
State Artist Marcia Ball
Texas-born, Louisiana-raised pianist, songwriter and vocalist Marcia Ball, the 2018 Texas State Musician, has won worldwide fame and countless fans with her ability to ignite a full-scale roadhouse rhythm and blues party every time she takes the stage. Her rollicking Texas boogies, swampy New Orleans ballads and groove-laden Gulf Coast blues have made her a one-of-a-kind favorite with music lovers worldwide. Over the course of her five-decade career, Ball has recorded 15 solo albums, including six for Alligator Records (four of them Grammy-nominated). With each new release, including 2018’s Shine Bright, Ball’s reputation as a profoundly soulful singer, a boundlessly talented pianist and a courageous, inventive songwriter continues to grow. She draws her listeners deep into her music with instantly memorable melodies and imaginative imagery. Her songs paint vibrant musical pictures richly detailed with recognizable characters, regional flavors, universal themes and colorful scenes. Marcia’s love of the road has led to years of soul-satisfying performances at festivals, concert halls and clubs. The New York Times says, “Marcia Ball plays two-fisted New Orleans barrelhouse piano and sings in a husky, knowing voice about all the trouble men and women can get into on the way to a good time.” Photo: Mary Bruton.
contact
Deb Fleming
Austin, TX
phone 512-921-1250
phone#2 512-442-4796
e-mail deb@marciaball.com
public performance/concert $3,500 - $12,000
website http://marciaball.com/

State Artist Marc Burckhardt
Marc Burckhardt is the 2010 Texas State Visual Artist in 2-D work. Born in Germany and raised in Texas, Marc Burckhardt’s work juxtaposes old world styles and symbols with contemporary American themes. As a youth, he spent summers in Europe with his family, a tradition he continues today. The paintings, architecture, and perspectives he encounters there combine with his studies of art history to inform his work, which utilizes old masters' techniques to achieve the texture and luminosity that distinguish his paintings. Marc lives and works in a 1910 farmhouse in the shadow of downtown Austin Texas.
contact
Marc Burckhardt
PO Box 2023
Austin, TX 78703
phone 512-785-9300
phone#2
e-mail studio@marcburckhardt.com
public performance/concert TBD
website http://www.marcburckhardt.com

State Artist Cyrus Cassells
A 2019 Guggenheim Fellow, Cyrus Cassells has won the National Poetry Series, a Lambda Literary Award, a Lannan Literary Award, two NEA grants, a Pushcart Prize, and the William Carlos Williams Award. He was named the 2021 Texas Poet Laureate. His 2018 volume The Gospel according to Wild Indigo was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award and the Balcones Prize. Still Life with Children: Selected Poems of Francesc Parcerisas, translated from the Catalan, was awarded the Texas Institute of Letters’ Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award for Best Translated Book of 2018 and 2019. His 7th book, More Than Watchmen at Daybreak, a lyric cycle about his stay in a Benedictine desert monastery in northern New Mexico, was published by Nine Mile Books in 2020. His eighth book, The World That the Shooter Left Us, was published by Four Way Books in February 2022. He is a tenured full professor of English at Texas State University. Photo: Rachel Eliza Griffiths
contact
Cyrus Cassells
Austin, TX
phone 512-245-3799
phone#2
e-mail cc37@txstate.edu
public performance/concert $1,750 - $3,250
school performance $2,000 - $3,500
workshop fees $3,500 - $5,000
website https://faculty.txstate.edu/profile/1921978

State Artist Jennifer Ling Datchuk
Jennifer Ling Datchuk, the 2021 Texas State Visual Artist in 3-D work, is an artist born in Warren, Ohio and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Her work is an exploration of her layered identity – as a woman, a Chinese woman, as an “American,” as a third culture kid. Trained in ceramics, Datchuk works with porcelain and other materials often associated with traditional women’s work, such as textiles and hair, to discuss fragility, beauty, femininity, intersectionality, identity, and personal history. Datchuk holds an MFA in Artisanry from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and a BFA in Crafts from Kent State University. She is an Assistant Professor of art at Texas State University and lives and maintains a studio practice in San Antonio. She was awarded a residency through the Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum to conduct her studio practice at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany and has participated in residencies at the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China, Vermont Studio Center, European Ceramic Work Center in the Netherlands and Artpace in San Antonio. In 2017, she received the Emerging Voices award from the American Craft Council and in 2020 was named a United States Artist Fellow in Craft. Photo: Clint Datchuk
contact
Ruiz-Healy Art
201-A East Olmos Dr.
San Antonio, TX 78212
phone 210-804-2219
phone#2
e-mail info@ruizhealyart.com
workshop fees $500 - $2,000
website https://jenniferlingdatchuk.com/

State Artist James Dick
James Dick is recognized as one of the truly important pianists of his generation, bringing keyboard sonorities of captivation, opulence, and brilliance to performances that radiate intellectual insight and emotional authenticity. He was recognized as one of the University of Texas Distinguished Alumni in 2009. Major prizes in the Tchaikovsky, Busoni and Leventritt International Competitions were a prelude to an eminent career highlighted by acclaimed recitals and concerto performances in the world's premier concert halls, including New York's Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, and 92nd Street Y; London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Purcell Room; Le Theatre du Chatelet and Salle Gaveau in Paris; Academy of Music in Philadelphia; Kennedy Center and National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; and Orchestra Hall in Chicago. He has performed with Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, and many major orchestras, with such conductors as Ormandy, Barbirolli, Levin, Maazel, Kondrashin, Spano, Oue, Sanderling, Hogwood, de Preist, and Verrot. He has been a guest soloist with Cleveland, Tokyo, Parisii, Ravel, Debussy, and Cassatt quartets, and Dorian and Moragues wind quintets, concertizing as well with Yo-Yo Ma, Regis Pasquier, Young Uck Kim, Raphael Hillyer, Rostislav Dubinsky, Martin Lovett, Andrew Marriner, Guy Deplus, and Carol Wincenc. Photo provided by the artist.
contact
Jan Lehman
PO Box 161148
Austin, TX 78716
phone 512-478-1131
phone#2 512-422-3715
e-mail jan@lehmanassociates.com
public performance/concert $3,000 - $10,000
school performance $2,000 - $5,000
workshop fees $1,500 - $3,000
travel/per diem/lodging $300 - $1,000
website https://www.jamesdick.org/

