For Immediate Release

Contact: Bao-Long Chu, lchu@witshouston.org

Jennifer Watson, jwatson@witshouston.org

713.523.3877

Writers in the Schools Accepted for New Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster

Austin, TX - Writers in the Schools (WITS) is pleased to announce they have been approved for inclusion on the new Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) Texas Touring Roster. The Texas Touring Roster features some of the state's best artistic talent and is designed to ensure that all Texans may enjoy events and performances by these artists in their local communities. Writers in the Schools is one of only 124 artists and arts companies selected for inclusion on the roster.

"Artists on the Texas Touring Roster travel to communities across the state and perform in a variety of venues," said TCA executive director Gary Gibbs. "In addition to performances, they may also conduct workshops, master classes, residencies, lecture-demonstrations or arts education components as a way to engage community residents. We are proud to offer the citizens of Texas access to such high-quality artistic talent."

Artists on the roster must have a history of touring and maintain a reasonable fee range. The Texas Commission on the Arts does not provide direct funds to artists in the Texas Touring Roster. Instead, TCA provides grants to arts presenters, schools, libraries, theaters, and other nonprofits throughout Texas to help with the cost of bringing in companies and artists from the roster. Presenters may apply through TCA's Arts Respond Performance Support grant category for a portion of the artistic fees for artists from the Texas Touring Roster.

Acceptance onto the Texas Touring Roster benefits groups like Writers in the Schools by giving them a powerful marketing tool. Access to grant funds combined with the fact that Texas Touring Roster artists have been deemed the best in their field by a panel of statewide experts makes these artists attractive to a variety of presenters, including schools, festivals, theatres and other venues.

Artists on the Texas Touring Roster range from individual performing and visual artists to large performing arts companies. They represent artistic disciplines including music, visual art, dance, theatre, storytelling, literary art and folk art. Options are diverse and range from ballet to bluegrass, sculpture to cowboy poetry, jazz to children's theatre, and everything in between.

The complete Texas Touring Roster, as well as information on the Arts Respond Performance Support grant category, is available online.

About WITS

 WITS, a local non-profit organization, provides students with year-long creative writing programs in schools, community centers, hospitals, and homeless shelters with the mission to engage students in the pleasure of reading and writing. Ranked the number one literary organization in Texas by the Texas Commission on the Arts, WITS professional poets, fiction writers, and playwrights work in year-long programs in over 350 classrooms in order to help students develop their creative and analytical thinking skills. WITS is also involved in national initiatives, such as mentoring other writers-in-schools programs, serving as a model for multidisciplinary arts educators, and designing curricula for use in schools.  

About the Texas Commission on the Arts

The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism and artist sustainability initiatives. For more information on TCA and its programs, please visit their website.