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Last Updated: Oct 31, 2008 |
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| 09/26/08 HAA Town Hall Meeting at United Way. |
The Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) facilitated a Town Hall meeting Friday, September 26 to serve the arts community with vital post-hurricane recovery information, provide an opportunity to openly report sustained damages, and relay results of the HAA Post-Hurricane Survey Report.
HAA, the city’s first public municipal arts agency, created an Artist Recovery Blog, www.haahelps.com, to facilitate communication among 14,000 working artists and approximately 500 arts organizations in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
More than 130 members of the senior arts leadership and business communities attended the HAA Town Hall meeting to receive comprehensive information guides, explicit with recommended steps to restore safety and recoup economic losses. Public officials attending the event included Houston City Council Member Peter Brown, Cultural Affairs Advisor to the Mayor Minnette Boesel, and representatives of Houston City Council Members Sue Lovell and Melissa Noriega.
Also in attendance were five Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representatives and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Representative Yolanda Beverly, who urged attendees to immediately report damages using the forms provided by HAA, and offered on-site assistance.
The consensus among public officials and the arts community is that the aftermath of hurricane damages will continue to directly impact the arts sector, affecting other business sectors that are indirect beneficiaries of the arts. Considerable damages are yet to be investigated. At this time, the HAA Post-Hurricane Survey Report reflects that arts organizations and individual artists surveyed (to date) have experienced the following:
• 40% face severe disruption Program Execution (next 8 weeks)
• An additional 33% face minor disruption Program Execution (next 8 weeks)
• 34.9% face severe disruption in Marketing & Promotions (resulting in loss of investment)
• An additional 28.3% faced minor disruption in Marketing & Promotions (resulting in loss of investment)
“The arts sector is a critical component of Houston’s economic well-being,” said Jonathon Glus, CEO of Houston Arts Alliance. “Therefore, it is critical to support its members so that they may continue to thrive creatively and make the city a desirable place to call ‘home.’ Our team works towards sustaining Houston’s national ranking as #1 among ‘Best Cities To Live,’ attributing the city’s vibrancy to the 31.3% of its workforce in creative class (Kiplinger.com, July 2008).”
Approximately 35 arts entities were represented at Friday’s Town Hall. Only one out of the 35 had applied for FEMA assistance. The organization is diligently working to reach the 90 HAA FY09 grantees that were not able to attend the Town Hall meeting, and strongly urges cooperation from the arts community in rallying to share recovery assistance information with them.
Houston At-Large City Council Member Peter Brown affirmed that “Houston’s arts community will be an important part in the city’s recovery as a whole. Houston needs the arts to overcome this adversity; they are fundamental in the prevailing of the human spirit.”
Updates on the HAA Post-Hurricane Survey Report are accessible at: www.haahelps.com.
The deadline to apply for FEMA assistance is within 60 days of Hurricane Ike, which occurred on September 12, 2008.
About Houston Arts Alliance
The Houston Arts Alliance (HAA), a 501(c) (3) charitable organization, is the city’s first civic arts association dedicated to advancing the nonprofit arts industry in the Houston area. HAA’s mission is to nurture, fund, advocate, and promote participation in the arts in Houston and Harris County, thus contributing to the enhancement of the region’s quality of life, economic competitiveness and attractiveness as a tourist destination. For more information, visit the web site at: www.haatx.com.
© This Week In Texas
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