Houston Arts Alliance

HAA manages the City of Houston's competitive Arts Grants Program, under a contract with the City, awarding grants totaling $12,114,128 through a peer review panel process which awards on key elements such as artistic/cultural merit, audience development & community outreach, cultural tourism impact, and the administrative and management ability of the grant recipient.

The BIPOC Arts Network & Fund (BANF) is a multi-year initiative dedicated to providing resources that support the vibrant BIPOC arts community of Greater Houston in fully displaying its power, values and traditions. Established in 2021 as a collaborative community effort, BANF is staffed with its own Project Director and guided by a Steering Committee and an Accountability and Advisory Council and has engaged the Alliance as an operational partner.

HAA implements the goals and the vision of the City of Houston Civic Art Program, which is part of the City's capital asset investments and produces permanent visual artworks. The City's Civic Art Ordinance appropriates 1.75 percent of design and construction costs on qualifying City Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) projects. Encompassed in the recitals of the Civic Art Program Ordinance is a basic appreciation for the value of the arts to Houston. Civic Art Projects include paintings, murals, prints, drawings, photographs, videos, films, decorations, stained glass, statues, sculptures, monuments, fountains, arches, or other structures of permanent character located on City property. Civic art can be found throughout the City in parks, libraries, airports, police and fire stations, and community centers.

Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) is leading a new phase of work to ensure that Houston artists are ready and resilient when the next disaster hits. HAA believes in creating a system that empowers the arts, cultural, and historic preservation communities of Greater Houston to prevent and reduce damage in times of disruption. Our Disaster Services program is committed to building partnerships, sharing stories, changing minds, creating experts, and pioneering solutions so our arts community can get back to doing what it does best: enhancing the lives of the people in the Greater Houston area. The contemporary traditions that make Houston one of the most vibrant urban landscapes in the United States. The program's goals include research, documentation, and public projects that explore the wide variety of established and emerging cultural communities that come together in the greater Houston area. The program also provides technical assistance and resources to local traditional artists, collaborates with colleague organizations, and markets the city's rich and diverse culture to locals and visitors alike.

Communications about and representation of the arts As a local arts and culture organization, HAA invests in Houston as a place to visit, live, work, honor, and create. HAA advances the arts and culture field through research and convenings, the promotion of cultural tourism, and other special projects that strengthen artists and nonprofits in the City and beyond. HAA sends a newsletter several times per month announcing its opportunities for artists and nonprofits, sharing arts jobs throughout the region, and sharing other organizations' awards and grant opportunities. HAA also manages the Cultural Events Calendar, a City-supported centralized online marketing initiative that serves the region's cultural producers and consumers. A map of the City's public art that is mobile-ready and rife with photographs helps tourists and others find the City's unique art collection wherever its pieces are located.