallegos, Gilbert Garcia, Lee Kaplan, Sheila Jackson Lee, and John Whitmire.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Incumbent Mayor Sylvester Turner, who has been recognized for his support of arts and culture, is term-limited and will leave office in January 2024.

The public can check voter registration status here and register to vote here.

A Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture was also held prior to the 2015 Houston Mayoral election.

19th Annual HAAPIFEST showcases films from 13 AAPI communities, celebrates “a lot more of our stories to tell”

Audrey Liao in “Lunchbox” by director Anne Hu / Courtesy of www.lunchboxthefilm.com

When the Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival began 18 years ago, co-director Christina Fu says that the event showed six movies, on VHS tape, in a room at a community center.

Now in its 19th annual edition, HAAPIFEST will screen 41 short and feature-length films by writers and directors from 13 different AAPI communities—Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Hawaiian, Iranian, Filipino, Japanese, Malay, Singaporean, Thai, Khmer, Indian, and Vietnamese—running June 3 – 11, 2023. Opening and Closing Days will feature in person screenings at the Marriott Westchase (June 3) and The Cannon West Houston (June 11), with the majority of the festival (June 4 – 10) taking place online.

At a time when “Texas has the largest concentration of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the South, and the Houston metro area has one of the top 10 largest Asian American populations in the United States,” as reported by the Houston Chronicle, HAAPIFEST reflects that growth—and the experiences of those living in the region.

Jenah de las Alas Maravilla in “Kapwa Texas,” a documentary by filmmakers PJ Raval and Cecilia Mejia / Courtesy of kapwaseries.com

“Our festival starts with Kapwa Texas, which includes scenes about the Houston Filipino experience,” said Fu.

Directed and produced by the filmmaking team of PJ Raval and Cecilia Mejia, Kapawa Texas is a new documentary that follows three Filipino American women, who discover themselves politically and personally during the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, amidst the bonds of Filipino family and community in Texas.

“The 13 AAPI communities represented in our movies all have communities here in Houston. Chinese, Indian, Korean, and Iranian Houstonians will see their stories, or stories of people they know, in our films, even if they don’t take place in Houston,” Fu said. “Great art shows how people from different backgrounds deal with the challenges and joys that we all face, based on their heritage and personal experience.”

Created in 2004 by OCA-Greater Houston, HAAPIFEST aims to highlight and celebrate AAPI cultures, to support AAPI artists and filmmakers, and to share the untold AAPI experience with the Greater Houston metropolitan area, according to its website.

“As the community has become more visible, so have we. Houston’s AAPI community is recognized worldwide for its size, diversity, and activity. Thanks to this, we received submissions from across the world,” said Fu.

The festival’s mission remains significant at a pivotal moment for diversity in Hollywood, which has made recent strides in AAPI representation along with efforts to have conversations to confront its history of AAPI invisibility and discrimination.

“We are thrilled by the increased AAPI representation in Hollywood. But there are still a lot more of our stories to tell,” said Fu.

Winners of Asian descent took home eight Oscars at the 2023 Academy Awards, the most in a single year so far, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Yet, stories about, written by, and performed by Asians remain low—with Asians representing only about 4% to 6% of all film roles, lead roles, film directors, and screenwriters, based on the 2022 Hollywood Diversity Report.

“Festivals like HAAPIFEST share stories that have not made it into big-budget features. We also are providing exposure to newer and lesser-known AAPI writers, directors, and actors who may find themselves working in Hollywood in the near future,” Fu said.

Scene from “Lunchbox” by director Anne Hu / Courtesy of www.lunchboxthefilm.com

One of those emerging writer-directors is Anne Hu, whose film Lunchbox will be screened at HAAPIFEST.  Lunchbox is the mother-daughter story about a Taiwanese American woman who struggles to forgive herself for pushing away her immigrant mother. As she cooks lunches from her childhood, she confronts regret, assimilation, cultural and familial loss, and healing.

The festival will also feature Mysore Magic by Abijeet Achar, an award-winning director and cinematographer of Indian and Mauritian descent. Mysore Magic tells the true story of an unlikely romance in 1982 at a disco competition in Mysore, India.

Siddharth Kusuma in “Mysore Magic” by director Abijeet Achar and written by Achar and Alex Woodruff / Courtesy of Mysore Magic

In a press release, Fu also called the range and quality of this year’s films “breathtaking,” including stories of “growing up in Chinatown, mental illness, LGBTQIA+ issues, undocumented persons, and depictions of the current struggles against racism and exclusion.”

The festival also creates a shared space for community building, according to Fu.

“Our opening and closing receptions are opportunities for the Houston AAPI community to come together, mingle, network, and watch some of the best AAPI-created movies available,” she said.

HAAPIFEST’s complete schedule, along with film descriptions, can be found here.

Discovery Green announces a new President to lead the management, growth of the downtown park

Kathyrn Lott / Photo by Julie Soefer

Twenty-year veteran of the nonprofit and arts world, Kathryn Lott has been named President of the Discovery Green Conservancy, the nonprofit that runs the 12-acre downtown park through a public-private partnership with the City of Houston.

Lott will begin her leadership role on July 1, 2023, succeeding longtime President Barry Mandel who is retiring after serving as President since 2010.

Since its opening 2008, Discovery Green Park has welcomed more than 20 million visitors, according to its website. Located across from the George R. Brown Convention Center, the urban green space includes a one-acre lake, fountain, playground, public art installations, gardens, and on-site restaurants. The Discovery Green Conservancy works with hundreds of community partners to program family-friendly, arts and culture, and wellness events annually, most of which are free to the public.

As President, Lott will spearhead efforts behind the care, maintenance, and programming of the park, as well as raising more than $6 million toward its annual budget.

Discovery Green’s free movie night series, Bank of America’s Screen on the Green, returns May 27 and June 3. / Photo courtesy of @DiscoveryGreenHouston on Facebook 

“The role of president at Discovery Green encapsulates everything I ever dreamed of in my career,” Lott said in a statement.

“I look forward to caring for a beautiful and respected green space while fundraising for programming and performing and visual arts,” she continued. “I am eager to incorporate Houston’s technology into the landscape of the park and continue to make an impact in the community.”

Lott joins the Discovery Green Conservancy from her role as Executive Director of Southern Smoke Foundation, the Houston-based nonprofit that provides emergency relief funding and mental health services for food and beverage industry workers.

In addition, Lott has previously worked for Houston Grand Opera, Performing Arts Houston (formerly Society for the Performing Arts), and the Children’s Museum of Houston. She has also managed her own production company, Lott Entertainment, which she co-created in 2014.

Retiring President Barry Mandel, whose own pre-Discovery Green experience included leadership roles with the Houston Downtown Alliance and the Theater District Association, served as Lott’s mentor when both of them worked together in the downtown arts community, according to a press release.

“You do not know how much joy it gives me to turn over something I love to someone I love,” said Mandel in a statement. “I know she understands the essence of this place and how much it means to me, the team, and the community.”