State Artist Dornith Doherty
Dornith Doherty, 2016 Texas State Visual Artist in 2-D work, is inspired by the expressive possibilities of photography. Her work explores the ever more complex relationship between the natural environment and human agency through projects focusing on landscape stewardship and genetic resource preservation. Wide ranging travel to work in collaboration with biologists and institutions has resulted in an extensive body of work, Archiving Eden. A 2012 Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, Doherty was born in Houston, Texas and received a B.A. cum laude from Rice University and a MFA in Photography from Yale University. She currently resides in Southlake, Texas and is Distinguished Research Professor of Art at the University of North Texas. In addition to the Guggenheim Fellowship, she has also received grants from the Fulbright Foundation, the Japan Foundation, and the United States Department of the Interior. Her work has been extensively shown and collected, both nationally and internationally.
contact
Dornith Doherty
Southlake, TX
phone
phone#2
e-mail dornith.doherty@unt.edu
public performance/concert TBD
website http://www.dornithdoherty.com

State Artist Joe Ely
Joe Ely, 2016 Texas State Musician, is a true pioneer of the Americana sound. Ely’s boundary-blurring blend of rock, country, blues and folk might most accurately be described as “Texas Roadhouse.” His musical roots were established as a boy growing up on the vast and empty plains of West Texas. Ely’s legend was forged onstage, with relentlessly riveting live performances, hammered out over thousands of shows and countless touring miles from Lubbock to London and back again the long way around. Ely is embraced as a kindred spirit by artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt and the Clash. Over his four-decade career, he’s been at the forefront of Outlaw Country, Alt-Country, and Texas Country and has been recognized as one of the best songwriters of his generation. Ely has garnered well-deserved accolades including a GRAMMY Award, a CMA Award, and the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance. In addition to his groundbreaking work as a solo artist, he is also widely known for his musical partnership with country’s first super group, The Flatlanders, with fellow Texas troubadours Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock.
contact
Patrick McAuliff
Monterey International
Chicago, IL 60654
phone 312-640-7500
phone#2
e-mail patrick@montereyinternational.net
public performance/concert TBD
website http://www.joeely.com

State Artist Gaspar Enriquez
Born in 1942 and raised in El Paso’s Segundo Barrio, Gaspar Enriquez earned a BA in art from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1970 and an MA in metals from New Mexico State University in 1985. His dramatic portraits range from works on paper of writer Rudolfo Anaya, artist Luis Jimenez, and artist John Valadez for the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, to 24-feet-high pieces commissioned for the San Antonio Convention Center, to illustrations for Rudolfo Anaya’s Elegy on the Death of Cesar Chavez. No matter their size, his powerful, acrylic, air-brushed portraits reveal his subjects’ dignity and demand the viewer’s attention. His works are held by museums including the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Tucson Museum of Art, the El Paso Museum of Art, and by private collectors such as Cheech Marin. Mr. Enriquez is the recipient of the Father Rahm Segundo Barrio Person of the Year Award (2016) and a Mid-America Arts Alliance Fellowship (1994). In 2015, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Texas at El Paso.
contact
Gaspar Enriquez
San Elizario, TX
phone
phone#2
e-mail genriq4709@sbcglobal.net
public performance/concert TBD
school performance TBD
workshop fees TBD
website https://gasparenriquez.com/

Sue Foley
Sue Foley is a triple-threat lead guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist multi-award-winning musician. Sue is equally comfortable performing with a full band at a festival or outdoor venue, in front of audiences of over 10,000, or in an intimate setting as an acoustic performer (solo or trio). She also offers workshops on Women in Guitar and Texas Blues. She's performed alongside legends like Billy F Gibbons (ZZ Top), Jimmie Vaughan, Buddy Guy, 'The Queen of The Blues' Koko Taylor, and many more. Foley has a long history of defying convention and being a positive role model for aspiring, young female musicians. She began her recording career in Austin, TX with Antone’s. The Ice Queen (March 2, 2018), features guests Jimmie Vaughan, ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons, Charlie Sexton, and other Lone Star State all-stars. It's been nominated for a Juno Award, two Blues Music Awards and six Maple Blues Awards. Other accolades include 2019 Juno Award Nominee, two 2019 Blues Music Award Nominations, 2020 Blues Music Award Nominee, four 2020 Maple Blues Awards Nominations, 2020 Austin Music Award Nominee. She holds the record for the most Maple Blues Awards in Canada and has earned three Trophees de Blues de France. Photo by Scott Doubt Photography.
contact
Davis McLarty
4425 S. Mopac Expy, Building 2, Suite 300
Austin, TX 78735
phone 818-617-2228 Ext. 801
phone#2 512-848-0813
e-mail davis@atomicmusicgroup.com
public performance/concert $1,500 - $7,500
workshop fees $1,500 - $2,500
travel/per diem/lodging $650 - $1,500
website https://suefoley.com/

State Artist Carrie Fountain
Carrie Fountain’s poems have appeared in Tin House, Poetry, and The New Yorker, among others. Her debut collection, Burn Lake, was a National Poetry Series winner and was published in 2010 by Penguin. Her second collection, Instant Winner, was published by Penguin in 2014. Fountain’s debut novel, I’m Not Missing, was published in 2018 by Flatiron Books (Macmillan). Her forthcoming children’s book on the life and legacy of poet W.S. Merwin will be published by Candlewick Books. Born and raised in Mesilla, New Mexico, Fountain received her MFA as a fellow at the James A. Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas. Currently writer-in-residence at St. Edward’s University, she is the host of KUT’s This Is Just to Say, a radio show and podcast where she has intimate conversations with America’s most influential poets. Fountain lives in Austin with her husband, playwright and novelist Kirk Lynn, and their two children.
contact
Carrie Fountain
Austin, TX
phone
phone#2
e-mail carrief@stedwards.edu
public performance/concert $2,000 - $4,000
school performance $1,500 - $3,000
workshop fees $2,500 - $4,000
website http://www.carriefountain.com/

State Artist Emily Gimble
Emily Gimble has been singing and playing on-stage since she was seven years old. Piano beckoned Emily early on—the Austin Music Awards named her “Best Keyboards” of the city four times (2013, 2014, 2018, & 2019)—as did her voice, full of natural range and feeling. “A Case of the Gimbles,” the 2005 album she recorded with her father and grandfather, showcased her vocals and launched Emily on a national family tour. With the Marshall Ford Band, Emily focused on western swing, and with Warren Hood and the Goods, she explored jazz, country, folk and pop. In 2014, Emily joined Asleep at the Wheel. With them, she played “Austin City Limits” twice and recorded a duet with one of her idols, Merle Haggard. In 2017 she released “Certain Kinda,” her debut solo album. She continues to tour on her own; with her family band, the Gimbles; and with artists like Amy Helm, Floyd Domino, and Hayes Carll. Photo by Ashleigh Amoroso.
contact
Emily Gimble
Austin, TX
phone
phone#2
e-mail mlegimble@gmail.com
public performance/concert $1,500 - $7,000
school performance $500 - $1,200
workshop fees $700 - $1,200
website http://www.emilygimble.com/

