It is important for a community to pay attention to its own cultural development, feed into it and nurture it. The culture of a community is represented by its art and music. Our residents need to support our art businesses and help our cultural arts organizations to grow by joining, subscribing, volunteering or donating! People who buy tickets, make donations, register for classes, or help plan art events, art exhibitions and art and music festivals are making great things happen for Katy. It’s worth it too. Art is good business and will make a great place like Katy an even better place to live.

It is up to people like you to make things happen. The people that live here, work here and play here. Come out for the arts in Katy, support your cultural district development. Buy tickets and plan events. The arts represent our unique culture and diversity. We need to work together to help make our arts community grow. It’s time to live a dream, be an artist, be a supporter of the arts and create a whole and creative community.

Be a part of the arts.
Join the Cultural Planning and Events Review Committee and help bring the arts to Katy!

The non-profit Arts, and individual artists, musicians, and art businesses; paint and ceramic, music and dance studios, supportive venues, caterers, marketing and graphic services, designers… these are the creative people and organizations that are part of our art community, they help make Katy creative and unique and we need to support cultural outreach, arts development and our art businesses here in Katy.

Look for our cultural art organizations with corporate offices, kiosks, galleries, venues, theaters and studios located within the Cinco Ranch 77450 district. Villagio Town Center at Corner of Westheimer Parkway and Peek Road and NE to the Equestrian Center in Cinco Ranch. The seeds are planted. You’ll find the arts alive and growing here. And More Art will grow if the community helps. Immediate support for cultural district development has been made possible by developers like Marcel Group from the Woodlands who are offering subsidies to support the development of new art business and cultural arts organizations in Katy to find the heart beat of activity at the Villagio Town Center and in Cinco Ranch.

Cultural Art Organizations that have registered for kiosk space, gallery space, donated artists studios, workshop space, public art projects, and venue sponsored events at Villagio Town Center include:

ARTreach Gallery and Studios at the V Gallery- with Gallery Night openings once a month on the 3rd Friday. The next public opening is February 18th, with additional art groups represented by March 18th
ARTreach Institute- Teaching Artist Training Center. Training workshop that invites students to participate for free or subsidized workshops with practicing artists in training. Unique and new workshops are scheduled quarterly. Participants may register in advance for an upcoming workshops with professional artists and volunteers in training. Artists and volunteer are training for Outreach, to bring the arts to neglected populations, children at risk, in hospitals, impoverished communities, senior living and assisted living centers, and special needs facilities and home care groups. Wherever ARTreach goes. We make sure the arts are part of everyone’s life. www.artreachonline.org
The Texas Music Project in Katy. LIVE at the V.I.P. with great concerts in line through April. Touring and coming to Katy- Inner City All Stars, Sara Hickman, Del Casitllo and Jon Christopher Davis and the Lone Star Attitude. Different genres to represent our diverse community with support from the Texas Commission on the Arts. This project supports economic development and cultural tourism and will measure local community support for the arts through tickets sales and community donations. “Come out the the Arts in Katy!
Katy Heritage Society- Community Outreach – Public Art Project- “All Aboard Katy!” Find the Community Artists Studios and amazing trains and works in progress at the Villagio Town Center- Heritage Roundhouse Studios.www.katyheritagesociety.com
Katy Visual and Performing Arts Center (KVPAC)- Outreach and Community Theater previews monthly at the VIP and and Villagio Plaza- and children’s art shows coming to the “V” Gallery soon. Arts Alive at LaCenterra this spring, and always great after school art programs and community theater at the Equestrian Center. www.kvpac.org
Young Audiences of Houston- offering sponsored family presentations, storytellers, puppet shows, music and previews . Young Audience of Houston connects our schools and community to the cultural arts and Arts For Learning Programs. PTAs and Arts in Education Committees are aware of this great arts organization. Families can learn more at the YAH Kiosk at the V Gallery at Villagio. www.yahouston.org
TEXAS PTA has a kiosk representing Arts in Education Committees and PTA involvement in the schools and community here- Find Arts Advocacy information for parents and teachers at the V Gallery at Villagio. Coming this spring see an exhibition of the State winners of the 2011 Reflections Program- theme “We’re in this Together!” www.TXPTA.org and our local Katy ISD Council of PTAs www.katycouncil.org

ALL non-profit art groups, colleges and fine arts groups are invited to be here, to represent Katy’s great and growing arts community. Art related businesses may apply for unique developer subsidies and V Gallery support to make creating your art business to be viable in Katy. No matter where your art business is located in the the Katy area. We’ll show it off at the V Gallery and share your business information at the Art Business Kiosks in Katy at Villagio. It’s a new idea, how it grows depends on proactive involvement and our community interest and support.

