Bill Text: TX HR2131 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Congratulating the 2017 State Artists.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-05-20 - Reported enrolled [HR2131 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR2131-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 2131 |
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WHEREAS, The Texas Commission on the Arts has announced the | ||
2017 appointments for the positions of State Poet Laureate, | ||
State Musician, State Two-Dimensional Artist, and State | ||
Three-Dimensional Artist; and | ||
WHEREAS, The state's highest accolade for excellence in the | ||
arts, designation as a Texas State Artist is conferred on those | ||
individuals who represent the best of our rich and diverse artistic | ||
community and who inspire others through their unique creative | ||
expression; the nomination process for the awards is overseen by | ||
the TCA, and the final selections are made by a committee whose | ||
members are appointed by the governor, the lieutenant governor, and | ||
the speaker of the house of representatives; and | ||
WHEREAS, The 2017 State Poet Laureate is San Antonio native | ||
Jenny Browne; the author of three collections, At Once, The Second | ||
Reason, and Dear Stranger, she uses poetry to explore language, | ||
landscape, and the complexities of being human; she is also an | ||
educator who has worked as a poet-in-residence at schools, | ||
libraries, and community centers throughout the state; this | ||
celebrated writer has received fellowships from the National | ||
Endowment for the Arts, the Artist Foundation of San Antonio, and | ||
the Writers' League of Texas, in addition to the Cecil Hemley Award | ||
from the Poetry Society of America; after earning her MFA from the | ||
Michener Center for Writers at The University of Texas, she joined | ||
the English department at Trinity University; and | ||
WHEREAS, Known as the "King of Country Music," legendary | ||
singer-songwriter George Strait was selected as the 2017 State | ||
Musician; the only act in history to have a Top 10 hit every year for | ||
over three decades, he has released a staggering 60 No. 1 singles, | ||
and he claims 33 platinum and multiplatinum albums, the most of any | ||
country music artist ever; to date, he has earned more than 60 major | ||
entertainment industry awards, and he was honored with induction | ||
into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006; his final performance | ||
in Arlington on his 2014 The Cowboy Rides Away Tour drew a | ||
record-shattering attendance of more than 100,000 fans, and he went | ||
on to perform six sold-out shows in 2016 as part of his Las Vegas | ||
concert series; and | ||
WHEREAS, The 2017 State Two-Dimensional Artist is Kermit | ||
Oliver, a Refugio native who has earned international recognition | ||
as one of the finest artists of our time; replete with biblical | ||
symbolism and references to Greek and Roman mythology, his | ||
masterfully executed paintings and drawings have been exhibited at | ||
the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and | ||
Culture as well as at the Nave Museum in Victoria and the Martin | ||
Museum of Art at Baylor University; a graduate of Texas Southern | ||
University, he was presented with the first ever Lifetime | ||
Achievement Award from Art League Houston in 2013, and the Museum of | ||
Fine Arts, Houston, exhibited a major retrospective of his work in | ||
2005; moreover, he holds the distinction of being the first | ||
American artist to create scarf designs for the iconic French | ||
fashion house of Hermès; and | ||
WHEREAS, Beverly Penn, the 2017 State Three-Dimensional | ||
Artist, creates delicate and captivating cast-bronze sculptures | ||
from weeds that she gathers in the Texas Hill Country, and these | ||
pieces invoke humanity's impulse to control the natural world | ||
through art and science; her work appears in collections at the | ||
Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, | ||
and other institutions across the country, and she has been | ||
commissioned for several public art projects; a tenured professor | ||
in the School of Art and Design at Texas State University, Ms. Penn | ||
is the recipient of nine faculty research grants as well as numerous | ||
fellowships, among them a Fulbright Fellowship in Barcelona, Spain; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, The artists who have been selected to hold these | ||
prestigious posts have all greatly contributed to the vibrant | ||
cultural life of the Lone Star State, and Texas is indeed fortunate | ||
to be home to these talented individuals; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby congratulate the 2017 State Artists and extend | ||
to them sincere best wishes for continued fulfillment in their | ||
creative endeavors. | ||
Frullo | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 2131 was adopted by the House on May | ||
18, 2017, by a non-record vote. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||