State Artist Laurie Ann Guerrero
Laurie Ann Guerrero, 2016 Texas State Poet Laureate, was born and raised in the Southside of San Antonio. She holds a B.A. in English Language & Literature from Smith College, where she received the Academy of American Poets Prize, and an MFA in poetry from Drew University. Her first full-length collection, A Tongue in the Mouth of the Dying, received the 2012 Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize and an International Latino Book Award, and was listed as one of 14 must-read works of Chicano literature by Rigoberto Gonzalez. Guerrero’s work has also been honored with the Panhandler Chapbook Award, and grants from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio and the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation. In 2014, Guerrero and was appointed poet laureate of San Antonio by Mayor Julian Castro. Her latest collection, A Crown for Gumecindo, was released by Aztlan Libre Press in spring 2015.
contact
Laurie Ann Guerrero
San Antonio, TX 78223
phone 210-818-2147
phone#2
e-mail Lguerrero@alumnae.smith.edu
public performance/concert TBD
website http://www.laurieannguerrero.com

Sweetwood Creative/Pat Hazell
Pat Hazell is Chief Creative Officer of Sweetwood Creative in Austin. Showtime declared Hazell one of the five funniest people in America. His 30 years of experience as a writer, producer, and director have made him a go-to guy for new American theater. Hazell is one of the original writers for NBC's 'Seinfeld,' a veteran of 'The Tonight Show,' contributor to NPR, and a critically acclaimed playwright. Hazell’s signature work, 'The Wonder Bread Years,' is a fresh and funny salute to Americana. The fast-paced one-man show, starring Hazell, hilariously illustrates our collective consciousness. The production not only restores a much-needed sense of wonder but leaves audiences laughing and savoring the past like never before. 'The Wonder Bread Years' is a comic bullseye for Baby Boomers everywhere, and has been hailed by Jerry Seinfeld as 'Milk-snorting funny!' Premiering in 2019, Hazell’s newest one-man show 'Pat Hazell’s Permanent Record' is a confessional night of humor, heart, and humanity where Hazell opens the vault to all his faults to turn a stroll down Memory Lane into a high-speed chase down Memory Highway. Culture Buzz hails the production as 'A solo performance masterpiece.' Additionally, Hazell offers workshops and master classes for all ages. Photos by Andy Snow & Brent Isen.
contact
Pat Hazell
6407 Weatherwood Cove
Austin, TX 78746
phone 985-373-5157
phone#2
e-mail pat@sweetwoodproductions.com
public performance/concert $7,000 - $9,000
workshop fees $500
travel/per diem/lodging $200 - $800
website http://www.sweetwoodiscreative.com

Stockton Helbing
Stockton Helbing is a Dallas-based jazz drummer and bandleader whose dynamic performances have been heard throughout the United States-- first, while he was a member of the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band, then as a drummer for jazz trumpet legend Maynard Ferguson, and now as a drummer for Tonight Show legend Doc Severinsen. Since 2016, Helbing has directed a program in the Dallas-Fort Worth area called the Helbing Jazz Initiative, whose mission statement is to 'encourage, educate, and embolden people through jazz music.' With this program, Helbing and his band have given masterclasses, concerts, clinics, and lectures for thousands of students and adults by celebrating the diversity of the great artists throughout the history of jazz, and how those artists both musically and socially overcame the challenges of their day and age to positively impact lives in the United States. Stockton Helbing and his various sized groups offer presentations on jazz masters including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, and many more. These presentations may be custom tailored and/or combined for any age group and demographic and may be performance-based, educational, interactive, or a mixture of all three. Photo by Troy Medinis.
contact
Stockton Helbing
1136 Valley Oaks Dr
Lewisville, TX 75067
phone 940-390-4111
phone#2
e-mail stocktonhelbing@gmail.com
public performance/concert $1,250 - $5,000
school performance $1,000 - $5,000
workshop fees $500 - $1,250
travel/per diem/lodging $100 - $1,000
website http://stocktonhelbing.com/

State Artist Little Joe Hernandez
Tejano artist 'Little Joe' Hernandez, 2019 Texas State Musician, is a five-time GRAMMY Award-winning performer and humanitarian. Little Joe launched his career in 1955 in Temple with the formation of the band initially known as Little Joe and the Latinaires. Later transitioning to the name Little Joe y La Familia, the band established a genre-blending sound that united elements of Latin, norteño, blues, jazz, country, and rock-and-roll music. During the 1970s, Little Joe y La Familia lead the Onda Chicana (Chicano Wave), a movement that melted ranchero and jaitón sounds to create a Tejano orquestra genre. His 1972 album Para La Gente included what would be his most beloved tune, “Las Nubes,” a track that detailed the Chicano experience of migrant farm work. Joe has been hailed as “King of the Brown Sound” for his musical innovations in the Tejano genre. Little Joe continues to tour nationwide, showcasing new and past musical arrangements to audiences as generationally expansive as his music.
contact
Criselda Cruz
Temple, TX
phone 254-773-1775
phone#2
e-mail ljlafamilia@aol.com
public performance/concert TBD
website https://www.littlejoeylafamilia.com/

State Artist Sara Hickman
Texas State Musician Sara Hickman is a singer/songwriter who has performed at house concerts, hospitals, prisons, theaters, children’s events, conferences, festivals and all the way to Carnegie Hall and the Tonight Show. Her concerts are uplifting, connective and full of joy whether with 50 people or 5000. She has released 14 albums for adults and 3 for children, winning multiple awards for her music and humanitarian efforts in the U.S. and abroad. She performs solo, duo or with band and has taught songwriting, creativity and music industry workshops at the Kerrville Folk Festival, Boys & Girls Club, Swannanoa Gathering, Sisters Folk Festival and for corporate and private events. She has performed, recorded or toured with Willie Nelson, John Prine, Shawn Colvin, Terri Hendrix, Dan Fogelberg, Jimmy LaFave, Robert Earl Keen, Eliza Gilkyson, Asleep at the Wheel, Nanci Griffith, Billy Bragg, Richie Havens and many others.
contact
Sara Hickman
Austin, TX
phone 512-203-2580
phone#2
e-mail booksara@sarahickman.com
public performance/concert $1500 - $10,000
school performance $850 - $2,000
workshop fees $850 - $6,500
travel/per diem/lodging $100 - $250
website http://www.sarahickman.com