ARTreach Corporate Offices at FALA Creative, and KVPAC, offering theater and art programs, and Katy’s great community theater, The Encore Players, and Night at the Improv are also located in this area and at the Equestrian Center in Cinco Ranch. ART on the Lake is coming in April to be held at Firethorne. Artist and volunteers are needed to share creative and interactive art activities to encourage children to participate in the arts.

Thank you to the work behind the scenes represented by the Cultural Planning and Events Review Committee and a growing list of art supporters and businesses supporting the arts in Katy. If you are into the arts, you need to be part of this. Every brushstroke helps to paint the greater picture. Just reach out for the arts, connect the dots and paint with lots of color. If you represent art, theater and music and you are here in Katy, please become involved in Katy’s cultural planning and development. info@artreachonline.org (281) 392-5341

What kind of art and art events would you like to see happening in Katy?

ARTreach is driving the arts to Katy and hosting an honorary event for all the people who are helping to steer the way. ARTreach’s Heroes Among Us Art Making Event is on Saturday, August 14th, 10:00- 4:00 p.m. and sponsored by Don McGill Toyota of Katy.  On this day, you will find over 100 ARTreach heroes in the lobby of Don McGill Toyota of Katy painting the ARTreach Art Car and participating in several collaborative projects that make a heroic statement about the importance of the arts in our community.

ARTreach is putting the pedal to the metal and driving the art mission home.  Who are the heroes behind the wheel and driving the arts to Katy?

ARTreach and The Heroes Among Us.  The heroes are represented by hundreds and hundreds of community donors and supporters of ARTreach.  ARTreach heroes are community volunteers, business friends and corporate sponsors.   ARTreach heroes include the board of directors, advisors, the staff and the generous supporters behind this arts education and outreach organization founded in Katy in 2003.   ARTreach is headquartered in Katy, Texas to serve the growing needs related to the arts in the tri county area.

“Many people are hearing about the great work being done through ARTreach and its subsidiaries.   This is why many community leaders and local businesses are very proud of their involvement in the success of this outreach organization”,  says Texas Senator Glenn Hegar, Katy resident and ARTreach hero,  “ARTreach is a community supported nonprofit that puts its resources directly into outreach programs to provide much need art programs and mentors to a growing list social service agencies, schools and underserved communities.   Their advocacy and willingness to share their resources is clearly advancing the arts education movement statewide, opening doors and paving the way for this nonprofit from Katy, Texas to have a tremendous impact on a very important population.”

“In addition to this,”  says Hegar,  “ARTreach is having an impact on our Katy families through their exemplary community programs and special events. ARTreach gallery openings and interactive art and music festivals improve the quality of life and creative atmosphere of Katy.   ARTreach community programs incorporate the heritage of Katy and share the arts connection throughout the district to include the unincorporated areas surrounding the City of Katy.   ARTreach is bridging the gap between three counties and sharing an influence that benefits the entire area.”

The public is invited to join the Heroes at the honorary event being held at Don McGill Toyota of Katy, on August 14th from 10-4 pm and help paint the ARTreach ART Car and create a community masterpiece.   Refreshments are provided by Berryhill Baja Grill of Cinco Ranch and Villagio Town Center, and Fish City Grill of LaCenterra. Other sponsors of the Heroic event include Absolutely! Magazine and Sweet Spirit Productions. See the ARTreach URGEWORKS Dancers- “Dancing with the Cars” performance at 2pm.

ARTreach Programs are made possible by individual donations, foundation grants, Texas Commission on the Arts,  and Community ART Partners.   ARTreach 2010 Select ART Partners include Don McGill Toyota of Katy, Marcel Group and the Villagio Town Center, and Agave Road of Katy.  2010 Signature ARTreach Event Sponsors include Agave Road of Katy, Firethorne,  Tradition Bank,  Berryhill Baja Grill in Cinco Ranch and Villagio Town Center.

