SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 642
         WHEREAS, The Texas Commission on the Arts has announced the
  2026 appointments for State Poet Laureate, State Classical
  Musician, State Nonclassical Musician, State Two-Dimensional
  Artist, and State Three-Dimensional Artist; and
 
         WHEREAS, The state's highest accolade for excellence in the
  arts, the Texas State Artist designation is conferred on
  individuals who represent the best of the rich and diverse
  artistic community in the Lone Star State and who inspire others
  through their unique creative expression; and
 
         WHEREAS, Kevin Prufer, the 2026 State Poet Laureate, is the
  author of the poetry collection How He Loved Them, which received
  the Julie Suk Award and was named to the long list for the 2019
  Pulitzer Prize; his works have been included in year's best lists
  by The New York Times, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly, and his
  recent book, The Fears, was the winner of the 2024 Rilke Prize;
  his many honors include multiple Pushcart Prizes, selections to
  The Best American Poetry series, numerous awards from the Poetry
  Society of America, and fellowships from the National Endowment
  for the Arts and the Lannan Foundation; he currently serves as a
  professor in the creative writing programs at the University of
  Houston and Lesley University; and
 
         WHEREAS, The 2026 State Classical Musician is Ana María
  Martínez of Houston; she is a Grammy Award-winning soprano and
  is best known for her work on stage in Rusalka, Carmen,
  Florencia en el Amazonas, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, and
  Otello; over the years, she has performed with the
  Metropolitan Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, Opéra National
  de Paris, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and the
  Vienna State Opera, among other companies and venues; she is a
  professor of voice at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice
  University; and
 
         WHEREAS, Norah Jones has been named the State
  Nonclassical Musician for 2026; her debut record in 2002, Come
  Away with Me, earned Ms. Jones five Grammy Awards, including
  Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist; her
  subsequent studio albums have all achieved platinum status,
  and over the course of her career, she has sold more than 53
  million records; raised in Grapevine, she is a graduate of the
  Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual
  Arts in Dallas; and
 
         WHEREAS, The work of Letitia Huckaby, the State
  Two-Dimensional Artist, combines photographic prints and
  fabrics to reexamine history and its contemporary connection
  to the Black experience through portraiture; she has been
  included in exhibitions at the Amon Carter Museum of American
  Art in Fort Worth, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in
  Arkansas, the Studio School of Harlem, and Texas Biennial in
  Austin, and her pieces are included in the collections of the
  Library of Congress and the Samella Lewis Contemporary Art
  Collection at Scripps College; she is the cofounder of Kinfolk
  House, a collaborative project space in Fort Worth, and in
  2022, she was named the Texas Artist of the Year by Art League
  Houston; and
 
         WHEREAS, The 2026 State Three-Dimensional Artist, Linda
  Ridgway, is based in Dallas and creates bronze wall reliefs that
  convey both autobiographical and cultural imagery, with themes
  that include femininity, tradition, and heritage; her work
  juxtaposes the delicacy of the textures of lace and crochet work
  with the monochromatic and industrial fortitude of metalwork;
  she has participated in various solo and group exhibitions at the
  Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the
  Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth; and
 
         WHEREAS, The artists who have been selected to hold these
  prestigious posts have all greatly contributed to the vibrant
  cultural life of our state, and Texas is indeed fortunate to be
  home to these talented individuals; now, therefore, be it
 
         RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 89th
  Legislature, hereby congratulate the 2026 Texas Commission on
  the Arts honorees and extend to them sincere best wishes for
  continued fulfillment in their creative endeavors.
 
  Menéndez
   
   
   
    ________________________________ 
        President of the Senate
     
        I hereby certify that the
    above Resolution was adopted by
    the Senate on May 31, 2025.
   
   
   
    ________________________________ 
        Secretary of the Senate
   
   
   
    ________________________________ 
         Member, Texas Senate