State Artist Flaco Jimenez
Accordion player Leonardo “Flaco” Jiménez is the 2014 Texas State Musician. He has led the way in expanding conjunto music from his community in San Antonio, to new audiences both in the United States and worldwide. Born into a famed family of conjunto musicians, by age seven he was already performing with his father, Santiago Jiménez, Sr. Mr. Jiménez has performed with Douglas Sahm, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, and Ry Cooder, among others, and has spread the language of conjunto through national and international tours. With Sahm, Freddy Fender, and Augie Meyers, Mr. Jimenez formed the Texas Tornados in the 1990s; he also recorded with the “Mexican super group” Los Super Seven, earning a Grammy for his work with each group. His solo work has netted him three additional Grammys, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Billboard Latin Magazine, and a 2012 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. He has been inducted into the National Hispanic Hall of Fame and the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in New York City.
contact
K.T. Gardner
4505 Bull Creek Rd
Austin, TX 78731
phone 512-207-0825
phone#2
e-mail ktrootstock@gmail.com
public performance/concert $6,000 - $10,000
school performance $2,000 - $3,500
travel/per diem/lodging TBD
website https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaco_Jim%C3%A9nez

State Artist Craig Hella Johnson
Craig Hella Johnson, 2013 Texas State Musician, is known for crafting thought-provoking musical journeys that create deep connections between performers and listeners. He is the Founding Artistic Director and Conductor of the Austin-based, internationally renowned, Grammy® nominated choir Conspirare. Additionally, he serves as Music Director of Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble and Conductor Emeritus of the Victoria Bach Festival. In 1998, Johnson was Artistic Director of San Francisco-based Chanticleer and from 2000-2005 was Music Director of Houston Masterworks Chorus. Johnson is in frequent demand as a guest conductor of choral and orchestral works. He has served as guest conductor with the Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Chicago’s Music of the Baroque, Berkshire Choral Festival, Taipei Male Choir, Oregon Bach Festival and St. Olaf Choir. Johnson and Conspirare were awarded the 2015 Best Choral Performance Grammy® for The Sacred Spirit of Russia (Harmonia Mundi label). In June 2015 Johnson received The Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art, Chorus America’s lifetime achievement award. Johnson received the Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal from Chorus America in 2009 and was inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame in 2008. Johnson is a Texas State University Artist in Residence and served as the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas in Austin from 1990 to 2001. Johnson’s compositions, arrangements, and edited scores are published by Alliance Music and as part of the Craig Hella Johnson Choral Series with G. Schirmer and Hal Leonard. He also performs as a pianist and singer in a variety of styles.
contact
Ann McNair
1812 Centre Creek Dr. Suite 110
Austin, TX 78754
phone 512-476-5775
phone#2 512-481-1676
e-mail amcnair@conspirare.org
public performance/concert $2,000 - $10,000
workshop fees $2,000 - $10,000
website http://www.craighellajohnson.com

State Artist Amanda Johnston
2024 Texas Poet Laureate, Amanda Johnston, was born in East St. Louis, IL, and raised in Austin, TX. She began writing poetry while living in Kentucky. She earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine. She is the author of two chapbooks, GUAP and Lock & Key, and the full-length collection Another Way to Say Enter. Her work has appeared in Callaloo, Poetry Magazine, Puerto del Sol, Muzzle, and the anthologies, Furious Flower: Seeding the Future of African American Poetry and Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism. She is the cofounder of Black Poets Speak Out, and founder of Torch Literary Arts. Named one of Blavity’s “13 Black Poets You Should Know,” Amanda’s work has been featured on Bill Moyers, the Poetry Society of America’s series In Their Own Words, The Moth Radio Hour, and the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day series. She was commissioned to curate a collection of poems for the Poetry Coalition on the theme Where My Dreaming and My Loving Life: Poetry & the Body. Photo by Cindy Elizabeth.
contact
Amanda Johnston
Round Rock, TX
phone
phone#2
e-mail amejohnston@gmail.com
public performance/concert $2,000 - $5,000
school performance $1,500 - $5,000
workshop fees $2,500 - $5,000
website https://www.amandajohnston.com/

Stephanie Urbina Jones and the Honky Tonk Mariachi
Blazing trails from Texas to Mexico, Stephanie Urbina Jones and her history-making Honky Tonk Mariachi are telling a new story in American music, blowing hearts and minds wide open with their mix of classic country rock with a twang and the intoxicating, joy-filled sounds of Mexico. This new style fondly called 'country music with chili peppers' is inspiring and building bridges between worlds. From the first gritos to the last yee haws, from the hallowed stage of the Grand Ole Opry to the two-stepping dance halls of Texas to festivals around the world, Jones and her fiesta platter of love (percussion, trumpets, violins, vihuelas, guitarróns, guitars y mas) are sharing culture, stories, and songs that bring people together. Stephanie tours internationally, having performed in fourteen countries, including appearances at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival, Magic Town Music Fest in Mexico, Festival Country Rendezvous in France, Country Gold in Japan, Gstaad Festival in Switzerland and the Belladrum Tartan Heart Fest in Scotland; plus the CMA Music Festival, Americana Music Festival, Wille Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic, and performances on the Grand Ole Opry. Stephanie is a Kerrville New Folk Finalist, #1 Texas Country Artist, and #1 Billboard Country Songwriter. https://stephanieurbinajones.com Photo by David Bean.
contact
Preston Sullivan
909 Division St. 200
Nashville, TN 37203
phone 615-405-3103
phone#2 210-378-5897
e-mail preston@globaleyesentertainment.com
public performance/concert $4,500 - $12,500
school performance $2,500 - $3,500
workshop fees $2,500 - $3,500
travel/per diem/lodging $600 - $1,200
website https://www.stephanieurbinajones.com

State Artist Diana Kersey
When Diana Kersey was growing up in Lubbock, her parents let her dig a mud pit in their backyard. Thirteen inches down, she hit clay, and she’s been working with it ever since. Kersey is a visual artist working exclusively in clay, from small studio pieces to large architectural installations. Her work has become instantly identifiable, due to the muscular, spontaneous qualities of the material enhanced with her colorful, translucent glazes. Her public works have been commissioned by the City of San Antonio, VIA Metropolitan Transit, the San Antonio River Authority, and the City of Harlingen. In 2021 she completed her largest private commission to date, The Riparian Edge, for a San Antonio office tower. Kersey earned an MFA in ceramics from Washington State University in 1997, and a BFA in drawing from Texas Tech University in 1994. She is on faculty at Northwest Vista College and owns and operates Kersey Ceramics LLC in San Antonio. Workshops are available for beginner through advanced ceramic artists or structured as a community project for a specific location: pottery, sculpture, or architectural ceramics. Photo by Clara Lewis-Valero.
contact
Diana Kersey
San Antonio, TX
phone 210-573-7418
phone#2
e-mail info@dianakersey.com
public performance/concert $300
workshop fees $700/day
travel/per diem/lodging $300
website https://www.dianakersey.com/