Be an arts driver, or just come along for the ride. Everyone benefits when the Arts are Alive! Volunteer or make a donation today. Become an ART Partner of ARTreach. Visit www.artreachonline.org  to learn more, email info@artreachonline.org  or call 281-797-2806 to find out how you can become involved.

ARTreach URGEWORKS Programs start this month. Our summer camp for youth at risk is sponsored by KBR and WE! 4500 W. 34TH ST. SUITE K. HOUSTON, TX 77092 CALL CHRIS FOR QUESTIONS 713.885.6990

ARTreach “Within my Reach” Vocational Art Training Program for children and adults with special needs (DARS Pilot 2010)

ARTreach partnered with DARS (Disability and Rehabilitation Services) to pilot an 18-week Vocational Art Training Program to aid in the transition of high school graduates with autism. DARS identified graduate Abid Syed to participate in the pilot based on his high level of interest in the arts and teacher recommendations. The program goal would be to ascertain Abid’s ability to follow instructions independently, and access his own creative processes to create and reproduce individual art works that could be sold. Abid’s training included a variety of drawing techniques and art making processes that resulted in artwork for public exhibition. Examples of his finished work of art were reproduced as sets of note cards to present a cohesive, professional product for DARs review of vocational objectives.
Abid’s cards were sold within the 6 days after being displayed in the lobby of local banks. His cards met with positive response from multiple viewers and prove to be able to generate income for the student. It is important to note that these customers have no knowledge of Abid’s autism and are purchasing the cards for their aesthetic appeal.

Thank you DARS for supporting Abid Syed’s ARTreach vocational training and artistic development. This pilot was also made possible through the community support of many and a grant from the Fort Bend Junior Service League supporting ARTreach “Within My Reach” program development and exhibitions for special needs children and adults through vocational art and entrepreneurial training.

ARTreach announces that the organization will open Art in the Park and free family ARTreach Center activities in Cinco Ranch this upcoming year. The events will be modeled after similar weekend events ARTreach hosted in downtown Katy at the Katy Heritage Park this past year. The move to Cinco Ranch is made possible by the donation of space made by The Villagio Gallery and Community Room located at the Villagio in Cinco Ranch.

The ARTreach Center in Cinco Ranch will continue to promote Katy artists and share information about cultural arts hot spots and happenings in the Katy area. ARTreach Center activities in Cinco Ranch each month will include free art classes and creative family workshops that will introduce a number of interesting teaching artists to the community. Music and cultural arts presentations that promote arts education will be included. ARTreach shares its resources with all local art groups and welcomes participation and partnership to expand art opportunities available throughout Katy.

Support for the arts in Cinco Ranch is growing

ARTreach Programs like this are funded by grants and donations. It is necessary for the organization be able to demonstrate there is public support for the arts in the areas they serve in order to qualify for state grants and private foundation funding for their range of art events, gallery and community projects as well as their primary outreach to underserved populations. ARTreach events held in Cinco Ranch are attracting higher numbers of attendees, representing growing public support.

ARTreach Community Programs already being hosted in Cinco Ranch include Property Owners Association neighborhood events and parade festivals, Summer Art Series at LaCenterra, annual storytelling, puppet shows and performing arts at Simply Cinco, and monthly ARTparties at Berryhill Baja Grill at Villagio Town Center. ARTreach first annual “Chair-ish the Arts” Gallery fundraiser in Cinco Ranch drew over 300 art supporters. ARTreach was also selected as the benefitting charity for the Katy Kids Festival held at The Villagio in Cinco Ranch where thousands of families attended.

“Public support for the arts in the Cinco Ranch area is definitely growing” says ARTreach Board President, Katherine Ammer, “ARTreach is offering community programs in all corners of Katy, Harris County, Fort Bend and Waller County. ARTreach Community Programs and events in the Cinco Ranch and Fort Bend County area are drawing the most support.”

“We make it a point to attend every event,” say Cinco Ranch residents Audralyn and Mark Allen. “We have five children and everyone in our family appreciates arts events that are in the neighborhood that we can walk to. We think it is all the art and music events being held in Cinco Ranch that are bringing the community to life and making it fun to live here!”

