|
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
WHEREAS, Rick Lowe of Houston has been named the 2015 Texas |
|
Medal of Arts honoree for Visual Arts by the Texas Cultural Trust; |
|
and |
|
WHEREAS, The Texas Medal of Arts program pays tribute to |
|
residents of the Lone Star State who have made significant |
|
contributions to a variety of artistic disciplines in the state, |
|
either through personal achievement or through generous support; |
|
and |
|
WHEREAS, A native of Alabama, Mr. Lowe attended Columbus |
|
College in Georgia and subsequently studied visual arts at Texas |
|
Southern University; in 1993, he cofounded the nonprofit Project |
|
Row Houses, which brought together local artists and volunteers to |
|
restore 22 dilapidated shotgun-style houses in Houston's historic |
|
Third Ward and to transform that two-block site into an arts venue |
|
and community support center; over the years, the scope of the |
|
initiative has been dramatically expanded to provide youth arts |
|
education programs, exhibition spaces and studio residences for |
|
artists, housing for young mothers, and even an organic gardening |
|
program; and |
|
WHEREAS, In addition to his achievements in his own |
|
community, Mr. Lowe has helped establish arts-driven redevelopment |
|
efforts in a number of other cities, including the Watts House |
|
Project in Los Angeles, the post-Hurricane Katrina rebuilding |
|
project Transforma in New Orleans, and a community market in |
|
Dallas; he has also assisted with such community building efforts |
|
as the Arts Plan for the Seattle Public Library, the Borough Project |
|
for the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, and the |
|
Delray Beach Cultural Loop in Florida; and |
|
WHEREAS, The work of this world-renowned artist has been |
|
exhibited in the Contemporary Arts Museum and the Museum of Fine |
|
Arts in Houston, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the |
|
Gwangju Biennale in South Korea, and the Venice Architecture |
|
Biennale; appointed to the National Council on the Arts by |
|
President Barack Obama in 2013, he also serves today as |
|
artist-in-residence at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas and as |
|
a Mel King Community Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of |
|
Technology; in recognition of his visionary efforts, he was |
|
selected as a 2014 MacArthur Fellow; and |
|
WHEREAS, Rick Lowe has touched countless individuals through |
|
his art and has used his extraordinary gifts to enhance the quality |
|
of life in his community and in cities across the nation, and he is |
|
most deserving of this prestigious accolade; now, therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
|
Legislature hereby congratulate Rick Lowe on his selection as the |
|
2015 Texas Medal of Arts honoree for Visual Arts by the Texas |
|
Cultural Trust and extend to him sincere best wishes for continued |
|
success; and, be it further |
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
prepared for Mr. Lowe as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
|
House of Representatives. |
|
|
Coleman |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Speaker of the House |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 709 was adopted by the House on March |
|
12, 2015, by a non-record vote. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|