State Artist Shelley King
Shelley King is Royalty in Texas. 2008 Texas State Musician, Shelley King has been an ambassador of the Austin, Texas sound for over twenty years. Noted vocalist and songwriter, studio musician, touring side musician and producer King is also a successful solo artist and leads her own band of A-list musicians. King’s blend of blues, folk, country, soul and rock led her to be the first woman appointed by the Texas Legislature to represent the state as it’s Official Musician. She has won Austin Music Awards for Song of the Year and Best Roots Rock Band. Shelley has released nine albums of original music to rave press reviews and radio chart success. King tours Texas and the US performing almost nightly at intimate concerts, clubs and major venues and festivals. Her songs have been recorded by numerous national and international artists. She is available to perform as a solo, duo, trio or band, acoustic or electric. She has also conducted songwriting and team building workshops at schools, festivals and major corporations.
contact
Perry Drake
PO Box 33097
Austin, TX 78764
phone 512-386-6355
phone#2 512-786-4568
e-mail lemonade_records@yahoo.com
public performance/concert $400 - $7,000
school performance $200 - $2,000
workshop fees $400 - $5,000
website http://www.shelleyking.com

Sue Kuentz
Thank goodness storytelling found Sue Kuentz early in her career because she has a lot to say! Sue excites and connects to family and adult audiences by taking them on journeys through her multicultural folktales, fairy tales, urban legends, and personal stories from around the world. Using words, music, puppetry, and even string figures, she engages active participation among listeners, mesmerizing even the most reluctant of kids. Sue's storytelling passion and energy originated from her 32 years as an elementary teacher and librarian in San Antonio. She has performed at multiple schools, libraries, festivals, and conferences throughout Texas such as the Grand Kids Fest in Galveston, the George West Storyfest, the Texas Library Association, ESC 20 Library Resource Roundup, and the Texas Storytelling Festival. Performances include but are not limited to: Multicultural Tales from Around the World, Stories for the 8 Habits of Happy Kids, Storytelling and Writing for 3rd-7th graders, Stringing You Along: String Figures in Stories, Tales to Chill Your Bones, and Urban Legends for Tweens. Sue devours the brain research on storytelling and shares her knowledge in workshops such as Telling Your School’s Story and We’re Hot-wired to Tell Stories in school districts throughout Texas. Photo by Chuck Kuentz.
contact
Sue Kuentz
151 Saur Road
Bulverde, TX 78163
phone 210-326-7877
phone#2
e-mail sue.kuentz@gmail.com
public performance/concert $250 - $2,000
school performance $200 - $2,000
workshop fees $500 - $2,000
travel/per diem/lodging $100 - $2,000
website http://www.door2lore.com

State Artist Ken Little
Ken Little, 2014 Texas State Visual Artist - 3-D, is a visual artist and a musician. Since 1988, he has maintained an art studio in San Antonio. He has exhibited his work in sculpture, nationally, and internationally. He has received many awards and honors, including his current designation as the 2014 Texas State 3 Dimensional Artist of the year.
contact
Ken Little
27631 Timberline Drive
San Antonio, TX 78260
phone 210-364-9994
phone#2
e-mail kdlittle@sbcglobal.net
public performance/concert $200 - $1,000
school performance $150 - $1,500
website http://kenlittle.com

State Artist Mary McCleary
Mary McCleary makes collages of great complexity that combine painterly craftsmanship and striking iconography. Her subject matter comes from religion, science, history, and literature. McCleary has participated in over 350 one-person and group exhibits in museums and galleries in 29 states, Mexico, Canada, and Russia. These venues include the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Museum of Biblical Art, Boston Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. McCleary’s works are in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; El Paso Museum of Art; San Antonio Museum of Art; Art Museum of South Texas; and Art Museum of Southeast Texas. She is Regents Professor of Art Emeritus at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, where she taught from 1975 to 2005. In 2011, she was named Texas Artist of the Year by Art League Houston.
contact
Mary McCleary
Nacogdoches, TX
phone
phone#2
e-mail mfmccleary@gmail.com
public performance/concert TBD
school performance TBD
workshop fees TBD
website https://www.marymccleary.com/

State Artist Karla Morton
Karla K. Morton, 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, is an award-winning author and a celebrated poet and presenter. She has been described as “one of the more adventurous voices in American poetry,” but don’t let the title “poet” fool you– Karla is an outgoing, warm and energetic ball of fire that loves to promote poetry and the arts. She has spoken, offered workshops, and performed her poetry at venues and events across Texas. From small town classrooms to cancer support groups to large corporate conferences, Karla is comfortable in any crowd. Her poetry spans many subjects and forms and evokes laughter, tears, and inspiration. Karla is the author of Wee Cowrin' Timorous Beastie (a North Texas Book Festival Awards Finalist), Becoming Superman, Stirring Goldfish, Redefining Beauty (a 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Award Winner written during her journey through cancer), and 6 additional books. She has been featured on Good Morning Texas, NPR, ABC News and in newspapers across Texas. A Texas native and mother of two, Karla is a graduate of Texas A&M University and currently resides in Denton, Texas. Karla also offers presentations on her photography.
contact
Kelly Kirkendoll
236 River Bend Trail
Combine, TX 75159
phone 972-330-2882
phone#2 817-236-6075
e-mail kelly@thrivepublicrelations.com
public performance/concert $400 - $1,200
school performance $400 - $600
workshop fees $400 - $1,200
website http://www.kkmorton.com

Steve Parker
Steve Parker creates communal, democratic work to examine history, systems, and behavior. His projects include elaborate civic rituals for humans, animals, and machines; listening sculptures modeled after obsolete surveillance tools; and cathartic transportation symphonies for operators of cars, pedicabs, and bicycles. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, a Harrington Fellowship, and the Tito’s Prize. Parker has exhibited and performed at institutions, public spaces, and festivals internationally. Highlights include Art Basel Miami Beach, the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), MASS MoCA, the Lincoln Center Festival, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Fusebox Festival, Tanglewood, Los Angeles Philharmonic inSIGHT, SXSW, the Stone, Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans), the Blanton Museum of Art (Austin), the Asian Arts Initiative (Philadelphia), The Contemporary Austin, Bowerbird, and the Gene Siskel Film Center (Chicago). Parker has been awarded support from the National Endowment for the Arts, New Music USA, the Copland Foundation, the Puffin Foundation, and the Mid-America Arts Alliance. He is the Curator of SoundSpace at the Blanton Museum of Art, Executive Director of Collide Arts, and a full-time faculty member at the University of Texas-San Antonio. He holds degrees in math and music from Oberlin, Rice, and the University of Texas-Austin. Photo by Blanton Museum of Art.
contact
Steve Parker
12026 Wycliff Ln
Austin, TX 78727
phone 312-498-6047
phone#2
e-mail steven.c.parker@gmail.com
public performance/concert $1,000 - $50,000
school performance $500 - $10,000
workshop fees $500 - $6,500
travel/per diem/lodging $150 - $2,000
website https://www.steve-parker.net