Exciting plans for Cinco Ranch

ARTreach is responding to the show of support and is unveiling a list of exciting projects planned for the Cinco Ranch area in 2010. A partnership with The Villagio allows ARTreach to host free ARTreach Center activities and fine art gallery events, Patio Concerts, and Art in the Park events every month in Cinco Ranch. Continued partnership with the Cinco Ranch Property Owners Associations and LaCenterra as well as a new ARTreach partnerships in the works with Houston art groups promises a host of special events coming to the Cinco Ranch area this upcoming year.

Katy Heritage Society and ARTreach are also ramping up phase two of the biggest public art project to ever hit Katy, endorsed by the Texas Commission on the Arts, called All aboard Katy! This special community project embraces the entire region and focuses on our unique heritage associated with the MKT train line. Visitors are invited to stop by and see the current collection of nine-foot fiberglass locomotives being displayed at LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch that will be painted by local artists in 2010.

For more information about ARTreach, and their outreach efforts to bring more art to Katy and underserved populations visit www.artreachonline.org

ARTreach has concluded a 10 week pilot program supporting children at risk at the Helping Hand Home for Children in Austin, Texas with a student presentation held on Monday, November 23rd at 4 pm.

The ARTreach program is being developed by artist Dan Egger Belandria specifically to support the education and social development needs of children at risk and in foster care. Called The Rhythm Journey, it is a powerful experience that teaches rhythmic collaboration as well as the art of self expression. When working with children who have not been previously exposed to music or drumming, Dan uses a call and response technique to develop the group’s drumming vocabulary while emphasizing key learning points around team and relationship building. This is a hands-on approach to building self esteem, while breaking down barriers within a group to create a shared vision that is interactive and rewarding.

Helping Hand Home applied for an ARTreach Program and was selected for the pilot because they are a residential treatment facility for children ages 5-12 and in the foster care system. ARTreach is a non-profit arts organization that helps bring the arts to children at risk who may not otherwise experience the arts as a part of their lives. The children living at the Helping Hand Home are undergoing treatment for emotional and behavioral issues related to abuse and neglect. They are considered at risk for a variety of factors, and those selected to participate in the pilot represent a range of special needs. Most of the children involved have never been given the opportunity to experience drumming or music on a teaching level. This program pilot was made possible in part thanks to a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

The goal of the ARTreach pilot was to demonstrate the impact drumming techniques can have on the child’s ability to cope with anxiety, anger and or depression. It was also set up to measure the impact of weekly encounters with expressive art and music making methods would have on a child’s ability to interact and or socialize. Helping Hand Home staff was able to document improvements in individual behavior and test scores recorded in the first term, compared to the second term. Three of children who participated in the pilot were selected at random at the end of the pilot and their records were reviewed. Two out of the three showed improvements in test scores and overall grades during the 10 week period as well as significant reductions in behavioral infractions recorded over the same time period that could be attributed in part to this program. All children who participated in the culminating presentation showed significant improvement in attitude and self esteem, and described a unit bond, affirmed friendships and confidence gained as a result of this program.

In facilities that treat foster care children who are victims of abuse, programs that support education and socialization, and nurture a child’s sense of belonging in our society are valuable. ARTreach pilots like this demonstrate the high impact the arts will have on this neglected population if funding were readily available.

ARTreach has been documenting improvements in social behavior and grades linked to creative art experiences since 2003. While art and music programs that include supplies, instruments and professional teachers can be expensive, art programs are much less expensive than conventional adaptive behavior therapies, and combining creative art practices with math and reading curriculum are extremely effective in improving test scores and overall grades than standard teaching methods. ARTreach Programs prove over and over again that the arts fundamentally support a child’s emotional development and improved ability to learn. Early and consistent exposure to the arts can help insure a child’s future as a creative and productive member of our society. The Arts needs to be a part of every child’s life!

Because Art Works! Please encourage and support the arts. Contact your legislator and make sure they support the arts in education and health and human services in Texas. Make a donation today to support art and educational outreach in your community. www.artreachonline.org

On Novemeber 13th at 11:45-1:00 p.m., the CORE Performance Company, the professional dance company of Several Dancers Core visited Providence Place Retirement Community. The dancers performed excerpts from its current performance repertory in a lecture-demonstration format, and a workshop program called Elder Stories. Through these presentations, the participants were introduced to the concept of movement as a form of communication. Elder Stories solicits stories from the seniors about their childhoods, their work life, their families, anything of importance to them. The dancers of CORE Performance Company then translate these stories into movement. The program was highly engaging and captivated the attention of all the participants.
ARTreach and the residents of Providence Place wish to thank The Several Dancers Core. This program was made possible thanks to a grant from the Houston Arts Alliance’s Touring and Neighborhood Arts Program. To learn more about the Several Dancers Core visit http://www.severaldancerscore.org/

Several Dancers Core presented "Elder Stories"

Art and music enriches the atmosphere and improves attitude

ARTreach is responding to the needs of a growing population of senior citizens and is currently developing new programs for medical care patients and individuals with Alzheimer’s. A pilot program at Kissito Healthcare Katy was initiated September 14 and concluded November 7th. The objective of the pilot was to demonstrate the impact art and music could have a mental health and long term care.

