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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 412
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WHEREAS, The Texas Commission on the Arts has announced the |
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2021 appointments for the positions of State Poet Laureate, State |
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Musician, State Two-Dimensional Artist, and State |
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Three-Dimensional Artist; and |
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WHEREAS, The state's highest accolade for excellence in the |
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arts, designation as a Texas State Artist is conferred on those |
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individuals who represent the best of our rich and diverse |
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artistic community and who inspire others through their unique |
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creative expression; and |
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WHEREAS, Cyrus Cassells, the 2021 State Poet Laureate, is |
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the author of eight volumes of poetry, including The Gospel |
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According to Wild Indigo, which was a finalist for the NAACP |
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Image Award and the Balcones Prize, as well as More Than Watchmen |
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at Daybreak and the forthcoming The World That the Shooter Left |
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Us; his translation of Still Life with Children: Selected Poems |
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of Francesc Parcerisas won the Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award from |
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the Texas Institute of Letters, and his other honors include a |
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Lambda Literary Award, a Lannan Literary Award, two grants from |
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the National Endowment for the Arts, a Pushcart Prize, and a |
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William Carlos Williams Award; moreover, he was named a National |
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Poetry Series winner; he is a professor of English at Texas State |
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University; and |
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WHEREAS, The 2021 State Musician is Leon Bridges, whose |
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first album, Coming Home, debuted at number six on the Billboard |
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charts in 2015 and went on to be certified as a gold record; his |
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critically acclaimed second album, Good Thing, was released in |
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May 2018; he has written and performed songs with such artists as |
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Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, Nick Waterhouse, Kacey Musgraves, |
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Lecrae, and Gary Clark Jr., and he has performed at the White |
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House, the Library of Congress, and other venues around the |
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world; a four-time Grammy nominee, he won for Best Traditional |
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R&B Performance for his song "Bet Ain't Worth the Hand"; and |
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WHEREAS, The unique work of Annette Lawrence, the 2021 |
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State Two-Dimensional Artist, turns the ordinary data of |
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everyday life into drawings, objects, and installations, and her |
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pieces are included in the collections of the Museum of Fine |
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Arts, Houston, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Rachofsky |
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Collection, Artpace San Antonio, and the Blanton Museum of Art in |
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Austin, among others; her work appeared in the 1997 Biennial at |
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the Whitney Museum of American Art, and she is the recipient of a |
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MacDowell Fellowship, the Moss/Chumley Award from the Meadows |
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Museum, and the Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Grant from the |
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Dallas Museum of Art; she recently retired as a professor of |
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studio art at the University of North Texas, and in August 2021, |
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she will begin a visiting faculty position at Bennington College |
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in Vermont; and |
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WHEREAS, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, the 2021 State |
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Three-Dimensional Artist, was born in Ohio and raised in |
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Brooklyn; trained in ceramics, she utilizes materials often |
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associated with traditional women's work, such as porcelain, |
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hair, and textiles; she earned her bachelor of fine arts degree |
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at Kent State University and her master of fine arts degree from |
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the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and she has |
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participated in residencies in Germany, China, the Netherlands, |
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and San Antonio; she received the 2017 Emerging Voices Award from |
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the American Craft Council and was named a United States Artists |
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Fellow in Craft in 2020; she is an assistant professor of art at |
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Texas State University and maintains a studio in San Antonio; and |
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WHEREAS, The artists who have been selected to hold these |
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prestigious posts have all greatly contributed to the vibrant |
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cultural life of the Lone Star State, and Texas is indeed |
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fortunate to be home to these talented individuals; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 87th |
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Legislature, hereby congratulate the 2021 Texas Commission on |
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the Arts honorees and extend to them sincere best wishes for |
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continued fulfillment in their creative endeavors. |
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Seliger |
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________________________________ |
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President of the Senate |
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I hereby certify that the |
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above Resolution was adopted by |
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the Senate on May 18, 2021. |
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________________________________ |
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Secretary of the Senate |
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________________________________ |
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Member, Texas Senate |