State Artist David M. Parsons
David M. Parsons, 2011 Texas State Poet Laureate, poems are straightforward, vivid writing bringing settings alive, shaping intimate portrayals of everyday life. His poetry speaks from the past and the present, balancing ordinary and extraordinary experiences. Audiences and readers will find in his most celebrated work: award-winning poems found in as diverse locales as a romantic, historic house in England to another favorite about the poet running into President Lyndon Johnson in an iconic Austin restaurant. His latest works are also included with new revelations that will bring what has become a Parsons Poem trademark, the rewarding discovery of a transforming moment.
contact
David Parsons
414 Oakhill Dr.
Conroe, TX 77304
phone 936-524-6537
phone#2 936-760-2743
e-mail dmparsons@suddenlink.net
public performance/concert $500 - $1,000
school performance $300 - $500
workshop fees $300 - $500
website http://www.daveparsonspoetry.com

State Artist Emmy Perez
Emmy Perez, 2020 Texas Poet Laureate, moved to the Texas borderlands because of her mother's stories about their family history in El Paso and Chihuahua. Pérez is the author of With the River on Our Face and Solstice and her work is anthologized in numerous collections. She is a former recipient of poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, CantoMundo, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. A graduate of Columbia University and the University of Southern California, Pérez has been a member, since 2008, of the Macondo Writers Workshop founded by Sandra Cisneros for socially engaged writers. Currently, she serves on the organizing committee for CantoMundo, a national literary organization for Latinx poets and is a member of the Poets Against Walls collective. Pérez is Professor of Creative Writing and Associate Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Photo by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
contact
Emmy Perez
Edinburg, TX
phone 956-665-3435
phone#2
e-mail emmy.perez@utrgv.edu
public performance/concert TBD
school performance TBD
travel/per diem/lodging $500 - $800
website http://www.emmyperez.com

State Artist Dario Robleto
Dario Robleto, the 2016 Texas State Visual Artist - 3-D, is a native of San Antonio. His sculptures, prints and installations combine esoteric materials and processes to explore forgotten corners of history, art and science. He received his BFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Robleto has had over 30 solo exhibitions since 1997 and has had works included in many prestigious group shows and collections. His work has been seen most recently in solo exhibitions at the Menil Collection, Houston and the Baltimore Museum of Art. He has received numerous awards, including the 2007 Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, the 2009 USA Rasmuson Fellowship, and the 2011 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship. He is currently an Artist Research Fellow at Rice University in Houston, where he lives and works.
contact
Inman Gallery
3901 Main Street
Houston, TX 77002
phone 713-526-7800
phone#2
e-mail info@inmangallery.com
public performance/concert TBD
website http://www.dariorobleto.com

SaulPaul
GRAMMY Award-nominated artist SaulPaul has garnered an international reputation as a musician with a message. Part rapper/part singer-songwriter, SaulPaul is an entertaining artist who blends his voice, his guitar, and his loop pedal to create a live show that is nothing less than an experience. SaulPaul shares his art with his heart and has been inspiring audiences through his music. From performing at two TEDx Talks, five Super Bowls, America's Got Talent, SXSW, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Austin City Limits, SaulPaul has performed nationally and internationally in theaters, concert venues and festivals across the country. Armed with two chart-topping #1 songs on Sirius XM along with an extensive catalog of music, he offers a blend of music for audiences of all ages and fit for performance venues and interactive experiences. SaulPaul is available for live performances, workshops, and masterclasses, as well as commissions. His tour offerings are extensive and adaptable to different environments. New to his repertoire, he is also making the new musical, SaulPaul's Alien Adventure, coupled with a complete score, as well as live interactive music experiences and music-themed activities for the whole family. Photo by Jeremy Jones.
contact
Bianca Neal
8225 Cross Park Drive #143595
Austin, TX 78714
phone 512-229-8681
phone#2 512-300-4376
e-mail booking@saulpaul.com
public performance/concert $2,500 - $50,000
school performance $750 - $15,000
workshop fees $1,200 - $6,500
travel/per diem/lodging $150 - $2,000
website http://www.saulpaul.com

State Artist Margo Sawyer
Margo Sawyer, 2015 Texas State Visual Artist in 3-D works, investigates the relationship between color, space and transcendence through her sculpture. Art and architecture converge in her works to transform mundane structures into euphoric icons, marrying exquisite materials in unexpected ways to form large public spaces that become intimate refuges. Her recent body of work, Synchronicity of Color, includes the lauded work that is a focal point at Houston’s Discovery Green. Margo Sawyer holds a B.A. Honors Degree from the Chelsea School of Art in London and an M.F.A. in sculpture from Yale University. Sawyer has been the recipient of numerous awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Artist Fellowship, two Fulbright Research Awards, the Japan Foundation Fellowship for Artists, and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award. She has been a fellow of the American Academy in Rome and an ArtPace resident artist in San Antonio. Her sculpture is in the public art collections of the Cities of New York City, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston, and at Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis, Indiana. Sawyer is a Professor of Sculpture and Extended Media in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Texas at Austin.
contact
Bright & Early Building
107 South Avenue C
Elgin, TX 78621
phone 512-281-4808
phone#2
e-mail margosawyer@gmail.com
public performance/concert $700 - $3,000
school performance $500 - $3,000
workshop fees $500 - $5,000
website http://www.margosawyer.com

State Artist Jan Seale
Jan Epton Seale, 2012 Texas Poet Laureate, is a native Texan. She is familiar with much of Texas, having lived in north and central Texas as a youth, with summers spent in the Panhandle, and living in South Texas all of her adult life. Seale received her education at Baylor University, the University of Louisville, and the University of North Texas. She has taught English and creative writing at three Texas universities. Her life’s work includes eight books of poetry, two of short fiction, three of nonfiction, and several children’s books and dramas. Apparent in her writing is her interest in the people and places of Texas, as well as those of the Southwest and the wider world. Her short stories have been described as a “capable evocation of peculiar personalities” with a “sense of nostalgia and richly drawn places”…“all ending in epiphany.” Her poems are said to be “both beautifully witty and serious.” Seale is at home with many types of audiences. She particularly enjoys college groups, civic and writers’ organizations, nature lovers, elder learners, women, and church lay-groups. Comfortable on stage or in small gatherings, with sensitivity to and rapport with her audiences, her presentations are noted for their humor and accessibility. Seale is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, the Texas Folklore Society, the Poetry Society of Texas, the Story Circle Network, and the Texas Writers’ League.
contact
Jan Seale
400 Sycamore Ave.
McAllen, TX 78501
phone 956-686-4033
phone#2
e-mail janseale@rgv.rr.com
public performance/concert $300 - $500
school performance $100 - $200
workshop fees TBD
website http://www.janseale.com