The Kissito Health Care ARTreach pilot measured significant improvements in behavior and other mental health indicators. The indicators were established at the start of a pilot to identify reductions in medications, fewer falls, improvements in behavior, including decreases in verbal aggressiveness and increased social interaction.

The ARTreach Program combined live music and dance motions with visual art projects on a weekly basis to stimulate a creative process. “This was a creative collaboration, we were looking for improvements in our resident’s mental health and outlook, says Jane Davis, Executive Director at Kissito Healthcare Katy “The program was enriching and the pilot successfully marked a significant reduction in the number of incidents related to verbal aggression and frustration exhibited by the sample group we selected to participate in the 8 week pilot.

ARTreach evaluates program content and delivery to determine best practices. Which aspects or discipline has the highest positive impact? Is it a specific tune, a particular color, a certain action or motion? The pilots take into account there is a technique related to a skilled artist’s delivery, and a combination of several art disciplines that act like a switch turning on the light that connects to the creative process. The program also supports staff development by exposing activity leaders and direct care staff to engaging new and creative art practices that assist in long term care.

This ARTreach pilot and others initiated this year are made possible in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts and new TCA Arts Respond Grants supporting Health and Human Services. The ARTreach website hosts archives that feature over five years of pilots and programs with best teaching practices designed for elder care, juveniles in detention, children at risk and other special needs populations. www.artreachonline.org

It was in 1896, that Mrs. Ella Caruthers Porter established the first “Mother’s Club” in Hillsboro, Texas; a club designed to bring mothers together to share ideas. “When I was little more than a child myself, I found myself the mother of three precious little girls,” Mrs. Porter said. “I was overwhelmed with the responsibility and with my utter unpreparedness of motherhood…There were few helps to be had at that time in the way of literature or printed material, so I conceived the idea of calling together a few other mothers who would no doubt be interested in child study and the betterment of the home.”

Mrs. Porter published an advertisement in the local newspaper and officially started one of the first “Mother’s Clubs” in the nation. She then went on to establish the Texas branch of the National Congress of Mothers (National PTA) in 1909, chartered at the State Fair of Texas.

This centennial year has been a remarkable birthday year for Texas PTA, starting with a huge crowd of supporters at the Texas PTA Day at the Capitol in February, and ending on an equally high note as PTA members and their families gather this month in cities and towns across the state, in Hillsboro, Texas on October 19th and in Katy, Texas to celebrate on October 24th.

Katy’s Centennial celebration invites families attending the Katy Kid’s Festival to enjoy a Texas PTA line up of arts presentations that include Story Time Theater and Drumming with Nina out of San Antonio, Dan –Egger- Belandria from Austin, Texas Mime Theater, Korean Dancers, Hip Hop dancers from URGEWORKS from Houston and local Katy performers on stage noon- 4 pm. Katy ISD Council will be conducting a bike safety check, and offering environmental awareness and recycled art activities for the children. At 2:00 pm Texas PTA President Jan Wilkerson will be on stage, Katy PTA leaders will be acknowledged and Birthday Cake donated by H-E-B will be served. Katy Kids festival also features numerous vendors, artists, fun food, and kid friendly activities offered all day long 10-6 pm

“This will be an exciting day as we celebrate our Texas PTA Centennial Birthday in Katy.” Says Jan Wilkerson, Texas PTA Board President, “My hope is that our next 100 years will be as successful and productive when it comes to advocating for our children as our first 100 years!”

This is an historical milestone for Texas PTA, and everyone is encouraged to come out to help celebrate a “Happy Birthday!” at the Katy Kids Festival being held at the Villagio Town Center, NE Corner of Westheimer Parkway and Peek Road in Cinco Ranch 77450.