Mark Shelton Solo Percussionist
The warmth and humor of Mark Shelton combine with his percussion prowess to create a family-friendly concert experience that connects with audiences. Mark entertains (and educates) with his trademark high-energy style as he romps and stomps his way through an arsenal of percussion paraphernalia that can include marimba, doumbec, bones, bodhran, cajon, hammered dulcimer, handpan, and Handsonic. In his one-man show, Music From My Galaxy, Mark draws upon a background that includes classical, folk, pop, jazz, gospel, ethnic, and contemporary music to create an engaging collage 'for the drummer in all of us.' An experienced educator, Mark offers learning events that include percussion masterclasses, professional development sessions, school assembly programs, and drum circles. Photo by Zach Ashcraft.
contact
Mark Shelton
PO Box 293621
Lewisville, TX 75029
phone 214-507-6366
phone#2 800-272-2249
e-mail markshelton@verizon.net
public performance/concert $450 - $1,950
school performance $250 - $750
workshop fees $250 - $975
travel/per diem/lodging $135 - $750
website https://www.marksheltonmusic.com

State Artist Ire’ne Lara Silva
Ire’ne Lara Silva, the 2023 Texas State Poet Laureate, is the author of four poetry collections, furia, Blood Sugar Canto, CUICACALLI/House of Song, and FirstPoems, two chapbooks, Enduring Azucares and Hibiscus Tacos, and a short story collection, flesh to bone, which won the Premio Aztlán. ire’ne is the recipient of a 2021 Tasajillo Writers Grant, a 2017 NALAC Fund for the Arts Grant, the final Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Award, and was the Fiction Finalist for AROHO’s 2013 Gift of Freedom Award. Most recently, ire’ne was awarded the 2021 Texas Institute of Letters Shrake Award for Best Short Nonfiction. ire’ne is currently a Writer at Large for Texas Highways Magazine and is working on a second collection of short stories titled, the light of your body. A new poetry collection, the eaters of flowers, is forthcoming from Saddle Road Press in January 2024. Her first comic book, Vendaval, will be released in April 2024 from Scout Comics/Chispa. Tour offerings include keynote addresses, readings of all her published work, including poetry, essays, and short stories, and various writing workshops of varying lengths open to writers of all skill levels and genres. Topics include Gritos as the Source of Our Voices, Writing the Difficult, Dismantling Doubt, Forget Discipline: Wanting Your Way Through Writing, Contemplating Mortality, and The Stories Our Bodies Tell.
contact
Ire'ne Lara Silva
Austin, TX
phone 512-783-0994
phone#2
e-mail irenelarasilva@gmail.com
public performance/concert $1,500 - $3,500
school performance $1,500 - $3,500
workshop fees $1,500 - $3,500
travel/per diem/lodging $300 - $750
website https://irenelarasilva.wordpress.com/

Toni Simmons
Toni Simmons is an award-winning, dynamic storyteller and author who brings new life to her stories with orchestrated songs, rhythms, chants and audience participation. Toni is a former librarian and drama teacher who has presented her multicultural tales throughout the US. She has captivated audiences at many festivals including her performance at the National Storytelling Festival Exchange Place. Internationally, she has performed in schools in South Africa, in Germany, and in Mexico. She was designated as an NEA American Masterpiece artist. Her interactive sessions also use creative drama with a variety of age-appropriate folklore. The audience is taken on an imaginary story trip to different continents all the while helping to tell the stories. Her programs are designed to motivate, inspire, and educate while being entertaining. Some popular programs include Exploring Our Cultures and Black History Month. She performs at schools, libraries, churches, festivals, and museums. She conducts workshops for storytellers, teachers, and students on using drama in stories and beginning techniques. Photo by Duane Reed.
contact
Toni Simmons
5306 Perrington Heights Lane
Houston, TX 77056
phone 972-765-4741
phone#2
e-mail toni@tonisimmons.com
public performance/concert $350 - $1,000
school performance $350 - $1,200
workshop fees $500 - $1,200
travel/per diem/lodging $0 - $500
website https://www.tonisimmons.com

The South Austin Moonlighters
If you’ve seen more than a handful of shows in Texas, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve already seen most, if not all, of the musicians who make up the South Austin Moonlighters. These guys have earned their place among the elite of Austin’s burgeoning music scene and have played key roles in bands like Fastball, Monte Montgomery, the Whiskey Sisters, Stonehoney, and Jimmy LaFave, to name just a few on a long, long list. They are national Americana recording artists, coming in at #61 on the Americana charts and #1 on the Alternative Country Radio Report in 2019. Precise vocal harmonies are an important part of the Moonlighters' signature sound, alongside what Matt Blackett of Guitar Player Magazine called 'gritty blues, ...funk, R&B, pop, rock,' and Andrew Conroy of Austin’s KUTX described as 'a band that blends blues, Americana, soul, rock, and country, who can flip the switch from slow melodic country to gravelly rocking blues without a hitch.' The South Austin Moonlighters are regulars in most of the finer honky-tonks, listening rooms, and venues throughout Texas and beyond. Photo by Barbara FG.
contact
KT Gardner
4504 Bull Creek Rd.
Austin, TX 78731
phone 512-207-0825
phone#2 512-293-6705
e-mail ktrootstock@gmail.com
public performance/concert $600 - $5,000
school performance $750 - $2,000
workshop fees $750 - $3,500
travel/per diem/lodging $300 - $2,000
website https://www.thesouthaustinmoonlighters.com

Storybook Theatre of Texas
Recognized as edutainers (educational entertainers), the award-winning traveling troupe Storybook Theatre of Texas (SBT) has provided family-friendly entertainment for literally millions of children in theaters, schools, and libraries since 1991. A recipient of the 2014 China Children’s Theatre Festival Excellent Play Award and named an NEA American Masterpiece artist in 2009, SBT travels nationally from New Braunfels, Texas. SBT’s interactive 30-45 minute programs are available year-round. Programs include: Two Pigs and T.H.E. Wolf, The New Little Red Riding Hood, Doing What’s Right Can Never Be Wrong, Cooking Up Fun with Idioms, Country Mouse, City Mouse, Goldifox and the Two Hares, Allie In Historyland, and Country Mouse, City Mouse World Tour. New in 2020 is the community parent-night personality-based program, Who’s Living Under Your Roof? Each program offers different themes, highlighting bullying, character traits, making wise choices, friendship building, idiom phrases, good nutrition, environment, nursery rhymes, diversity, and history. In addition, their singing, puppetry, interactive participation, and use of sign language has won rave reviews. Storybook Theatre’s goal is to promote literacy and help children and families grow stronger together, become confident, courageous, and positive influencers in their communities. Extension lessons/Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills are online at www.sbtheatre.com. Photo by Steve Slate of Captured Keepsakes.
contact
Lynn Draper
10415 Teich Loop
New Braunfels, TX 78132
phone 210-658-6450
phone#2 830-214-7136
e-mail sbtheatretx@gmail.com
public performance/concert $1,000 - $3,000
school performance $600 - $2,400
workshop fees $600 - $2,000
travel/per diem/lodging $200 - $2,000
website http://www.sbtheatre.com

State Artist Carmen Tafolla
Dr. Carmen Tafolla, 2015 Texas State Poet Laureate, is known internationally for her moving inspirational performances and heart-felt poetry readings. A poet, children’s writer, performance artist, storyteller, motivational speaker, and Associate Professor at UTSA, Tafolla was chosen in 2012 as the first Poet Laureate of the City of San Antonio. Her mission as State Poet Laureate is to plant seeds of poetry all over Texas through her “Poet Trees” initiative, sponsored by UTSA, in which twenty public schools with predominantly low-income student populations will be chosen to receive books and workshops free of charge between August 2015 and April 2016. Dr.Tafolla also conducts dramatic performances, keynotes, readings and workshops in English and Spanish to all age groups. The author of more than 20 books, her work appears internationally in five languages, in journals, magazines, newspapers, college textbooks, and elementary school readers, and she has won numerous awards including the Américas Award, the Charlotte Zolotow, the Art of Peace, two Tomas Rivera Book Awards, and five International Latino Book Awards.
contact
Dr. Carmen Tafolla
San Antonio, TX
phone
phone#2
e-mail CarmenTafollaSAbookings@yahoo.com
public performance/concert TBD
website https://www.carmentafolla.net/

State Artist Vincent Valdez
Vincent Valdez, 2015 Texas State Visual Artist in 2-D work, grew up in San Antonio and demonstrated talent for drawing at an early age. He received a full scholarship to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he earned his B.F.A. in 2000. In 2004 at age 26, Valdez was the youngest artist to have a solo exhibition at the McNay Museum in San Antonio when Stations, his suite of monumental charcoal drawings, was shown. Other exhibition venues include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Snite Museum of Art, Parsons Paris, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, OSDE Buenos Aires, and the David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University. A recipient of residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and the Kunstlerhaus Bethania in Berlin, Valdez currently serves as Chair of the Drawing and Painting Department at the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio. Mr. Valdez is available for visiting artist workshops/lectures and also for audio/visual projects such as this one: http://livestream.com/wlu/strangest-fruit-radio-hour.
contact
Vincent Valdez
807 N. San Marcos
San Antonio, TX 78207
phone
phone#2
e-mail vvaldez78@gmail.com
public performance/concert TBD
website http://www.vincentvaldezart.com

State Artist Jimmie Vaughan
Dallas native Jimmie Vaughan, 2015 Texas State Musician, is one of the most respected and critically acclaimed guitarists in the world of contemporary music. His groundbreaking band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, introduced the Texas blues to the MTV generation and a universal audience. Vaughan has been nominated for GRAMMY Awards for his work with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, as well as his work as a solo artist, in addition to the critically acclaimed “Family Style” record he recorded with his younger brother Stevie Ray Vaughan, which sold over one million copies worldwide. Jimmie has performed and recorded with legends such as Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Albert King, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana, Don Henley, and his younger brother Stevie Ray Vaughan. Throughout his career, Jimmie has carried on the Texas blues tradition of T Bone Walker, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Lightning Hopkins, while creating his own unique sound and style. Jimmie Vaughan is proud and honored to be a Texas musician.
contact
Garry Buck
Monterey International
Chicago, IL 60654
phone 312-640-7500
phone#2
e-mail garry@montereyinternational.net
public performance/concert TBD
website http://www.jimmievaughan.com

State Artist James C. Watkins
James C. Watkins is a ceramic artist who has worked with clay for over 40 years. His work is held in 25 permanent collections, including the White House Collection of American Crafts at the Clinton Library, the Shigaraki Institute of Ceramic Studies in Shigaraki, Japan, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, the Everson Museum, the Tweed Museum, the Eiteljorg Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Watkins’ work has been widely exhibited in 47 solo exhibitions and 172 group exhibitions. Watkins is a Texas Tech University, Horn Distinguished Professor Emeritus and the 2019 recipient of the HCCC Texas Master Award presented by the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Watkins is the author of Reflections Made of Memories and the co-author of two books: Alternative Kilns & Firing Techniques co-authored with Paul Andrew Wandless, and Architectural Delineation: Presentation Techniques and Projects, co-authored with James T. Davis. His work is the subject of the book A Meditation of Fire: The Art of James C. Watkins by Kippra D. Hopper. Watkins has also written numerous articles for national and international magazines. He received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and his MFA from Indiana University. Mr. Watkins offers lectures, wheel throwing pottery demonstrations, and alternative firing workshops based on his book, “Alternative Kilns & Firing Techniques” co-authored with Paul Andrew Wandless. Photo by Bonni Oakes.
contact
James C. Watkins
Lubbock, TX
phone 806-441-9178
phone#2
e-mail james.watkins@ttu.edu
workshop fees $1,000 - $3,000
website http://www.jcwclayworks.com/

Sue Young
Bilingual storyteller Sue Young has delighted audiences at museums, festivals, schools, and libraries around Texas and the US since 1994. An accomplished singer and songwriter, she received a 2013 Texas Music Awards nomination for Female Vocalist of the Year. Her CD, The Legend of the Quetzal, received a 2007 Parents' Choice Silver Honor Award and she wrote the 2009 and 2011 Texas Summer Reading Club theme songs. Her interactive programs include Cantos Y Cuentos: Tales & Tunes of Latin America, a fun trip around Latin America through legends, folktales, traditional and original songs; ¡Viva México! Celebrate Mexico through songs and stories; Texican Tales and Tunes, cowboy songs, Mexican cantos, and stories showcasing the diverse cultural heritage of Texas. Sue offers an annual summer reading program tailored to the collaborative theme (and writes a song to go with the theme). Staff development sessions and workshops for adults, teens, and children are available, including Create Your Own Song, a songwriting workshop for 3rd graders through adults. Photo by Brenda Ladd.
contact
Sue Young
PO Box 5786
Austin, TX 78763
phone 512-914-9553
phone#2
e-mail sueyoungmusic@gmail.com
public performance/concert $250 - $1,200
school performance $250 - $1,200
workshop fees $250 - $1,000
travel/per diem/lodging $25 - $200
website https://www.sueyoungmusic.com